Coventry University is delighted to announce that we are taking part in the ESRC Festival of Social Science (FoSS) 2023. The The Festival is an annual celebration of the social sciences and a key element of ESRC’s commitment to promote awareness of UK social science research to new audiences. This year the festival is being held from 21 October to 17 November 2023. The University will be hosting a range of exciting FoSS events over the four weeks of festival.
Coventry University and FabLab Coventry are partnering to deliver a range of interactive events aimed at children and young people aged 8 to 18 as part of Coventry University’s programme of events for the ESRC Festival of Social Social (FoSS). See below for details of each event. Please note that all children and young people (under 18) must be accompanied by an adult.
Creative Fabric Puppetry: Exploring character creation, narratives and fabric upcycling to create a personalised small scale “hero” puppet
Come along to FabLab Coventry for a session where participants will explore character creation, narratives and small-scale puppet making. Participants will design a character through exploring what ‘hero’ means to them, considering what the word means to them, who their personal heroes are and what kind of hero they think the world needs. We will use a blend of felt, foam and other waste textiles which is in line with our ethos of upcycling and creative reuse working towards a circular economy and overcoming the environmental damage of the textile industry. See below
for details of each session.
| Session date | Session time | Who is the session aimed at? | Session booking link |
| Wednesday 8th November 2023 | 12 to 3 pm | Young people aged 13 to 18 years | Book here |
| Wednesday 8th November 2023 | 3.30 to 6.30 pm | Young people aged 13 to 18 years | Book here |
| Monday 13th November 2023 | 1 to 3 pm | Children aged 8 to 12 years | Book here |
| Monday 13th November 2023 | 3.30 to 6.30 pm | Children aged 8 to 12 years | Book here |
Digital Mandala Creation: Combining physical and digital creation to create mindful mandala or “zen tangle” art-work
Come along to FabLab Coventry for a session where participants will create digital Mandala or “Zen Tangle” art-work. In this workshop we are looking at adding a digital element to create your own mandala design instead of existing artwork. We will be creating our design in a digital art software call Inkscape and though tools like mirror and rotate we will be creating a unique design. After we have the design, we will be cutting it on to wood and making it into a hanging ornament that you can add more details and patterns to with markers and paints. See below for details of each session.
| Session date | Session time | Who is the session aimed at? | Session booking link |
| Thursday 9th November 2023 | 12 to 3 pm | Young people aged 12 to 18 years | Book here |
| Thursday 9th November 2023 | 3.30 to 6.30 pm | Young people aged 12 to 18 years | Book here |
Composing with Found Sound: Also known as Acoustic ecology, explore and capture sounds around you before turning them into your very own soundscape
Come along to FabLab Coventry for a session where participants will explore different sonic possibilities in the local environment and ways to be creative with sound. The session will encourage participants to listen to the environment in a different way and use materials and objects in unconventional ways to make interesting sounds. The ‘found sounds’ will then be transferred into a DAW
(digital audio workstation) and they will be taught how to edit, manipulate, and compose with the audio recordings to create a unique piece of sound art/music. Participants will be welcome to use their voices in the form of poetry, spoken word and signing if they feel comfortable to do so. The work is completed and can take on a range of forms, with the technical skills instructor guiding and supporting participants to achieve what they are driven to create. Please see below for details about the event.
| Session date | Session time | Who is the session aimed at? | Session booking link |
| Friday 10th November 2023 | 5 to 7 pm | Young people aged 12 to 18 years | Book here |
