/// Paadmaan’s Online Workshop, March and April 2021.

Cassandra’s Flight workshops by Joanne Grüne-Yanoff

In four (1-hour) workshops, drawing and gesture combine with guided dialogues centered around the subjects of home and community. We come from countries rich in cultural traditions. As the composition of populations changes, people must find ways to gather, share, and feel involved in the structure of society. During COVID-19, the need for connection becomes even more urgent.

This workshop series, part of a multi-year project to increase understanding and create broad, flexible, empowering communities, sheds light on issues such as identity and belonging. We investigate these themes with the help of guided story sharing and physical improvisation. Six years ago, I worried about what felt like an increasing lack of tolerance in the world, and I wanted to do something about it. I thought if people of different backgrounds could come together and share a little about who we are and what we value, it might be a positive step.

I believe sharing our stories connects us profoundly – to ourselves, each other, and the world around us. I imagined that a guided dialogue within a safe space could allow people to come together, communicate, and build community through small moments of understanding. After running workshops for six years, I am still amazed that when individuals with such different experiences assemble in an open, safe environment and are asked to talk about something as formative as home and community, the same thoughts, ideas, and phrases come up repeatedly.

Participated artists:
Hanie Rahimian
Kimia Asgarian
Noushin Delfani
Sana Amini
Shiva Abazariyn
Tina Mardan
Yasmin Khosroshahi

Program coordinator: Mahyar Zarei

Workshop 1# Share stories of home.
Workshop 2# Share stories of community, assign visual properties to our stories, and create drawings.
Workshop 3# Share a story about flight.
Workshop 4# Gathering stories, drawings and gestures.