QPR x RCA Workshop
Digital & Design Literacy Worshop
Royal College of Art
2025
We asked soft, open-ended questions: What kind of animal feels like you today? What powers would it have? Where would it live — a busy street, a mountain cave, under the sea? We were met first with shyness, a kind of caution. But very quickly, something loosened. Their drawings and ideas began to pour out — unfiltered, vivid, funny, strange — all completely free of the kind of self-consciousness adults tend to carry.
In the first half of the workshop, the animals were made using plasticine then brought to life through stop motion, learning how even the smallest gestures could create motion, character, and story. In the second half of the workshop, they were introduced to augmented reality to place the animals in real-world scenes; tiny pieces of imagination stitched into the fabric of daily life. We gave them QR codes to take home, to share their creation with friends and family.
Most of the children had little or no prior experience with art, which made the experience feel all the more powerful — watching them step into a new space of expression, one that didn’t rely on words or right answers. There was real joy in how uninhibited they were once they began — the freedom with which they built, imagined, and played became a kind of lesson for us too.
As a group, we left feeling moved by the exchange — one that felt mutual, rather than extractive. Working with communities like this asks for care. It asks you to listen, to remain open, to hold space rather than fill it. We didn’t want to arrive as artists imposing an activity — we wanted to build something together, to allow space for the children's voices to lead. What they offered in return was humour, vulnerability, and a kind of effortless creativity that reminded us of what making can feel like.