Making Space:Sensing Place

In October 2009, along with artist Thurle Wright, I was awarded a Making Space:Sensing Place Fellowship; part of the HAT: Here and There International Exchange Programme, managed by A Fine Line:Cultural Practice. The Fellowship includes residencies with Britto Arts in Dhaka, Bangladesh, with Arts Reverie in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, with The V&A Museum of Childhood, Bethnal Green, London and with The Harley Gallery, Nottinghamshire. Working and collaborating with artists and craftspeople from the UK, Bangladesh and India, responding to the collections and spaces we encounter and sharing these experiences through a touring exhibition and educational workshops.

This blog, which is still developing and being added to, is a record of my experiences during the MS:SP Fellowship. Steven Follen.
www.stevenfollen.com

Monday 20 December 2010

Baasher Ghor - The Bamboo House

Images from the tribal villages in Lawachara National Park in Bangladesh, taken during the MS:SP Fellowship, have been selected for inclusion in the project 'Baasher Ghor - The Bamboo House'.

Friday 17 December 2010

'Sense of Place' Show

Sketchbooks and collectionSeeking Perfection (Gilded Copper)'15%' (Paper from the Gandhi Ashram).
FilmsTapans painting documenting his travels.
Taruns atmospheric paintings and 'theatre'.
Thurles wonderful work in paper.
Lokesh's 'Frozen Charlottes'.
Painted metal foil flowers and rickshaw panels from the workshops with the school children at Redlands School.

Wednesday 8 December 2010

Friday 3 December 2010

Work for the show

'Offering'. Copper Foil.
'Seeking Perfection'. Gilded Copper Foil.
'15%'. Handmade Indian Paper (from The Gandhi Ashram Paper Mill).

Tuesday 2 November 2010

Benchpeg Articles.

A series of articles, about the metalwork experienced during the fellowship, were written for 'Benchpeg' newsletter. These were added as entries to the blog.
You can read them here (pdf files):

Monday 20 September 2010

Work in Progress

Inspiration from the flower garlands in Bangladesh, the decoration on the rickshaws, the repetition and pattern in the textiles at the Calico Museum, the decorated surface of the houses in the Pols, the metal foil makers, the.....the.....
Sketching and testing ideas 
 Paper models

More Ideas (Panels)
CAD paper models and scored and folded tests in copper foil.
More Sketch Ideas (Garlands)
Paper models (Garlands)



Wednesday 26 May 2010

Day 3 @ the School

Again, working with different groups of children, the workshops followed a similar format; rickshaw components and block printed paper and fabric.
In the morning the rickshaw components workshop followed the theme of the river and the sea, Tarun showed his beautiful film about the Buriganga - the river which flows through Dhaka, highlighting its historical and spiritual significance as well as the need to protect and maintain the health of this important life-line for the city and its inhabitants. The film was exhibited as part of Britto Arts 'Square Mile' Project in Old Dhaka in December 2009.
Tapan showed how he painted, building up images using several layers of painting.
The children painted their designs on primed metal foil using acrylics, the format of the images was similar to the large panels seen at the back of the cycle rickshaws.

Lokesh showed another group how to block print designs and the children made cards and envelopes using coloured papers.
One of the children added his own creative dimension to the project producing some wonderful printed crowns.
In the afternoon the children looked at images of rickshaws and their floral designs, particularly on the hoods.
Using foil cake cups, the children cut the edges and then painted designs on each one to produce a panel of rickshaw flowers.
Tarun explained how Tapan painted his beautiful flowers for the rickshaws.


Lokesh and the children printed more designs onto fabric with the idea of making a large quilt of each of the squares from the different workshops each day.