On Tour With Art & Story

2018 - 2020

Art & Story was an Expressive Art and Storytelling workshop originally developed for children & youth living in Norwegian asylum centers. Founded, created and facilitated by the late Ivanir Sibylla Hasson, founder of childrens theatre & Circus Sibylla, and myself, Kat Hagen, founder of ArtCHAT.

Art & Story combined Ivanir's storytelling and my sensory approach to art and understanding of place, with the moving power of art process. Each workshop lasted 3 - 4 days and concluded with an exhibition and story sharing curated by the participants for their familiy, friends, and the local community. In 2020 we also developed a workshop for adults. We used ‘art process’ as a tool to help both children and adults living in Norwegian asylum centers process their emotions and build inner strength.

Despite Covid, we managed to complete 4 tours without incident during 2020. Norway was of course in Lock down for much of the time with strict restrictions in place, meaning several of our tours and much of our work that year had to be cancelled.