Brain Fresh: Think Differently about Togetherness

In this edition of Brain Fresh we’re exploring togetherness, with a variety of activities to try at home with people you live with, and share online with those you are apart from.

Dancing Drawings

Get groovy with musical doodles! Experiment with music and illustration by drawing different rhythms, instruments and sounds.

Try drawing your favourite festive song, then send a photo of your artwork to someone you don’t live with. Can they guess the song? Ask them to send their own artwork back!

Our free ‘Create at Home’ activities are designed to inspire you to get making at home, with step-by-step instructions and no specialist materials required.

Make a collaborative creature

Create unique creatures with endless possibilities with artist Magnus Plessen’s multiplayer drawing game.

Find the game on page 18 of Activity Pack 2.

Be together through drawing

Have a go at artist Hetain Patel’s ‘Together Drawing’ activity and connect with those you can’t be with in person.

Use photos and tracing to create a scene where you are doing something together, like giving someone a hug, doing a fist-bump or sharing a meal together.

Find the activity on page 24 of Activity Pack 3.

Share a recipe and discover new foods

As part of our Arts Council Collection National Partner’s Programme exhibition, ‘My name is not Refugee’, we have been asking visitors to share a recipe that is special to them.

You can now discover some of the recipes on our Online Studio. Have a go at following one of the recipe cards, or share your own for others to try!

Simply post on the Online Studio and include the ingredients, method, and if you can, a photo or drawing of the finished dish. Say why it is special to you, and which country it comes from.

Together we grow

Watch a new film that explores how Refugee Action clients and friends came together over the first lockdown with ‘Together We Grow CIC’ to grow their own food.

Clients of Refugee Action have formed part of the team of curators for ‘My name is not Refugee’ – an Arts Council Collection National Partners Programme Exhibition that offers a new perspective on life in Britain.

Can you help us do more?

Art and creativity are vital as we navigate our way through this pandemic.

Please, if you can, support us with a donation to help us continue to deliver creativity throughout this new lockdown and help us to open again with new exhibitions and events to uplift us all.