Ngataki School, Far North – Visual Poetry Jam Workshop (4 July 2022)

I liked: Yavi the senior teacher was just as engaged as the students and started to rift on ideas of how they could take this day as a springboard for a whole local curriculum project based learning opportunity to create a wearable arts fashion show..

The comment we keep hearing in astonished tones is how engaged the students are with the program on the day. There is structure but flexibility that is allowing for the students to experiment in the boundaries of the task, receive rapid feedback on their work, and then try again.

The students had a blast and spontaneously converted the monochromatic imagery segment into an opportunity to try on the fabrics and create their own fashion show which they photographed. We used this as our portraiture segment instead of the full studio lighting set up. The students broke up into designers, models, photographers, DJ’s and set designers spontaneously and set up a catwalk in the forest bordering the school.

The students create images in the monochromatic segment that will be used in a national exhibition.

The students were exposed to composition techniques and then got a chance to practice their new way of seeing the world and got immediate feedback.

I wish: That there were more sign ups for the online program but I believe this has to do with the limited availability of wifi connections and financial constraints of access to devices. This is a recurring issue in some of the very rural areas and areas of deprivation.

I wonder: If we could look at doing an online program with the schools we visited being taught during school hours on the devices that they already have.

Support provided by
Far North Creative Communities
COGS Far North