BUILDING COMMUNITY THROUGH ART
Overview
I took part in my one-year ESC programme at Ranum Efterskole College. Ranum Efterskole College is an Efterskole in Nordjylland with more than 500 students. It is located in Ranum, a small town with a population of less than a 1,000. During my time as a volunteer, I noticed that the school becomes a microcosm in which the students live, and there is no clear program or activity, encouraging them to interact with the rest of the town’s population. I took the chance to develop my Solidarity project as an opportunity to foster solidarity within the local community. The main aim of my project is to foster connections between the school, its students, and the local community, by collaborating with other organisations and associations active in the area, through the realisation of a street art piece for the town.
Project goals
Build community
Make students aware of the importance of taking care of their surroundings and local community. Encouraging the creation of intercultural connections between people
Mural art
Create a collaborative artwork to give something back to the town, that will remain long after the project has ended.
Raise awareness
Discuss together the meaning of solidarity, and which positive messages to convey through the artwork.
Initial plan and preliminary steps
My initial plan was to bring together the students and the people living in Ranum organising some events to discuss the topic of community and solidarity, decide together what to paint and then create a timetable for the actual painting. I had to change some parts of my project along the way, because it was not easy to organise everything, but I’m still happy with the result!
First, I had to present the project to the principal and find a place where I could realise the mural. I had great support from the school, freedom of action and budget approval. It was a long process though: Ranum Efterskole College is a big place, and I had to speak with many different people to connect the dots. At the same time, I found a contact person at the Asylum Centre in Ranum, as I intended to create a connection along Ranum community and that’s another significant presence in the town.
The place suggested for the painting was a ski container, which is a property of the school but is situated in front of a sport and culture facility which is used not only by the school, but also by the rest of the populations for practice and events, so it’s a place where lots of people pass through. As I had the permission for painting and the budget approval (it took me a couple of months!) I started to plan the first event of my project.
Project stages
Street Art Workshop
On the 21st of May I organised I first meeting where students and young people from Ranum were invited. Unfortunately, nobody came from outside the school, but it was a nice moment to share ideas about community and solidarity. I took inspiration from the discussion of the students, who talked about how our society is not equal and even in the school, many students don’t realise how privileged they are.
The final sketch
After the meeting, I worked on different sketches and I asked students and colleagues for opinions. We ended up choosing the sketch “My cup of tea”; the idea to transform the container into a fish tank, everything coming out of a teacup, came up from the students themselves, so it felt like the right option.
My cup of tea – We live in a society where those with more privilege, the “big fish,” tend to metaphorically swallow up those with less. The responsibility to imagine a better reality, where we learn to swim together in the same direction, belongs to everyone. No one should look away. That’s why this cup of tea belongs to each of us.
Painting the container
The painting took place in the first half of June. Students participated in some of the phases of the process. The Danish summer weather didn’t collaborate too much, but despite of some rain we managed to complete the task!
Street Art Walk
The last part of the project was a “Street Art Walk” in collaboration with the Asylum Centre located in Ranum. Last year a street art project took place there in collaboration with a collective of artists (Lìm Collective), and many other project are on the way. The idea was to invite the people living in Ranum to explore the Street Art around, as an opportunity to meet new people and have a sense of community along the town. I realised some posters, both in Danish and English. We watched a short film about the artists’ work at the Asylum Centre and we walked around the place to look at the artworks. We finished at the school, where I explained the meaning of “My cup of tea” and we enjoyed some snacks together.
Conclusions
I think the idea behind this project was quite ambitious, and although I had to scale back certain parts, I am very happy and satisfied with the result. Despite the difficulty in getting students and local people involved, I think the final event went well and was a real opportunity to come together. From a personal point of view, it was a challenging project for me and a wonderful opportunity to have a space to express my art.
I am also very grateful to the school for its support and involvement; the headteacher himself attended the ‘Street Art Walk’. I hope this will be a starting point for further connections between the school and the local community.
ESC Solidarity Projects 