Colour Stories: Colour Mapping the Living Past
Workshop: Reimagining a Colour Narrative
Do you love art, colour and history? Have you ever wondered where certain colour preferences and associations come from and how the past still lives on in the way we communicate?
This one-day colour workshop is a creative investigation into the Colours of Antiquity.
Discover how to use the power of colour and storytelling to develop captivating colour palettes and create work that resonates and communicates, refining your unique narrative voice.
Exploring – recording – creating.
These activities will take you through a hands-on investigation and exploration of colour awareness, colour measurement and notation, all while mapping the colours of selected works from mythology.
Together we will explore the notion of real (measured) and perceived colour and analyse the intricate dynamics of colour, form, scale, material and pattern. Exploring the narrative of the past will offer the inspiration for the stories of today, your stories.
Through colour matching, you will create colour palettes and develop your own colour combinations inspired directly by the exhibition, the stories from mythology and eventually your own stories and memories. You will explore these colour narratives and colour associations by creating art compositions, combining collages of coloured paper and written words. The old stories are thus to give birth to the new ones.
The workshop ends with a mini exhibition of participants’ work.
Who is this workshop for?
This workshop is for creative professionals in art and design working (or wishing to work) with colour, educators, and students, as well as all lovers of history and colour.
By the end of the workshop, you will:
learn how to view, record, analyse and experiment with colour
expand skills and grow confidence in making colour choices, creating cohesive and meaningful colour palettes and combinations
form a narrative through colour and composition
understand and translate historical colour information into an art or design project, inspired by personal reflection, the power of storytelling and memory
gain a set of new skills and tools for your creative practice
gain confidence to explore and recognise the multifaceted nature of colour and the ability to discuss colour, colour associations and cultural connections
learn to ask critical questions about the role and meaning of colour in antiquity, art, design and architecture
Lecturers
Inez Michiels, Maja Kaurin, Jeannette Hanenburg
Would you like this workshop to take place at your company or institution? We are glad to answer all your questions.
Testimonials
This creative colour workshop was first organised on Saturday, 27 April 2024 in collaboration between the Interdisciplinary Colour Association Belgium and the Gallo-Roman Museum in Tongeren, Belgium.
The exhibition was so inspiring! To take colours from antiquity and combine it with your additional insights helped to understand the Romans on another level. To bring it in a modern perspective was my highlight with the more practical exercises. So, all I can say is thank you and hope to see you again soon!
It was so lovely to meet so many people enthusiastic about colour. Thank you for sharing your knowledge with us. Today, I learnt I remembered to be free and intuitive again in working with colours. So, to just play with colour, shape and composition without overthinking. Thank You!
There’s a really good balance between the program elements. The variation between the three expertise is very valuable and helps with the attention span. The info was very rich and inspiring. A great balance between known and new information. The group size was very pleasant, and the practical aspect was great.
Dear Maja, Jeannette and Inez, I tremendously enjoyed the workshop. What I appreciated especially is the many different angles from which you approached colour, and how all exercises build on the previous ones. My only suggestion would be to use a slightly bigger font on your slides. Thanks you again, warm regards - Marina
It was a very interesting experience! We learnt a lot of the world of colours. Thank you - Sabine
Thank you for a fun and, above all, educational day. It has been a long time since I dealt with colour this way, but from today I look at my surroundings differently. Greetings - Evelyne