Creative workshops for children based on the exhibition “Yannis Pappas | In search of Alexander”

In the week from 8 to 12 July 2024, in the context of the Summer Day Camp of FOUGARO ARTCENTER we initiated the children into the world of sculptor Yannis Pappas and the creative process behind his sculptural masterpiece that took 32 years. The children, aged 4-9, were shown around the exhibition and studied the drawings, studies, models, photos and other documentation from the archive of the Yannis Pappas Studio.

Specifically, the workshops we carried out during this thematic week involved theatrical play, art workshops, handicraft and sewing. There were collaborations; for instance, in the art workshop the children made some swords and crowns in order to dramatise some of the fascinating stories and adventures and gain a better understanding of Alexander the Great as a hero, a king and a conqueror.

In theatrical play with the younger children the emphasis was on sculpture, with games like ‘sculptor and sculpture’ or frozen images of a horse; they also tried to dramatise scenes of rough seas and shipwrecks in the context of the well-known myth about Alexander’s mermaid sister and the question she put to seafarers: “Is Alexander the Great alive?”

We also played some specially adapted sporting games like ‘the conquest of the flag’, which involved chasing, strategy and …fair play, after which we discussed the travels and the conquests of Alexander.

As for the sculpture workshop, the children were instructed on how to build the armature using expanded polyurethane and wire, and made frames for the horse and the human body as well as papier mâché sculptures.

A game in a circle out in the lush courtyard was an opportunity to talk about the Gordian knot and the unusual solution given by king Alexander, who used his sword to cut it instead of untying it… on the other hand, what we did was an attempt at patiently untying the human Gordian knot we formed with our hands and bodies.

Finally, in the sewing workshop the children practised their skills in sewing together fabrics and using other media to give shape to their own Bucephalus.