Traditional and Sustainable Ways of Being Creative

July 26th 2024, By alanapkav24

In our creative department we have been working on some iron age replicas which went into an exhibition in Alyth. This exhibition was focused around sustainable ways of making, so we tried to implement this in our own sessions! We started by writing with symbols and exploring how we can communicate positive words and stories through images. We also tried some different styles of weaving that they may have used in the iron age. Next, we imagined up an iron age sword and made them to then do some re-enactments of an iron age battle. Finally, we used whatever materials we could find to create some instruments and played around with sounds which Alana turned into a short video.

This work was beautifully exhibited in Alyth in July with the Cateran Eco Museum and had around six hundred people come and visit it! An amazing achievement from everyone and we were so proud to be a part of this opportunity. Please take your time to look at some of the amazing work that our clients and volunteers have created.

Writing with Symbols

We started by looking back at how people use to communicate and write history. We looked at Pictish symbols and their meanings and we looked at Celtic knots and the intricacy that these hold. From this we attempted to write our own words using these symbols and decorated how they might’ve done in the past. We explored stories and communicated these through images and symbols.

Weaving the Scraps

For this activity we worked together to create some big weaving pieces using old scraps of wool and fabric. We used old frames as a base and wrapped wool around it to create the structure. Over a week, different people added to these and created interesting patterns, shapes and colour motifs. These all turned out amazing and provided a good use for material that would’ve been thrown away.

Tenerife Lace – Traditional Circle Weaving

This style of weaving is traditional in Slovakia and creates beautiful results so we decided to give it a go! It is very similar to weaving on a loom but instead its in a circle on a much smaller scale.

Hand-thrown Pots

These are a few handmade clay pots that we made on a pottery wheel! This was a new skill for a lot of people but we all managed to have a go and create some unique pieces.

Iron Age Sword Replicas

We started by looking at what swords use to be like in the iron age and used this as inspiration to create our own. We recycled cardboard boxes to create the structure of our swords and then added details using paper mâché, beads and varying paint mediums. We finished off this creative session by going out into the garden and re-enacting how we thought they might have battled back in the iron age. This was a fun opportunity for people to do some role play and express themselves though drama.

Musical Instruments

As a group we made instruments out of recycled materials, like old tubs, beads, wrapping paper, rubber bands, tin cans and paper straws. We then took it in turns to record some sounds from our instruments and tested out different ways of playing.