Objectives
To improve the ability of young autistic people to make choices and express themselves and to increase their attention and creativity by sharing the same space, materials and activities.
Beneficiaries
Approximately 18 autistic people aged 17-40 at Rossago, a farm community set among the hills of the Oltrepò Pavese.
Activities
Participants took part in weaving and painting workshops with the aim of transforming their disability into ability and creativity. The weaving workshop helped improve concentration and self-expression and the participants used alpaca wool sourced from animals they reared themselves. In the painting workshop participants could choose their own subject, allowing them to develop and express their subjectivity.
In 2011 and 2012 Fondation Alta Mane funded four weekly artistic-therapeutic workshops tailored to participants’ specific rehabilitative needs involving the production of hand-made paper. The workshops were run by two lecturers and six trainees from the two-year Art Therapy course at Brera Academy.
Partner
Rossago Cooperativa Sociale Onlus
Cascina Rossago is a residential farm community founded in 2002 by the association Genitori per l’autismo (Parents for autism) Onlus for young people with autism. The structure, managed by the Cascina Rossago Cooperativa Sociale Onlus, puts great emphasis on highly structured activities and workshops aiming to highlight and sustain the fragile and hidden subjectivity of each individual. Cascina Rossago offers young guests a number of artistic activities, including the Invisible Orchestra made up of autistic percussionists, students, postgraduates and lecturers from the University of Pavia, who meet weekly to play mainstream jazz, a genre that allows a solid balance between the repetition of basic rhythms and musical improvisation.
Website
http://www.cascinarossago.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=40&Itemid=50&lang=it
Information
Fondation Alta Mane supported Cascina Rossago in 2011. Since 2012 the project has been supported by Fondazione Alta Mane Italia.[/fusion_tab][/fusion_tabs]
