10–13 July 2017 / Casco HQ
Commons for Children
XVI Biennale IASC Conference: Practicing the Commons: Self-governance, cooperation and institutional change 10–13 July 2017
The Commons for Children conference addresses the topic of commoning from a young generation’s perspective. During the conference, children will be invited to cook, work, create, and play together. The participants are not only encouraged to reflect on the world, but are also provided with tools to gain the means to cooperate, transform and organize it.
Day 1: Monday, 10 July, 14:00–19:00 hrs
14:00–14:15 hrs: Introduction – Introducing ourselves and what we are going to do the following days and today in particular.
14:15–14:30 hrs: Making dough for the bread
14:30–15:30 hrs: Making T-shirts: T-shirts with the Casco logo will be provided. Children will all get their own shirt, on which they can draw and write their names. This functions as an easy, relaxed, and fun way of getting to know each other.
15:30–16:30 hrs: Free play time
16:30–17:30 hrs: Cooking: In light of sharing meals together and letting the children explore and experiment with ingredients we would like to cook and share a meal together. The (vegan) dish will be simple, but exciting for the children to prepare.
17:30–18:30 hrs: Dinner
18:30–19:00 hrs: Closure of the day, briefly presenting the program for the upcoming days
Day 2: Tuesday, 11 July, 08:30–18:00 hrs
8:30–10:00 hrs: Collective drawing: walk-in and starting in a circle. Idea for the collective drawing is to draw a model for a playground/city for adults. What do you think adults are missing in their daily lives? What would improve the way they communicate with each other? In what kinds of buildings do adults live? Making a banner for the presentation
10:00–10:30 hrs: Break for drinks & bites plus a moment of reflection
10:30–12:00 hrs: Universiteitsmuseum
12:00 hrs: Preparing lunch together
12:30 hrs: Lunch
13:00–14:00 hrs: Free play time (outside)
14:00 hrs: Chair project: Based on the concept of Rietveld’s famous Crate chair, children will be given wooden beams cut according to the original measurements of the “crate chair” different parts. They are invited to design and build their own sitting object made out of the pile of wood.
16:00 hrs: Break for drinks & bites plus closure of the day
16:30 hrs: Movie in the OH Cinema: Wall-e
Day 3: Wednesday 12 July 08:30–18:00 hrs
8:30–9:00 hrs: Free play time
9:00–10:00 hrs: Tool out of function: Rethinking the functionality of tools. Children investigate various tools and their respective functions, leading them to invent a new tool of their own.
10:00 hrs: Break for drinks & bites
10:30–11:30 hrs: Feedback Drawing: Make a drawing of the most important thoughts and experiences the children had during the conference.
11:30–12:00 hrs: Free play time (outside)
12:00 hrs: Preparing and making lunch together
12:30 hrs: Lunch
13:00–15:00 hrs: Paper making: Children make new paper out of the paper on which they’ve drawn their feedback. The individual feedback becomes the matter to create the paper in which all the collective experiences will be tangibly united into one.
15:00–15:30 hrs: Preparing presentation: ask children to present the activities. Two children tell about the activities of day 1, two children tell about the drawing, two children tell about the chairs, another group talks about the tools and the last group presents the activity of making paper.
15:30 hrs: walking to Janskerk together
16:00–17:00 hrs: Presentation & closing
