CultureWorks led art activities at the Children’s Fiesta inspired by architecture around the world.
Art comes in many forms, some small and simple like a finger painting, and some so grandiose that we can literally step inside of them. Architecture surrounds us and shapes our lives, and takes different forms around the world, reflecting snippets of the value of each culture. At the Holland International Festival this year we brought four different activities, all inspired by architecture, to travel the world through art.
The inspiration for our first project comes from the Buddhist and Taoist temples of China, where beautiful multi-tiered buildings are often placed in the midst of forests and natural spaces to communicate the connection between heaven and earth, worshipper and nature. CultureWorks brought hand-carved stamps based on many famous temples, and people had the opportunity to use those stamps together to design a unique temple.
Our next project was designed by Alexia Sierra, a recent graduate of West Ottawa High School. Displayed behind the station was artwork Alexia had done based on architecture, and for participants she designed a rose window inspired by one in the famous Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris. People at the festival could then watercolor the window panes of the design, and we also made collaborative sun-catcher versions of the window with tissue paper.
Our third project was based on the work of Diébédo Francis Kéré, an architect from Burkina Faso who trained in Germany and then returned to his hometown to build a school. Kéré believes in using natural materials to make buildings that serve the needs of the community, and his school is designed to remain cool and to use only materials that were available nearby for both environmental and practical reasons. To celebrate his work we brought clay, twigs and twine and we used them to imagine beautiful and helpful structures.
Our final station was inspired by the geometric artwork typical in the Arab and Muslim world. In order to prevent worship of animals instead of the divine, Muslim places of worship are decorated with ornate designs shaped by repetition of shapes rather than images of living things. We brought graph paper for people to make their own unique geometric designs, as well as pre-drawn designs for coloring.
