Resilient Charm
Ceramic Workshop
Thursday 7th May
⏰6:30 - 8pm
📍 Conference Room, Teach Solais LGBT+ Resource Centre
Sign-up sheet in bio
To keep strength and hope in a world like today, sometime we need a reminder of what resilience through play can look like.
This is a workshop facilitated by Artist, Educator and Activist Aoife Natsumi Frehan in collaboration with testing ground projects. You will be making your very own ceramic talisman!
A talisman is a keepsake that is imbued with different intentions, protection, love, support, hope to achieve a goal... anything you want.
In this workshop, you will be making a small talisman of your own with Stoneware clay. You will be using your fingers to shape the clay, then, if you wish, you can use some stamps to create imprints on your talismans.
Size
- We recommend a size that you can comfortably fit in your hand.
- So we can accommodate the different participants, the max size will be around 5x5cm.
Making the imprints
- Aoife will have some stamps and you welcome to bring a stamp of your own to the workshop. Leaves and flowers can make really nice shapes on the clay body.
After you finalize your shape, if there is some more time left, you can make up to 3 small talismans.
Sign up sheet https://forms.gle/dZLUkeSdjoTBAmDa8
- this is so we know how to arrange collection of your talisman after it's fired in the kiln
If you have any questions, please get in touch with Aoife through the CATU group chat or email :)
A free online offering to widen and nourish our collective imagination 💙
planting questions as seeds to carry with us through the winter season and beyond-
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a creative writing workshop led by emily fitzell & organised by roberta ceginskaite in conjuction with testing ground projects.
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as we approach the deepest point in the dark half of the year, this workshop posits winter dormancy as a space for collective dreaming.
through a slow-moving selection of text, image & movement-based prompts, we will play with writing as a tool for holding & nurturing the kernels of our world-in-the-making, shaped by questions we can carry forward through this season and beyond as talismans - as seeds.
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register through link in bio of @testingground.projects
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this is part of continuation of the work that I've start as a dance piece with the title - for the world we're after - first researched at @dancelimerick , then performed at @faki_festival_zagreb ,research of a workshop at @divadlostudiotanca & delivered with @kemdoesitagain , with a video work that followed (still to be to released).
working with wonderful group of people at every stage 💜
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for years, i've been oscillating between deep despair and stubborn hope. only recently, i have gathered confidence- supported by inspiring people around me- to participate more directly in the creation of the world we live in. inspired by abolition& emergent strategies, grassroots organising, mutual aid - i see expanding our imagination as an important tool that becomes an empowering step towards building a world we want to live in. more such collective imagining spaces will be organised in the new year🌟
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dreams -> actions
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NEWS OF THE FUTURE: a zine workshop hosted by @testingground.projects and Stray Cats Press.
during this workshop, we’ll be using the format of a zine to ask ourselves, -
what will the future of news look like?
taking the scenario that we achieved liberation- the social, economic, environmental justices that we’ve been moving towards.
what will we be celebrating, announcing and criticising then?
the workshop will start with an introduction of what is a zine, where it comes from and what it means today.
we’ll have the rest of the time to use the materials provided to create a zine containing the future news -
working together, by yourself, in pairs- whichever suits people - chatting, crafting and imagining beyond the possibilities we’ve been given.
it is a 3 hour event and you are welcome to pop in and out as you need.
we recommend you to be there for the intro talk to get the history bits, if you can.
Sunday October 19th, 6-9PM. Tickets via eventbrite.
looking forward to the last saturday of july when we’ll be joined by the wonderful @robe.ceg from @testingground.projects
join us for a walk & creative workshop on the beach with dance artist roberta ceginskaite.
following stories around the coastline through movement, we’ll explore ways to connect with the wider living environment in our day to day experiences.
roberta will share some approaches from her collaborative practice in which ‘care for each other & the spaces we inhabit are at the core of how we work & what we produce.’
please wear comfortable clothing and footwear.
free free to get in touch if you have any questions or access requirements at [email protected].
@creativeireland@kerrycoarts
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testing ground projects was formed in early 2025 by Galway city based dance artists Fionnuala Doyle Wade & Roberta Ceginskaite. As individual dance artists, Roberta & Fionnuala have collaborated on numerous successful projects over the last number of years. TGP was formed with the intention of growing engagement with dance in Galway city/county, supporting dance artists locally, & empowering folks through movement. Alongside our creative practice, we are activists & organisers rooted in our community in Galway. Care for each other & the spaces we inhabit are at the core of how we work & what we produce. Together, we draw on each other’s strengths to produce engaging & vulnerable work. We believe art & the body are inherently political & the importance of using our voices as artists cannot be understated.
Join testing ground projects for an evening of dance works in progress followed by a short Q&A with the artists, and 20 minutes of Dabkeh led by Omar. All welcome to join. 126 is funded by the Arts Council of Ireland and Galway City Council
Link to the eventbrite below:
https://www.eventbrite.ie/e/fresh-darlings-tickets-1333780345919?aff=oddtdtcreator
