A story about creativity without boundaries.
On the premises of the Sunday school of St. Elisabeth Convent there is a
small room. The repairs are currently being completed in this room. The walls
have been painted in a pleasant shade, the floor has been covered with a carpet
and comfortable pillows have sewn so that children could sit on the floor, even
special and additional lighting has been added.
This room contains a toy museum and this is the very same room where lessons
for a traditional Belarussian puppet called Batleika or Vertep are help. This
is also going to be a place where magic will happen. This is because in this
very room a special integrated visual animation club will be held and will be
called “We are here and we are together”. The director the director of this new
project is an artist-visual animator – Maria Ivanova.
The idea for the project was born some time ago and overtime it became
possible to partially realize the dream. In the past year, children from the Sunday
school as well as children with disabilities from the nearby shelter andhospital have been getting together twice a week in order to participate in
this new and interesting activity. Since then, there have been several
exhibitions, presentations and cartoons that have been created by this unique
and diverse group of you visual artists. They have also participated in
festivals and competitions. In fact, in December this particular club received
an award for being the best social project during a festival-exhibition titled “SOCIDEA’15”.
So how does this club function?
Everything starts with the creative ideas of the children together with
the teachers and volunteers, who begin with creating cartoon characters for the
new animation. The next step is to create the plot, drawings and a scene by
scene storyboard. Finally, with the help of a special digital camera the
animation is brought to life.
Some people fear things that are not normal and do not always know how
to act around people who are not like everyone else. In reality everyone and especially
the sick and disabled children are in need of love and need to be accepted the
way they are.
According to Maria, special children are much freer in their creative
train of thought. They do not have the same boundaries which allows them to be
entirely unpredictable in realizing their creative potential. The opportunity
to be with children from typical families allows both sides to communicate, understand
each other and helps with more than just artistic development.
But what about the artists themselves?
The children truly love creating animations and working with the equipment.
Creating animations allows the use of many different materials, creative
techniques and methods ranging from various paints and paper to soap bubbles.
Once I had the opportunity to attend one of these creative sessions as a
volunteer. Some of the children were unable to move independently which is why
we had to help them move around the room in wheelchairs. But right in front of
our eyes, on a special table covered with colorful glass and sand we could see
the amazing landscapes, come to life and change with a single hand movement and
a shift in lighting.
At the moment this project needs help because the only support it received
is from volunteers. Let’s help the children to create something wonderful and
magical!
Cartoons for the Little Ones from the Catalogue of St.Elisabeth Convent:
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