This activity is designed for general youth settings. The purpose of the activity is to promote discussion about the significance of feeling a sense of belonging, increase knowledge of the issues involved, understand other people’s experiences and develop awareness and empathy. This activity also aims to develop visual and emotional literacy. Group Sculpt is a great way to work together to visually represent emotions, ideas and situations.
Look at, Read, Listen to
- Mally’s Anime series and the poem Anime
- Carlos’s artwork – Trans Pride
- Bette’s artwork
- Willow’s artwork
- Bryony’s artwork
- Voices in this section
For this activity you will need a large uncluttered background such as a wall, school hall, park or sports field.
1. Each person chooses one image that they particularly like, or dislike and makes a response to the work. What feelings do the images evoke? Ask each person to write down five words that describe these feelings.
2. Using the heading ‘A Feeling of Belonging’ ask each person to expand on their five words – turning each word into a sentence that relates to the theme.
3. Next, ask the group what they think about the importance of feeling as though you belong. This dialogue is key to how people will work together in the group sculpt exercise.
4. Ask the group to come up with a list of words that express what it is to have a sense of belonging. For example: what makes you feel like you belong, and which experiences or situations make you feel like you don’t.
Please note: if you are working with a large group, it might be easier to split them into two for this part of the activity.
5. Each person writes a short statement capturing something about belonging that is then folded up and placed in a bag. Examples might be: friendship, loneliness, being an outsider, being different, finding your own path, independence, being part of a team, family life, culture, religion, particular fashion or style, or liking a certain band.
6. Each person then takes it in turns to be a:
- Director
- Photographer
- Body
The director picks a piece of paper from the bag, and moves ‘the bodies’ around to create a scene that enacts the statement they selected. The photographer captures an image of the group once the director is happy with the scene they have staged.
7. At the end of each group sculpt, discuss how successful each sculpt is in representing the specific statements about belonging.