Crafting History Workshops
Past Workshops
Crafting History + Frankie's of Grundisburgh
What is a witch? An evil old woman with a black hat and a broomstick, or a woman dancing in the forest? This workshop told the story of a woman who was hunted as a witch. Drawing on primary historical evidence, such as the Malleus Maleficarum or Hammer of the Witches, this children's workshop introduced the idea that the Halloween witch and her most famous symbols have historical roots and that there is more than one way of defining the witch.Â
Crafting History + Vida Haus
Combining history and craft with a movement practice drawn from yoga and shamanic traditions, this workshop in collaboration with Vida Haus explored what we know and feel about witches and witchcraft in our minds and bodies. Crafting History explored the historical roots of different archetypes of witches and women, the ways these archetypes interconnect and emerge in writing and art, and the ways history as an academic discipline can sometimes fix these archetypes. Participants created artworks where past, present and future were entangled as a process of crafting their own version of the witch.Â
Crafting History + Sutton Hoo Ship Building Company
The Sutton Hoo Ship Building Company are reconstructing the world-famous 7th-century Sutton Hoo burial ship using the original archaeological evidence, traditional tools, and authentic materials. Crafting History developed a workshop for the Young Shipmates to think about how reconstruction offers us a different way of understanding the past. The workshop introduced different ways of knowing the past: historical evidence, archaeological evidence and reconstruction. Participants created their own artworks of the reconstruction using materials that represented these different ways of knowing the past, illustrating how we craft the past from different sources and traditions.Â
Katy led a 'Crafting History' session at the Anglo-Saxon Ship in Woodbridge for a group of young people aged 9-11. The session was very well planned with an array of source materials and crafting materials. She built on the group's knowledge of the Anglo-Saxons and Sutton Hoo and linked this historical information to ways they could create a multimedia collage that reflected the hIstory of the Ship. We used text from an Anglo-Saxon dictionary; gold and silver paint; wood shavings and lots of other materials to design A4 art pieces and all of these were different and varied. The young people had a great deal of fun and were engaged throughout. Katy was well prepared and an excellent teacher, guiding them on both the History and the Art. The hour flew by.
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Jenny Golding, Education Coordinator, Sutton Hoo Ship Building CompanyÂ
Crafting History + Wellness @ Wyken
Crafting History facilitated a workshop for Wellness @ Wyken in the beautiful grounds of Wyken Vineyard. The workshop followed Crafting History's 'History of Place' format and focused on the history of the estate from the Bronze Age through to the Tudor period. We learnt about the changing nature of farming and incorporated the colours and shapes of the environment to create multi-media paintings.