This workshop is a collaboration between Doha-based visual artists and writers, aiming to resurrect personal archives of written media and images from previously hidden sites to create new work. Exploring these archives as a means to recall emotional, historical, and political realities, the workshop creates a foundation for a deeper understanding of personal history and a springboard for more vulnerable conversations on topics such as self, identity, family, childhood, and nostalgia.
Writing and image-making practices will be employed across three days of exercises to guide a re-collection of memories, renewal of personal archiving practices, and ultimately, the creation & recreation of work informed by pivotal moments in one’s personal recollections.
Day 1- Introduction to ‘Memory’, guided journaling and reflection, revisiting archives, and contemporary archiving practices for creatives. Participants will bring in an object connected to their childhood or an important memory to kickstart the reflection process
Day 2- Photography and portraiture as archival practice. Participants will bring in family photos, objects, or props and recreate archival portraits through photography, either individually or in pairs, with guidance from the activity leader. Participants are required to bring a camera/mobile phone.
Day 3- Writing with images, objects, memories. Participants will bring in objects as directed by the activity leader and experiment with cyanotype prints. The memory mapping from day 1 and the photography from day 2 could directly lend to the work in day 3. All other materials required for the cyanotypes will be provided.