2020-05-03

Inspiration: Iwona Zajac teaching children to talk about their emotions - “Sadness”

My name is Iwona Zając (R//C Platform Changmaker) and since 2018 I have been working in Sopot Museum, where I am responsible for education.

Education is my passion, and education accompanies me from the very beginning of my work. For many years I have been painting on the murals and sometimes I was talking about feelings and people close to me. In 2010, I painted a mural entitled "I miss" because I was missing my dad a lot. I am in this picture with him as a little girl.

In 2011 I was invited by a Bunkier Gallery in Cracow to run workshop for children. I decided to make workshop about "Sadness".

Why sadness?

I thought that sadness is a natural feeling that each of us sometimes feels, but which we want to forget, because we would rather be happy and feel joy.

During the workshop, together with the children, we looked for answers to the following questions:

Is sadness ok? Can I be sad? What do we dream about when we are sad? Can we paint it, and if so, what colours would we choose? Can a tear turn into a soap bubble? (look at the painting - "I miss" - there are quite a lot of soap bubbles there). What to do to make yourself feel like having fun?

The children told me who and what helps them when they are sad, and so we created a common mural. The children sent me their pictures with sad faces, which we stuck to the wall, and next to them we reflected templates with, among others: mother, kitten, dog, heart and sun. Those were the children's "talismans", which helped them when they wanted to take a break from sadness.

Link to the original text in Polish.

''I miss "- the work was created under the influence of the  Ivan Vyrypaev " Dance of Delhi ". Images by © Magdalena Małyjasiak.



“I Miss” by Iwona Zając, Images by Magdalena Małyjasiak