RECENT PROJECTS
Shadow and Light Extravaganza project.
Creating an interactive exhibition of paper lanterns, Shadow puppets and a light stage with puppets available for people to interact with and create their own scenes of shadow and light. Working with a few different age groups or community groups to create our own dancing shadow puppet characters, paper lanterns decorated with scenes from our chosen stories and a stage for others to play upon.
Shadow puppetry is at least 2000 years old and is belived to have likely originated in Central Asia-China or in India in the 1st millennium.
The first shadow puppets were likely made out of animal hides. Since they were strong and flexible, they allowed the puppeteer to move the puppet easily to create the desired effects on the screen. Leather is still a popular material used to make shadow puppets today.
From fierce dragons to legendary gods and heroes, shadow puppets are known for their portrayal of mythical beings. These characters come alive on the screen, captivating the audience’s imagination.
Home is Heritage
Well dressing Project.
Home is Heritage - Well dressing and Heritage crafts.
A Tactile, sensory and assessable project, learning, teaching, passing on heritage crafts and techniques, while sharing our personal roots, the place we live the plants that grown there and the homes where we lay our head. All explored through heritage crafts and techniques made assessable at all. Looking at ‘well dressing’, flower pressing, printing using local flowers and plants.
During this project we worked alongside adults from The Bridgewood Trust Armitage Bridge and Enfield Down Honley. We also work with the fab kids from Holmfirth Junior, Infant and Nursery School and Hepworth Junior and Infant School.
We finished this project with a week of well dressing at Holmfirth Parish Church which was open to the public for any one to come and have a go. We exhibited our final well dressing on the wondow sills at the from of the church.
A big Thank you to our funders - Awards for All - lottery, Common Good, Central England Coop and Darkwoods coffee.
Sing your soul Sunny Project
Sing your Soul Sunny Project.
Sing your soul sunny: a project dedicated to bringing joy and singing in the sunshine.
Community Choir leader Dan Price of 'Soul Choir Holmfirth and Slaithwaite work with our core group to write our fabulous 'Sing your soul sunny' Song. This song was passed on to four local community choirs. Soul Choir, Amazing Acapella/Far Cry, Meltham Community Choir, True Talent.
With help from Dan Price and Soul Choir and Jenny Goodman and Amazing Acapella/Far Cry we went into Schools with our core group to pass on our fabulous song to children from South Crosland, School & Shepley First School. And also to the wonderful adults from The Mission Huddersfield
We put on an incredible community concert at Holmfirth Church to bring people together to showcase and promote wellbeing through song and the fabulous choirs we have in our local area.
We also created wonderful decorations informed by the lyrics of our songs for the final concert.
All Choirs involed came to perform and showcase their incredible talents.
The
Paper Making
Project
This little project made good use out of our beautiful paper coral reef, made during our 'In Deep' project. We began this project with an open session at Lawrence Batley Theatre Huddersfield, one of many activities which were part of #JoCox #GreatGetTogether in June
2023.
We recycled most of our coarl reef and turned it back into the most beautiful paper with help from the faulous adults from Enfield Down Honley and Ponderosa Day centre Heckmondwike. Together learning the art of paper making.
This project was funded by One community, Magic Little Grants & Holme Valley South Members local project Fund.
IN DEEP
An Exploration of Materials
In Deep Project
In Deep was an eighteen month long project, we attempted to tackle two very large topics. 'In Deep' in terms of the vast beauty of our wonderful oceans and 'In Deep' trouble as a planet if we dont all think about our use of everyday materials.
And in particular where these two topics collide!
This project was produced in collaboration with the wonderful kids from ten different fabulous schools...
Netherhall Learning Campus,
Holmfirth Junior, Infant & Nursery school,
Meltham C E Primary School,
Brockholes CE School,
Netherton Infant and Nursery School,
Upperthong Junior and Infant School,
Helme C E Academy,
Shepley First School.
Holme Junior & Infant School
The Creative Media School.
And the incredible adults from...
Bridgewood Trust Armitage Bridge,
Enfield Down Honley,
The Mission Huddersfield,
Ponderosa Day Centre Heckmondwike.
We used the project as a way of exploring materials, to help us think about the materials we use, reuse and recycle.
This wonderful project was punctuated with a interactive and informative public exhibition in the centre of Huddersfield.
More exhibition photos and info to come, but for now please enjoy these process pictures.
