Last week I travelled to Algiers in North Africa to teach at the Fine Art School as part of the CDA initiative which also took me to Jeddah in Saudi Arabia last year. The non-profit scheme has been set up to promote dialogue between creative sectors in different countries through the development of a new platform dedicated to innovation. "In supporting the creative community, CDA enhances the local culture in envisioning a diverse creative economy that is an integral element of modern society". For the new project called "Durar" the course started in Algeria and is now continuing on to Tunisia and Morocco. I started off the scheme with a workshop on "wearable accessories" to inspire the participants in conceiving a piece that combines traditional craft and material but in a new contemporary outcome. For this we visited local artisans and the historical museum to see the origins of their heritage and talent. Above you can see some of the students who came together from different regions, cities and even countries to take up the offer of this unique opportunity. Over the next few weeks they will coordinate with a specialist technician to develop the design from which we will choose a winner to be awarded sponsorship to produce the final article. To be continued............
Special thanks to The British Council for funding my trip to make this all possible!
Here are my snaps of the beautiful buildings of the fine art school which is set at the top of a mountain overlooking the capital and the bay so the view has the sea meeting the sky above the open courtyard planted with bird-of-paradise flowers, hibiscus and bougainvillea.
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