Initial positioning, basics, ideas.
What do we want to accomplish with „I want to tell you“? Why? How? What? The process of a creative cultural development …
Setting free creative energy
Everybody carries creative potential within him- or herself. But most of the time, we are not used to applying it. One reason for this may be the social context. Creativity is generated in our right hemisphere. What is encouraged in our society, though, is what lies in the left hemisphere: logical thinking, mathematical competence and verbal language. This is why we often neglect creativity, thus thinking we don’t possess it at all. We need creativity, however, to find new ways and solutions. And this happens a lot more often than we think – in our professional as well as in our private lives. Why don’t we use what is there, but is stimulated far too little! Art is an expression of creativity, and it offers the possibility to immediately experience the efficacy of our own work. Artistic talent, intuition and imagination are evenly distributed; they appear as often or rarely in people with special needs as in people without.
Art draws no distinction
Art connects. Because it doesn’t matter which background and which knowledge the individual brings into their process of creation. Furthermore, the experience of artistic projects within a group blurs the differences between participants. The ability to create arises from a deep layer within ourselves, unlike, for instance, verbal language. It follows its own rhythm and thinking; this is why it is immediate, expressive and original. During the creative process, the artist is communicating with himself and thus creating work coined by his own creative skills – they accord to everyone’s individual abilities and means. Therefore, a creative power exists that is independent of intellect and limitations, and that opens new ways.
I WANT TO TELL YOU
Following the old tradition of storytelling, we want to pass on stories and create open spaces for them. Our means, however, is not spoken language, but it is different artistic forms of expression. Just like stories allowing different interpretations, we are approaching artistic projects in individual ways – be it in the process of creation or in the process of interpretation.
Connecting People
Through artistic projects, people with and without special needs can live a way of self-determination and strengthen their self-esteem. Moreover, we all profit from a lively community, as every one of us has different strengths and weaknesses. Our projects facilitate new connections, arouse interest in other people and advocate a society that is made strong by different kinds of people. Art can function as a connecting medium and bring together people of different social classes, different cultural and socio-cultural origin and age. Art doesn’t equalize – rather, it allows of individuality.
Opportunities: Dealing with diversity
Peoples’ dissimilarity offers a diversity that enriches both the individual and society as a whole. To make use of this opportunity – that is Diversity Management. It emphasizes individual personalities. Through workshops and seminars, we offer the chance for companies to learn an unbiased handling of different people; this will continue as a productive atmosphere in the organization. After working with us, the organization can perceive the entity of coworkers with all their similarities and differences more consciously and use it for the company’s success. We want to create points of contact – with companies, schools, social enterprises, prisons, youth clubs, nursing homes, refugee shelters, … In all places where people come together, diversity means enrichment.
Cross Border Navigation
Our projects eradiate a continuous liveliness and can cross borders in different ways. We are going to travel and put international actions and workshops into action to foster cultural exchange. By participating in art projects of “I WANT TO TELL YOU”, inner boundaries as well can be moved, extinguished or defined anew. The individual can discover him- or herself again in a different context.
There is a fixed basis in Überlingen (Goldbach), Lake Constance, with an art studio, initiating different actions. Workshops and an Open Studio are taking place on a regular basis. A lot is happening on-site. But we also want to go public with our work, move borders and create relaxed interaction. We should all ask ourselves in what kind of society we want to live. For sure it shouldn’t be one that lives off static and strict boundaries.
From wanting to experience to telling stories
With the project “I WANT TO KNOW”, we at SKID, together with our three European partners, set workshops and art installations into action in different European cities. The focus was on artists with special needs that benefited from the exchange with different art studios. The wish to experience has developed into a wish to tell our stories – a process we want to deepen to reach a larger audience. We are working continuously to foster the acceptance of differences, and to aim for a cultural development that knows and uses the value of diversity.
Making objects come to life
We don’t want to teach people in the sense of a preassigned seminar. Everyone should get the chance to experience their own strengths and means of expression in all their rich diversity. The possibilities to express oneself creatively are multifaceted and can often be combined with each other. They have no limitations. What one person perceives as an object of art is an individual experience. We work with wood, metal, paint, paper, we use junk and discarded metal, we shred, paint, wrap, glue – and over and over again, we experience the joy of creating something new and seeing it “come to life”.
Let there be light!
You need publicity if you want to trigger processes. An idea would be to organize an event that reaches a large audience. It is conceivable to create a “Nuit des Lampions”, similar to the example in Wiltz, Luxemburg (http://www.wiltz.lu/la-nuit-des-lampions/). Objects can be created in a longer preparation time that literally shed light onto the darkness. The artists can create their objects, stage them and experience them. And in the context of the exhibition, these objects can be experienced by the public. Überlingen offers the frame conditions for such a project and would profit from such an event in multiple ways. In preparation of the event, citizens can for instance be encouraged to create lampions. Shops can set competitions. A city becomes livelier through a colourful and vibrant co-operation, and by that can broaden its own horizon!