Last Wednesday we held our workshop on ‘Deconstructing Gender’. Cristina Cuevas opened the workshop with the question ‘What is gender?’ then we started the debate using two videos as a starting point:
– Break Free: https://www.youtube.com/
Among the participants were women of different backgrounds and ages, adding to the richness of the workshop. After the debate we summarised our ideas and thoughts into a personal collage made of Cristina Cuevas’ pictures. Through Cutting and gluing images together we were able to express our ideas of the women that we want to have in our society. This workshop helped us to question how women are represented in our current visual culture and the effects of that in our daily lives.
Please see the following feedback about the session from the leader of a community organisations in East London.
‘A few Up Your Street subscribers had been to Oxford House in Bethnal Green before for digital photography courses so we all knew the convenience of the venue. We seniors all come from different backgrounds and cultural experiences. We’ve been to art workshops in many boroughs but we have never had the opportunity to attend for free a structured workshop to explore, congratulate or challenge our own identities as women, even older women. It was through my recommendation that we came along. In fact we are all at different stages of awareness and not always in the same direction. That’s why it’s good to debate in a safe and comfortable well-planned setting. It was practical too to launch non-formal education via visuals and practical art. Some of our group have never voiced opinions before or enjoyed speaking in public. The evening with Lon-art could be optimistically -speaking a catalyst for more thought. It could be seen as a taster. Only by more discussion will the participants have either the confidence or clout to question what is and what should be.’
Gillian Lawrence
Up Your Street is an award-winning free online sharing service highlighting activities and events for seniors.