LIGHTING UP THE DARK PROJECT
Lighting up the dark project.
A ten-week recruiting project to explore the art of lantern making.
This project gave us a chance to find and introduce new members to our wonderful group.
Looking at the art of lantern making, how lanterns have been made historically and artistically.
There are three general types of paper lanterns:
• Hanging lantern - the oldest type of paper lantern used for illumination. They are generally carried, hung, or mounted on stands.
• Sky/flying lantern - a small hot air balloon made of paper, with an opening at the bottom where a small fire is suspended. Also known as flying lanterns, sky candles and fire balloons.
In China, Taiwan and Thailand sky lanterns are traditionally made from oiled rice paper on a bamboo frame. The source of hot air may be a small candle or fuel cell composed of a waxy flammable material.
In Brazil and Mexico sky lanterns were traditionally made of several patches of thin paper (locally called "silk paper"), in various bright colours, glued together to make a multi-coloured polyhedron shell. A design that was fairly common was two pyramids joined by the base sometimes with a cube or prism inserted in the middle.
• Water/floating lantern - paper lanterns that float on the surface of water. Also known as a river or lake lamps depending on the water body in which the water lamp is floated.
The water lamp originated in India and later spread to Southeast Asia and East Asia due to influence of Hindu-Buddhist cultural diffusion.
The Water Lantern has been used in traditional Chinese festivals such as the Lantern festival, Mid-Autumn Festival, Chinese New Year, and even Christmas in some places like Hong Kong. In Japan “Tōrō nagashi” is a ceremony in which participants float paper lanterns down a river.This activity is traditionally performed on the final evening of the Bon festival in the belief that it will help to guide the souls of the departed to the spirit world. This peaceful custom is a gesture of respect for those who have died and gives participants a moment to think about their ancestors, loved ones or even past pets.
During this project we explored different materials, staring with the simplest and building to the more technical methods and materials.Using simply card and inks and paper then wool, balloons and tissue paper and finally bringing in a expert willow worker the wonderful Wendy Bristow of Twigs and Sprigs to teach us some of her skills.
THE POTS OF FUN PROJECT.
The Pots of Fun Project.
We were delighted to receive a micro-grant from the Neighbourly Community Fund, as this enabled us to stay in touch with our Sharing Memories members throughout lockdown and gave us the funds to supply everyone with an additional pre-project pack for working on at home during covid.
After fifteen months apart, we started our Pots of Fun project in earnest, making lavender and calendula sugar scrubs and various herbal teas, learning all about the plants’ properties. Which was a wondefully fragrant session.
Then working with Holmfirth Junior & Infant school to prepare and plant up the raised beds on their new allotment. Together we learnt about Hügelkultur, a horticultural technique where a mound constructed from decaying wood debris and other compostable biomass/plant materials is planted as a raised bed. We sourced our biomass materials together, with the children from Nabb School-Holmfirth Junior Infant and Nursery School, from the Schools local wood.
The raised beds at Holmfirth Junior Infant and Nursery School were dug up with help from Holmepride - Community in Action.
The herbs planted up at the School were grown from seed by the adults at Ponderosa Day Centre.
As part of this project we also learned the craft of mosaicing, although this was adapted, to accommodate social distancing rules. We brought together our members wonderful work and decorated some large terracotta pots with thier mosaic designs. The mosaics designs were inspired by drawings of local flora.
We then planted up our mosaic pots with colourful floral and herbaceous displays & offered them to local venues: library, cafe's, to brighten up the local area.
We also had a super visit to Springvale Community Garden in Penistone as part of our Pots of Fun Project. Our thanks to all the volunteers there who made our visit so special, including the delicious cakes!
CULTURE COLOUR & CHOCOLATE
Culture's, Colour and Chocolate Project.
Culture's colours and chocolates project explored different cultural arts and how we celebrate the season of spring. Looking together at Holi - a popular ancient Hindu festival, also known as the "Festival of Love", the "Festival of Colours", and the "Festival of Spring".
While exploring different creative techniques we created our own sand mandalas. A mandala is a geometric configuration of symbols. In various spiritual traditions, mandalas are employed for focusing attention. Our mandalas were created with spring and spring time celebrations in mind.
Sharing memories group worked beside the wonderful children from Mount Plesant School in Lockwood and also with the fabulous children from Nabb School in Holmfirth.