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Say it with a folded flower


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Lyth Arts origami.
Lyth Arts origami.

There seems to have been a floral theme throughout some of our lockdown projects. From ‘dream garden’ pages in our activity booklet, Caithness, Through My Window, to Joanne B Kaar’s pressed flower project with care homes, flowers have reappeared as a colourful moment of connection, a way to let someone know you’re thinking of them and a multi-sensory opportunity to revisit happy memories.

Inspired by all of this, we were delighted to carry on a floral theme working with the community in Lybster and Thrumster. We collaborated with Caithness Community Connections to devise a project that would support the wellbeing of young people and provide a uniting, intergenerational activity.

We commissioned Lybster artist Karlyn Sutherland to devise an activity that young people could complete then pass on to older residents in the community.

Caithness Community Connections is an organisation helping to support the east coast Caithness community from Lybster to Thrumster and it has been working hard throughout lockdown to provide support, meals, collections and shopping to the local community. It has also been supporting young people, providing art and craft activities for them throughout lockdown.

Karlyn, an architect and glass artist, decided to design a floral origami project. She was the was the 2018 artist-in-residence at the Toyama Institute of Glass Art in Japan and saw lots of amazing paper-folding there.

Karlyn described how the hands-on act of making is contemplative and we knew this simple activity would be beneficial to our participants, allowing them a moment to relax and make something beautiful. Karlyn made small origami kits with paper and instructions to make flower arrangements.

With Caithness Community Connections, these were then distributed to children and families. They created paper bouquets which were then distributed to older and isolated people in Lybster.

Heather, from Caithness Communty Connections, said: "We are delighted to be working with LAC in this activity and have been able to involve our young people who attend our youth clubs and older adults who would normally attend our craft group.

"It was challenging for the children and young people making the origami flowers (and for the adults helping them!) but the end result was very effective and a wee bunch given to some of the older folk we've been working with during the pandemic really brightened up their day."

Along with a growing appreciation for nature, the pandemic has created a new generation of gardening and growing enthusiasts. Even my fellow millennial friends living in the middle of cities were experimenting on their windowsills, reaching out to expert older neighbours on how best to grow their tomatoes, creating a sense of community and sharing.

There have been many stories of seed sharing, vegetable markets and the great success of fantastic community gardens in Helmsdale and Thurso.

Many experienced gardeners will explain the mental and physical health benefits of gardening and growing and a Danish study in 2018 found that 10 weeks of gardening produced similar benefits to 10 weeks of cognitive behavioural therapy. Maybe that’s why so many of us turned to flowers and vegetables to see us through those early days of lockdown, returning to a simple way to connect with nature and one another.

Because we loved the flower origami idea so much, we decided to create a short video as part of the Fun Palaces weekend. Fun Palaces supports local people to co-create their own cultural and community events, across the UK and worldwide, sharing and celebrating the genius in everyone.

The film can be watched on LAC’s social media channels and YouTube channel or on our website at lytharts.org.uk/folding-flowers-for-the-community-karlyn-sutherland-with-caithness-community-connections


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