Werkstatt der Nachhaltigen Kunst
Werkstatt der nachhaltigen Kunst is a participatory workshop exploring sustainability and fashion through the creative reuse of discarded materials. Weltstudio – Berlin Global, Humboldt Forum.
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Werkstatt der nachhaltigen Kunst was an intensive three-day workshop held at the Humboldt Forum in Berlin for children aged 9 to 12.
The project explored the relationship between sustainability, consumption, fashion and recycling, encouraging participants to look at discarded materials in a different way: not as waste, but as materials that can be transformed through creativity.
Using textiles and other reused materials, participants experimented with shapes, textures and construction techniques to create costumes, masks, objects and wearable elements.
The process combined artistic experimentation with reflection on consumption. Fashion became a starting point for thinking about what happens to materials after they have been used and how they can take on new functions and meanings.
Marjorie Chau contributed her experience in textile art, costume, material transformation and visual creation, guiding participants from the first stages of experimentation through to the development of their pieces.
The workshop concluded with a presentation of the works created during the three days.
| Year | 2024 |
|---|---|
| Format | Art workshop / participatory art practice / art education |
| Media | Reused materials, textiles, costumes, masks, objects, design, manual construction and recycling / upcycling practices |
| Duration | 3 days |
| Dates | 23–25 October 2024 |
| Time | 09:00–16:00 |
| Location | WELTSTUDIO – BERLIN GLOBAL, Humboldt Forum, Berlin |
| Participants | Children aged 9–12 |
| Maximum number of participants | 10 |
| Artists / Facilitators | Marjorie Chau, Vitor Garcia de Almeida |
| Collaborating Institutions | Humboldt Labor – Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin; Stadtmuseum Berlin / BERLIN GLOBAL; Humboldt Forum |
| Languages | German, English, Spanish and Portuguese |
Chronology
2024–2025 — Humboldt Forum, Berlin
Intensive three-day workshop developed at Weltstudio – Berlin Global.
Participants worked from experimentation with reused materials to the creation of costumes, masks and objects, ending the process with a presentation of the results.
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Werkstatt der nachhaltigen Kunst begins with a reflection on our relationship with the objects, clothes and materials we use in everyday life.
When a material loses its original function, it often quickly becomes waste. The project interrupts this process and asks what other possibilities may still exist in the things we normally throw away.
Recycling is understood here not only as an ecological action, but as a creative process of transformation. Cutting, joining, rebuilding and combining materials can generate new forms and reveal qualities that may initially go unnoticed.
The connection with fashion is especially important. Through the creation of costumes and wearable elements, participants explore how materials can change their function when they enter into a new relationship with the body.
The workshop therefore offers a practical reflection on fashion, consumption and sustainability, using artistic creation as a way to question the logic of use and disposal.
The project connects with Marjorie Chau’s practice, where textiles, costume and materiality are part of a broader investigation into how we can transform our perception of the environment.
The aim was not to produce objects according to a fixed model, but to give each participa