Ballymun Creative Lab

Posted on 15th July 2016

The Ballymun Creative Lab is an innovative collaborative art project developed in partnership by the Rediscovery Centre, NCAD Access Programme and the Axis Arts Centre, Ballymun. This pilot project sets out to develop a creative model of engagement with students on the circular economy and sustainability principles through photography, media, technology, and fashion practice. Aimed at young people from DEIS schools throughout Dublin, the programme will run over two weeks and is primarily is focused on raising awareness of opportunities through further education to influence sustainable lifestyles and will encourage third level study. The project meets the objective of the WISER LIFE project to develop a secondary level programme which engages with students about social and environmental sustainability and demonstrates excellence for education in sustainable development

The project launched on 23rd June 2016 at the NCAD Graduate Show where the participants initially met with Carrie-Ann Moran from Rediscover Fashion and artist Sinead McDonald, the facilitators for the Creative Lab. The participants were then given a guided tour of the graduate exhibition to inspire creativity and to help raise awareness of the use of materials, conceptual and artistic expression, as well as design sustainability. It also allowed them to explore their options in further education.

From July 4-15th, the 15 teenagers from 7 schools will work with a team of artists, designers, sustainability experts, and film-makers in the Creative Lab located in the Axis Arts Centre. This community-based learning project will teach creative exploration and conceptual expression while delivering valuable transferable knowledge and skills, such as upcycling, multi-media, photography, fashion design, art presentation and exhibition curation.

The Creative Lab aims to energise and focus young people by

• Providing students with information on sustainability, design for recyclability and ethics
• Bringing partners in education technology and industry together under one roof to problem-solve and find solutions to problems of sustainability
• Motivate students to view themselves as agents of change within their community
• Enable students to learn to apply the transformative capacity of designing responsibly, creatively, and purposefully

Significantly, 2016 is an important year for Ballymun, marking not only the national 1916 Centenary but also the 50th anniversary of the Ballymun flats complex. The Axis Arts Centre will respond to these events through their visual arts programme, showcasing work that engages with issues of memory and archive. The theme for the 2016 Creative lab, Past, Present, Future, also reflects these occasions and this context combined with the concept of zero waste will create innovative project outputs. Additionally, the theme resonates with the current refurbishment of the Ballymun Boiler House under the Rediscovery Centre’s WISER project, turning an iconic structure of the past into an education centre for the circular economy of the future.

The participants’ artwork will be displayed at a showcase event in the Axis Arts Centre in Ballymun on July 15th and all participants will receive a Certificate of Achievement from the National College of Art and Design.

You can follow the creative lab on Instagram @BallymunCreativeLab or on Twitter #BallymunCreativeLab