I have long been fascinated by the idea that a meaningful creative process can happen everywhere, with any material.
There’s no need to have a dedicated room with art materials. It could be just a bench in a garden, a special trolley in hospital corridors, an easel in a field, a notebook and a pencil on a train seat, a bicycle and a camera…
But then I wonder, if an atelier experience can happen everywhere, then is any place itself an atelier? And if any material can be used, then do we no longer need to choose and organize? What is the minimum necessary for it to take place?
From this reflection, here a kind of manifesto, a core of minimal conditions that can generate infinite variations – still evolving.
EVERYWHERE ATELIER MANIFESTO
- Any place can become an atelier.
- An atelier is created through the choice of a space-time frame and a selection of one or more materials.
- This framework is a clear yet flexible boundary, in relation to the context.
- Processes of exploration, transformation and interaction with materials take place through hands-on making .
- Materials are active partners and the interaction is respectful of their nature.
- Product and process are equal, inseparable aspects of the same experience, so that the goal is not the final work itself.
- Acceptance, welcoming and absence of judgement encourage authenticity and the free expression.
What do you think of it, how does it resonate with you? Would you add or change something?
If, as I believe, it is a universal potential of every human being, we have something extraordinary at our fingertips: the ability to create an oasis beyond aesthetic geographical, social and cultural boundaries, where we can just stay for the joy of creating, looking for connections with the world and ourselves.
In the last pages of her book “The Good Enough Studio”, Nona Orbach writes:
The essence of the studio concept and activities is mirrored by our own hands. Being present with the work, with another person, and acknowledging as well that wherever you are, everything in the world is also a metaphor for so much more. A bench at the park, a kimono, a dog walking next to you wigging its tail. Maybe it is a meadow, or a place in the mind.
What if all the scattered, so different ateliers became aware of their common roots and connected to know each other and create a network? Shall we try? Join the manifesto and share your Everywhere Atelier to start mapping!
In the meantime, in June 2024, the first international study group dedicated to Everywhere Atelier will take place in Reggio Emilia and its surroundings: six itinerant days that I am carefully preparing together with the pedagogista Laura Malavasi. During this week, 20 people from different parts of the world will meet atelieristas, artists, materials, objects, places and even animals, to build relationships through hands-on making.
I’ll try to document it accurately on the Instagram profile @robertapuccilab, hoping it’s the first of many.
And now I just have to wish you to enjoy your explorations, wherever you are!