Hope Inspired community organisation hosted workshops using intuitive drawing and sun printing techniques to empower women to make positive life choices.
In early November 11 Muslim women took part in four cyanotype workshops over two days in Edgbaston, Birmingham. Participants were brought together by Hope Inspired, an organisation focused on supporting women through self-development. The workshops were led by Founder Khairun Butt and facilitated by artist Sophia Moffa. Participants created work shaped by iconic Muslim women throughout history using the natural environment, automatism techniques (intuitive drawing) and cyanotype (sun printing).
The workshops empowered women by learning how they could utilise the icons’ attributes, experiences and strengths to make positive choices about their own lives. “For the women who attended, this truly was a unique opportunity; it has got them excited about art as well as their role in the world and how they, as individuals and as a collective, have been impacted by the negative stereotypical narrative of the ‘oppressed Muslim woman.’” Khairun Butt.
100% of the participants left feeling positive and all of them wanted to continue such activities in the future.
Photo:
Artist Sophia Moffa and Hope Inspired Founder Khairun Butt
One participant said “I felt like a scrunched-up leaf when I arrived and I am leaving feeling energised and refreshed. Like a healthy leaf I have opened up.”
FORMING Part of
Amal’s Creative Visualisation Programme
This workshop was part of Amal’s Creative Visualisation Programme. This allows community participants to take part in taster activities, encompassing a variety of art forms, that give them a better sense of the range of activities available to them. We speak to people about what they might be interested in trying and then work to pair them with local Muslim artists who can provide an opening into that creative practice. This Programme leads to more regular and fulfilling creative engagement and helps seed the unleashing of a creative potential that might otherwise go unexpressed.
