Turn your emotions into physical art and network with like-minded people.
Sign up for 3 evenings in total. Creative workshop for expats and English speakers.
CHAPTERS
A creative workshop and immersive art experience by Racha Tarazi
How do we integrate into a new community?
How do we step out of a vicious circle of emotions?
What empowers the sense of belonging?
Settling into a new city and truly making it your home takes time and effort. It is a process that consists of many steps, and each new arrival goes through a process of emotions. Happiness is certainly one of them, but so is doubt, confusion and isolation. No matter how prepared we may feel, the experienced reality is always a surprise.
Most of us already feel a certain heaviness in day-to-day life. Whether it be the weight of succeeding, the pressure of expectations, or unnecessary pain inflicted on ourselves and others. This heaviness can be magnified when one has also lost a fundamental sense of belonging.
Many of us push our negative emotions aside. We suppress and bury rather than confront and resolve. Why? When we mute our feelings, we suffer in silence. We languish, getting stuck in that middle ground between apathy and depression. Recognizing and accepting our feelings is the first step in the healing process. Acceptance is what moves us from the state of loneliness to resolution and finally to a sense of belonging in our new home.
Chapters: A creative workshop exploring emotion through art
Come and join my creative workshop: Chapters. I created this combined art experience and workshop to help channel these intangible stuck emotions into tangible objects. The tangible is not only an object, but it is an art sculpture and a creation of your own emotions and shared stories.
In an intimate group setting of eight, we will process the multitude of emotions that arise as we integrate into a new society through the power of art, community, and awareness.
The process of creating the final sculpture inspires healing. It’s a process that starts with identifying an emotion then reconfiguring its output into a new form. Healing is maximized by
sharing personal experiences and stories, ultimately knitting a new community in the place that once seemed lonely.
STEP ONE: REGISTER
Date: Feb. 2023: Thu 2, 9, 16
Time: 7:00-9:00 PM
Location: IVY Office-Gijsbrecht van Amstelstraat 213
STEP TWO: SELECT TOPIC OF INTEREST
You will receive a list of emotions that are often present through the process of transition. Select the emotions that you feel best describes your state of mind or that you identify with the most.
For example:
Belonging – Home
Integration
STEP THREE: CHOOSE PHOTOS OR TEXT
Before the workshop, you will be asked to print images or photos of places, people, or things that relate to these emotions. You can also choose a paragraph from a book, a verse from a poem, or something you or others have written. How deeply you share is up to you.
STEP FOUR: SEE YOU AT THE WORKSHOP
Together as a group you will share your experiences and transform your emotions into sculptures with a range of tools and materials.
Meet the artist: Racha Tarazi
As an artist who has personally been through many moves from one country to another, I explore the concept of transformation during the relocation and integration process. I experiment with design methodology and the creative process in my work, using the artistic process to process my personal pain and emotion.
My work always tackles the human bond, searching for new ways to empower the connection between people.
Check out my website for more information about myself and about my work: http://rachatarazi.com