Amina’s workshop

SCAN THE QR CODE FOR MORE INFO about Simon Winston, his testimony and sculpture at the National Holocaust Centre and Museum.

As part of Amina’s collaboration with the museum, Amina hosted a workshop called: Stories that Don’t Belong to Us Or Stories that Do Belong to Us. In this, she encouraged participants to take a closer look at the exhibition in the Holocaust Museum and then create creative responses to it. 

We encourage schools, colleges and general visitors to use Amina’s workshop questions as a guide when visiting the exhibition, especially for creative writing purposes.  

 

Before the Tour: Questions to think about: 

 

  1. What are the questions you may ask when reflecting on other people's stories?

  2. Where do we sit in other people’s stories? 

  3. What is our relationship to these stories?

  4. How does it make you feel?

During the Tour: Consider the following questions, thoughts & challenges:

  • Take photographs as these may trigger ideas and responses. 

  • Take notes as you move through the exhibition. This will help with future writing. 

  • How would you approach a story that does not belong to you?

  • Consider these themes while looking at the exhibition: Family, Love, Sacrifice, and Moving 

  • Aim to complete the tour with an idea, a thought, a place, a story or an object to write about 

WRITING WORKSHOP #1

Here are a series of questions to prompt written responses to the exhibition:

  • A place you most feel connected to, where is it?

  • Where are you: What can you see?

  • What can you hear? 

  • Where does this story live? 

  • Where does this story begin?

  • Where are you in this story? 

  • This story has a life, tell me about it

  • There is a conversation, who is it with?

  • What are you talking about?

  • Hey, where are you now? Is there a place you want to return to?

  • Where does your own identity sit in this story?

  • Is this about family for you?

  • Does sacrifice or love come first?

  • Where do you move in this story? 

  • Your story must return home now, what will you say to it?

  • Stories may begin with titles, what is yours?

  • Where is your ending in this story?

Editing:

  • Break your writing into three sections; Start/Middle/End 

  • Perspective: Tell the story from someone’s else's eyes

  • Highlight your best line, start your poem with this line

  • Are you writing in the first person (I), change it to the second person (You), what is the effect here?

  • Title is to summarise your poem

  • Try different forms: Haikus/ Sonnets/ Freeverse

Please do contact us and share your responses.