Series of online workshops "Krzyżowa invites to creativity". Part 2: Rag dolls - how something can be very modern and at the same time very connected to tradition

Liubov Shynder and Agnieszka Duduś, YIMC Krzyżowa

We invite you to watch the second part of our online workshop series "Krzyżowa invites to creativity", which presents the International Youth Meeting Place's approach to art education.

Step by step, in the form of films, we present four different artistic methods which combine elements of upcycling and thus show how to create art in harmony with care for the environment.

We write more about the purpose of our project here: https://bit.ly/2RKSZYG
In this video we will tell you how to make rag dolls, otherwise known as Slavic dolls or wish-fulfillment dolls.

Rag dolls

Zhadanica, karmichelka, otulachka are dolls that have survived to this day in Belarus, Ukraine and, to some extent, in Poland (the Marzanna doll). Their name comes from the way they are made. These dolls are woven, knotted and tied. We don't need a needle.

To prepare them we need scraps of different coloured materials, lace, wool, string. As a filling can be used various groats, grains, herbs or pieces of fabric, wool remains. We can also add beads tied on ribbons for decoration.

Dolls are a great way of using fabrics which are beautiful, we hate to throw them away, but we have no idea how to use them again. In this way, we create something from nothing, our own handicraft, which is not complicated, but gives satisfaction from the creation.

A butterfly doll can be made by children and adults alike. And if, while making it, we think intensely about a dream, maybe the doll will make it come true... In some cultures, it is believed that if we focus on a wish or a good intention (for ourselves or for the person we are giving the doll to), then this wish may come true.

The videos are aimed at several groups of recipients. On the one hand, these are young people and their parents, who are looking for ideas for creative activities at home that are easy to do and inspire them to use handy and accessible materials for creation, and on the other hand, teachers and educators who are looking for new ideas and approaches to environmental and artistic education.

English Subtitel - https://youtu.be/-WmZEk8FbeM

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