We got Makerspaced!
Prevalent in Germany, Makerspace is an evolving concept in India. It offers a synergetic learning atmosphere where people of all backdrops and generations connect to share, create and discover. Libraries worldwide are undergoing a steady shift by embracing unconventional educative methods and remodelling the silent reading space by digitising.
To boost Makerspaces in Indian libraries, Goethe-Institut India coupled with Edutech to kick off Pop-Up Creative Room project offering workshops in New Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Pune and Bangalore.
Spread over two days, all ages from 16 to 40 were welcome without prerequisites of specialised knowledge. Workshops were offered on Electronics with Art & Music, Digital Drawing/Designing, 3D Printing, Video Production, Interactive Painting, Designing & Crafting and EBRU Paper Modelling.
Unceasing pressure from work and studies barely leaves scope to invest in one’s own growth. With Pop Up Creative Room, makers left behind their stress and comfort zones for new experiences packed with 3D Printers, Soldering Guns, Electric paints and a great deal of fun. All in a library!
‘Don’t keep silent, this is a library!’
A round of introductions preceded each workshop revealing a diverse house from students of History, Literature and Medicine to Teachers, Lab Assistants and Engineers.
Soon, the routine “Maintain Silence” library reshuffled into a creative space for “Make Productive Chatter”. Participants mingled to share, create and learn something new–while having fun!
The One Where They Played Chinese Whispers
A LEGO block-figure image was handed to the last player of each of the five teams forming rows. They had to relay instructions in whispers to the first player who would build the figure with LEGO blocks.
Participants donned hats of makers instead of just being members of a traditional library.
To spur interactions and get their creativity taps flowing, participants were invited to play a little game of Chinese Whispers.
I never imagined circuits would be this interesting
Workshop on Electronics with Arts and Music began with a simple question, “What is electricity?”
Though the subject sounded technical, training in Science was not a pre-requisite. After being familiarised with circuits, voltage, current and other fundamentals, makers huddled to form groups, each of which was to digitise a part each of an Art piece.
With laptops and code kits enclosing blocks of electronics–Bits, groups successfully coproduced a Pixelated Art. This task made it smoother for makers to venture beyond comfort zones and experience team spirit.
Licht, Kamera, Aktion!
Video Production was the most sought after of all workshops with calls pouring in till the last minute to check for vacancies.
Participants were introduced to fundamentals of Video Production, including the three stages of production, Elements of a Story, Storyboarding, types of Shots, Editing, and so on.
Next, teams were tasked with shooting movies; written, directed and produced using software and smartphones. 3 to 5 minutes long, these movies conveyed social messages.
A few hours later, films were projected for all to watch and relive what teams learned from the process.
Watching those patterns float on water was so relaxing!’
EBRU Painting activity in Pune left us with mesmerising patterns, and calm felt from results of creative endeavours.
Participants were instructed in Turkish Art of Marbling and ancient Japanese technique of painting on water–Suminagashi Art.
Finally, participants were challenged to make concentric circles in Suminagashi style.
The One With the City Skyline
Interactive Art was opened with a task of lighting up a City Skyline template.
After familiarising makers with Series and Parallel circuits, the eagerly awaited Electric paints–black coloured water-soluble paints with Graphite–were introduced. These were dried to conduct electricity for low-current circuits using hair dryers. Soon tiny bulbs lit up the template.
If Paintings Could Talk
Makers built Interactive Walls depicting Ghost Houses, Spaceships and other scenes producing sounds on touching with Electric paint circuits and Touch-board chips connected to a mini speaker.
Pop-Up Creative Room was filled with sounds of doors squeaking, horns blaring, rockets igniting and cartoons yapping to complement stimulated imaginations!