Karapat-Dapat ARTivity Workshop 2019

By Maytpapa

What is not in these pictures probably is what's most essential, because it underscored what is usually neglected in most workshops-inclusivity. There was a kid, whom I will simply call E, whose eye-hand coordination was so bad that I had to prompt him hand-over-hand, especially during Robert's doodling session. By the time we got to Guia's paper-cutting session, I also realized that generally he was poor at following instructions, too. But he wanted so badly to finish something, so I cut, while he assembled the pieces. I was the only facilitator at my table. The 4- or 5- year-old girl (the littlest one in my group) beside E must have realized that E was going to monopolize my attention, so cleverly she went ahead, bringing her art materials, to sit beside A, a pretty girl who's in her teens who's with the homeschooling group, and asked help from her. At the end of the workshop both little kids looked very happy, and they even allowed me to take their pictures with their finished artworks. Essentially, for the workshop facilitator, inclusivity sometimes simply means just making sure that all attendees feel like they are as important as everybody else, and not neglected. Planning the activities ahead and preparing for contingencies can make a difference.