AVASTARS!

Sophie Sarkar, Dwight Dunston, Leah Morris, Alvaro Barrington
South London Gallery & Oliver Goldsmith’s Primary School, London, UK
September-December, 2021

Meet the Avastars, a collaborative project between South London Gallery and Oliver Goldsmith Primary School created by children from year 4, supported by artists Sophie Sarkar, Dwight Dunston, and Leah Morris. Over seven weeks, the young people embarked on a journey to create their own characters, or ‘avatars’, that embodied their personal values, powers, talents, and challenges. Through conversations, visual art, songwriting, and storytelling, they imagined how their avatars might interact with one another, and they explored how their unique gifts and talents, used collectively, could help their community.

The students took a trip to the South London Gallery to see Alvaro Barrington’s SPIDER THE PIG, PIG THE SPIDER, to learn about the importance of taking care of the earth, and to find an environment (in the paintings) for their Avastars to call home. The program ended with the young people leading their fellow students in a musical assembly and designing a billboard which is currently on display in the Oliver Goldsmith’s playground.

🖼 ︎︎︎ ALVARO BARRINGTON: SPIDER THE PIG, PIG THE SPIDER