Craftspace

Chandos School in Highgate Birmingham has high numbers of newly arrived families. A Year 2 class from the school have worked with Birmingham-based automata maker Melanie Tomlinson and London-based animator Jo Lawrence over a 3 month period to develop characters, write stories, make puppets and create a series of short animated films.

The project has also been supported by Albanian artist Elvira Muka who has recently gained British Citizenship.

During the 3 month period the children have visited an exhibition and a museum and taken part in a series of practical sessions to create their own puppet based animation. Some of these sessions also involved their parents.

The whole project has been documented by Manchester-based photographer and film-maker Hafsah Naib. She has been trying to explore whether the project has impacted on the children’s ability to express themselves both creatively and verbally. She has also worked with the children to document their own and other’s work, create project diaries and contribute to an on-going video diary.

Artists

Melanie Tomlinson

Jo Lawrence

Elvira Muka

Hafsah Naib