BARD Children's Expressive Arts Project (CEAP)

Kaythee!!!

Myanmar (Burma) 2006

The below pictures are from our January 2006 trip to Yangon (formerly Rangoon) in Myanmar (Burma). Four of us spent 2 weeks and visited 14 different orphanages. Using paint, pastels, pipecleaners, string, beads, fabric and much else, we worked to create a vibrant space for a few hours of carefree and inventive creation. We made festivals, cities and worlds out of paper and pipecleaners, and spoke in gibberish. We sang, danced, and in general were silly. Though play is our main activity, we do so with much intention and with continuing training in listening, bearing witness, and allowing. We work to develop a keen sense of where a child is going with her/his imagination and then follow them there. Since we had such little time with each group, we found it most important to have a fun, exciting, and full experience with each group, rather than the subtle workshops that we also do elsewhere.
Expressive Arts Therapy (we are not yet therapists, we are in training) is about allowing who you are working with to discover the power to understand and express yourself through working with the arts. We do not "teach art." None of our workshops or comments have to do with the "goodness" of a piece of art. It is the process of, say, closing your eyes and drawing to guitar music or dancing your favorite sound. Through these pieces of work, one is able to temporarily and safely (that's what we're there for) get lost in oneself for awhile and then come out knowing something more.
And it's FUN!