Fugitive Seeds - Schools Programme Workshop

This page is for the school children taking part in CCA Derry~Londonderry's workshop for our current exhibition Fugitive Seeds, devised artist Jasmin Marker. The exhibition runs 19 October 2022–21 December 2022.

Curated by Borbála Soós, Fugitive Seeds considers how endemic, alien and fugitive seeds connect to colonial histories including in Northern Ireland and more specifically Derry~Londonderry and its port. The works in the exhibition looks at the many complex ideas, including plant and human migration and border ecologies. It looks at how plants and seeds travel with us, with our without our knowing, and how that changes landscape forever.

Environmental and Bio artist, Jasmin Marker responds to the themes and works in the exhibition to devise a workshop to allow you to think more deeply about the ideas in this exhibition. Jasmin likes to work with 'living beings', such as bacteria, plants, mushrooms and animals. In Jasmin's art practice examines how these 'non-humans' impact our culture and our daily lives; but also how our routines affect them negatively and positively.

Jasmin says, 'As long as humans have travelled the world they have moved plants with them and changed our natural environment. In fact most of the food we grow in the UK and Ireland comes from abroad. Even the apple, which seems so native actually comes from Central Asia. Apart from all the plants that we move intentionally, we often carry seeds without our knowing - for example on our clothing or in car tyres. So every time you move through the landscape you might unknowingly be doing a bit of gardening. This workshop makes visible the plants that hitch-hike on our bodies.'

You will explore this idea of travelling seeds by making a glove puppet. Use the supplied materials and read the set of instructions to make your own glove puppet. Watch the video below and follow Jasmin's steps. Take lots of pictures of your creations to send to us and and tag us with @CCADLD. Have Fun!

Steps:

1. Take a cotton glove and personalise it to resemble your portrait
2. Spread vaseline, thinly.
3. Instead of of moving to an outdoor place like a wildflower meadow or secure riverbank- SeedIt Union have provided you with a seed mix to sprinkle lightly on your glove portrait.
4. Sprinkle until your glove is lightly covered in seeds.
5. Put your mini-self into a bag
6. Fill your glove with soil
7. Place in a growing container with soil around. Add back any seeds that may have
fallen into the bag whilst travelling.
8. Moist the soil and spray every few days.
9. Wait for your garden to grow.

Supported by the National Lottery through the Arts Council of Northern Ireland and Derry City & Strabane District Council.