Squiggla Making Space at ITAC 7 | International Teaching Artists Conference | The Chartwell Project

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Squiggla Making Space at ITAC 7 | International Teaching Artists Conference

16 September 2024

Collaborative making in response to the prompt of DOTS at ITAC 7

Chartwell Project, Squiggla, presented a Making Space at the 7th biennial International Teaching Artists Conference (ITAC 7). The conference was hosted by ITAC’s New Zealand Hub: the Centre for Arts and Social Transformation (CAST) at Waipapa Taumata Rau | University of Auckland from 5 - 7 September 2024. The packed programme included our very own Sue Gardiner, who spoke about Squiggla on the first day of the conference.

Aligning with key concepts for the conference, the Squiggla Making Space explored the creative power of imagination. To realise new ideas, you first need to imagine. In the creative process we experience imagining and re-imagining ways of doing things, learning and unlearning. We invited participants to exercise imaginative ideas, take risks, challenge the way things are normally done, and work collaboratively to glean new perspectives.

“Mark making directly exercises the imagination. Its use is the essence of ideation. Recognising and valuing imagining skills energises drawing practice and expands creative thinking potential. The intuitive engages the resources of the imagination in mark making, before secondary closure processes operate, and meanings are attached: as in language. The imagination never sleeps. It operates in subconscious, conscious and dream states and willingly operates with reason when awake. Repetitive drawing practice, used as a means of activating the energies of the imagination, deepens potential for production of original ideas in all domains… Creativity precedes innovation.”
- Rob Gardiner, Founder of Squiggla

Visit the Squiggla website to find out more.

ITAC 7 is a Chartwell Trust 50th Anniversary Project - strengthening the visual arts for us all.

CAST is supported by the Chartwell Charitable Trust - fostering research into the impact of creative thinking.