Gentleness of a little giant

an inter-generational art project

Gentleness of a little giant is a project from artist & choreographer Gustavo Ciriaco and artist-producer Andrew Mitchelson which takes the lived experiences and memories of ‘landscapes’ lived by older people, as a set of instructional tasks for children to blend with their own imaginations.

The workshop process produces from children’s drawings both DIY shadow puppet shapes and abstract objects, and finally evolving into large-scale 3D sculptures which will form part of a landscape/public space/performance project in the near future.

The objects/shadow puppets are normally left for the young people to explore and discover how to set up and play with in their own time, in their own bedrooms, ‘dens’ or playspaces. A copy of each shadow puppet are  taken by the artist and turned into large-scale 3-D sculptures which we hope can be used in the public space and landscapes spaces.

This project shares and test the creative possibilities of Ciríaco´s previous works Between Dogs and Wolves and Gentleness of a Giant, as well as  Ciríaco and Mitchelson’s previous collaboration Where the horizon moves.

Gentleness of a little giant offers a way of archiving, sharing and transforming family stories and retelling them through private workshops and public art, aided by professional artists.

::Previously

Redmond Community Centre. May 2002. London, UK.

Hackney Showroom. October 2021 and February 2022. London, UK.

Festival Internacional de Danza Contemporanea de Uruguay – FIDCU. May 2019. Montevideo, Uruguay.

Arquipélago – Centro de Artes Contemporâneas. May 2017. Ribeira Grande, Portugal.

Conception and artistic direction Gustavo Ciríaco

Artistic collaboration and production Andrew Mitchelson

Hosting partners TRA-Hackney Showroom, Redmond Community Centre (London/UK), Gymnasium (Lagos/Pt), Nave (Santiago/Cl), Arquipélago – Centro de Artes Contemporâneas (Ribeira Grande/Pt)

In 2022, Gentleness of a little giant has received the gracious support the Arts Council England.