Bamboo workshops are inspiring local communities across South Kesteven – with a group of Bourne charities the latest to benefit from the successful Bridge2Bamboo project.
Don’t Lose Hope – a group that offers a professional counselling service – took to their community gardens and joined the Men’s Shed group for over 60s for a busy and productive workshop.
The event was a partnership between Imagineer Productions and South Kesteven District Council.
Community artist Lou Jones said: “People were able to work individually or as part of a group. The result was some fantastic models, and each person or group took a different approach to reach different and interesting results.
“We explored the kind of structures or objects people want to create with bamboo, and looked at the question: ‘Could bamboo be a sustainable alternative material to wood in the future?’”
Workshops include design and model-making, 3D sketching and crafting, all using bamboo.
Some of those who took part were having their first outing since the end of lockdown. A third group taking part, Monday Men, was made up of 18 to 24-year-olds with issues such as Tourette’s and ADHD. This group finds it hard to work together so the individual model building suited them well.
This event followed the successful ‘Bridge’ project in 2019, funded through Arts Council England’s Ambition for Excellence programme. In 2019 SKDC and Imagineer Productions worked together on the residency in Grantham Market Place, when an estimated 2,900 people engaged in a range of live, interactive, and immersive experiences.
Imagineer Productions has taken the momentum forward to work with community groups, artists, partners, and residents to explore the creative possibilities of bamboo grown in UK and Europe.
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.