I am almost forgot to blog about this! The other week, I was invited to lead a workshop with the clergy, deacons and staff of St. Matthews Church. Art workshops aren’t too common here and I literally walked into the room with no art supplies– save one pack of pastels.
Everyone was very eager to learn about this mysterious art of the mandala they had been hearing about from Father Prenzel, who had invited everyone.
As an artist, I have learned there is no-such-thing as not having what you need to do art. The moment is always rich with creative potential! You just have to be creative!
And so we got creative. Of course, they had normal white letter size paper in the back office. On one side I has everyone write two sentences: what is your role in the Church? What is the Church’s role in the community?
I had everyone take a sheet. I then had everyone select from the pastel box their favorite combination of colours. Then, I invited them all to fold their paper into the number that most resonated with them. Then, I had them colour in the sections of the paper with their favorite colours. The process became silent and meditative. There is much to absorb in even one single colour.
This done, I had them tear up their papers! It was then with the multicolored pieces that they assembled their mandala. The results where beautiful and full of the symbols, numbers and meanings of both the Igorot indigenous culture and the Church. We spent a good 45 minutes processing each creation.
After a great lunch we came back and using the pieces of each individual mandala, we made the last great big one.
Wow! Even I was in awe at what we manages to create together with pure no-budget-creativity!
But it didn’t stop there. I filmed the priests blowing the mandala apart and walking backwards to create this little movie:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oYzWRFcz-ao&feature=youtube_gdata
