_ a census of the senses/la incuesta de los sentidos in el pital, honduras 2008

July 12-July 22 -- Rachel and Amanda worked with youth in the Congrejal River Valley located in El Pital, Honduras. This is a partnership with UN MUNDO, a community development organization with a revolutionary approach to change. For a full description of our curriculum and to view photos of the project, please go to our blog www.censusofthesenses.blogspot.com

A CENSUS OF THE SENSES:

When conducting an official census, what are the unofficial, unaccounted for questions of a community? Are some facts more significant than others? Who asks the questions and who gets to answer them? In this project, we set out to explore the questions that go unaccounted for in an official census by inaugurating a “census of the senses.”

We designed a workshop that encourages students ages 13-16 years old to investigate the hidden and layered feelings of a community.

We knew we wanted to combine the power of text and image with the public performance of a cordel, based on the tradition of “living language” hanging from ropes in the public squares of Brazil, dating back to the 1500’s. Beyond that, we invited the students to guide the direction and scope of this project, asking the students to direct the content and questions.

This is just a snapshot of a longer art-making process:

THE UNACCOUNTED FOR QUESTIONS

We asked students to think about what they might like to know about their community that never gets asked. At first students struggled with this idea but after a few examples, they came up with some wonderful questions:

1. Where do you hide your most beautiful things?
2. How many stories exist about ghosts?
3. Why are people afraid of ghosts?
4. Have you forgotten the stories of the past?
5. Why has the president of Honduras failed us?
6. How many sincere people live in this community?
7. Would you die for love?
8. How many people here need true love?
9. How many people would like to forget their past?
10. Who here doesn’t like to dance?


QUESTION ELECTIONS

We pooled all our questions together and took a vote. Everyone could vote twice among four different questions. It was down to two questions. Everyone could only vote then on one. The question that won: HOW MANY PEOPLE NEED TRUE LOVE? We brainstormed words and images related to this question to prepare us for the poetry writing.

Our census of the senses showed us that although true love exists it is not possible or even necessary for all. The range of answers was thought provoking and impressive. Answers ranged from an espousal that God was the only thing capable of true love to comments that orphans are the only ones that need true love. Other answers were more exact, stating that 6 people need true love or even a billion. The day ended without numbers but with buoyant hearts that almost danced like rain clouds above our heads as we walked back to the Un Mundo building. As the questions stirred in our heads about the question of our census we reached to revisit questions about this type of work, driven by big questions and then attempted to weave connections with the present tense of the students. We lingered in thoughts about relationships and partnerships and the arts role in community development but more in how people learn and how these type of engagements create bonds of shared experience and hopefully new levels of understandings of ourselves and the world we live in.


Deepest THANKS & LOVE to the following people who so generously donated funds and materials to the CENSUS OF THE SENSES project:

Individuals:

Howard Skolnick & Robert
Cynthia Weiss
Lindsay Madden
Steve Seidel
Jackie Intres
Akilah Williams

Organizations:

Urban Gateways: Center for Arts Education
www.urbangateways.org
Un Mundo
www.unmundo.org

Thanks to Elly & Rob, country directors of Un Mundo, for hosting us at the Un Mundo house. Thanks to the entire Mendez family, Lola, Minor, Santos, and Alba-Luz, for your love, generosity, and friendship! We crossed the river together!

A Census of the Senses