Cat's Cradle
Family workshops
Zachęta / workshop room (entrance through the main hall)
admission with a ticket
This is a workshop for children about the games we can play with string, the most common of which is known in English as ‘cat’s cradle’. String figures are made by weaving a single loop of string on the hands to produce intricate patterns, supposed to represent certain familiar objects, for example, the cradle, railway tracks, a hat and so on. These kind of string games appear in most cultures around the world, as an activity for both adults and children. In the workshop the children will have the opportunity to learn string games, share any that they already know, and invent new ones together. We will use the shapes we form from string to make up simple stories based on the children’s own associations and experiences, which we will illustrate together.
Olivia Plender — a British artist based in Sweden. In her work she explores many alternative pedagogical models that emerged in the industrial and post-industrial eras and collaborates with both adults and children – in workshops, performances, comics, installations, and videos. She has exhibited internationally in exhibitions that include: The School of Creators, Centre Pompidou, Metz (2022); 59th October Salon, Belgrade Biennale (2022); The TV Trampoline, Kalmar Konstmuseum & Bildmuseet, Umeå (2022); the 34th Bienal de São Paulo (2021); Göteborg International Biennial (2017); BAHAR, Off-Site Project for Sharjah Biennial 13, Istanbul (2017); Taipei Biennial (2010); Manifesta 8, Murcea (2010); Altermodern: Tate Triennial, Tate Britain, London (2009); The Greenroom, Hessel Museum of Art, CCS Bard, New York (2008); Romantic Detachment, MoMA PS1, New York (2004).
