For this project we where invited by Kindcentrum Straal to organise weekly workshops for students between the age of 9-12 years old. Throughout one school year the students got to know all the crafts that are necessary to make a bread from scratch. There is an enormous distance between ourselves and the objects we interact with on a daily basis. We no longer know the origin of the food we eat, the clothes we wear, the tools we use… . Throughout this project we wanted the children to grow a sense of respect towards the food and objects that surround us but also learn to question todays automatic respons of immediately buying what ‘you need’. When we create objects and tools with natural elements we learn so much valuable skills that can later be used for a variety of things. And when the objects are at the end of their life they can simply be composted rather then ending up in a landfill for dozens of years.
Studio 1
In the first studio the students prepared the soil, sowed the grain seeds, designed a construction to store the wood, cut the wood in pieces and collected cattail leaves for weaving breadbaskets later in the project.
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Studio 2
Rob Hillen introduced the students to weaving cattail and helped them create their own basket. Afterwards, they also experimented with weaving hazel branches to make a partition. The baskets were later used to proof their bread. Afterwards Stef Lemmens learned the students about various types of fibers, such as wool and nettle. With a drop spindle and spinning wheel the students transformed these into yarn. They created the thinnest thread possible and later also the thickest thread, which was even strong enough to lift one of the students!
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