Miniature Worlds

Despacito Art School with Samara Scott

May 2025
10am – 3pm
Open School East

Samara sharing her research into miniature worlds in modern and contemporary art with Despacito Art School. Photo: Open School East, 2025
Despacito Art School member making an underwater world as part of Miniature Worlds workshop with Samara Scott. Photo: Open School East, 2025
Underwater world made by Despacito Art School member as part of Miniature Worlds workshop with Samara Scott. Photo: Open School East, 2025
Hybrid sea creatures and landscapes made by Despacito Art School as part of Miniature Worlds workshop with Samara Scott. Photo: Open School East, 2025

Samara Scott joined Despacito to make miniature worlds inspired by local submarine and subterranean ecologies. Science-fiction-like, this workshop explored ways of conceptualising the climate crisis and what it means to live in a liquid (fluid, flux, changing, uncertain, wet) world. Through this workshop we spoke about our place on an island, opening questions about the make-up of our community and what it means to be on the edge – looking out but not always welcoming in. 

In the workshops, Despacito took inspiration from artist Joseph Cornell’s ‘shadow boxes’, which are made from everyday, scavenged objects and include animated, moving parts. The resultant artworks were exhibited at Roland Ross gallery on Northdown Road as part of the exhibition Home is where the garden is (2025).

Workshops were supported by Community Support Facilitator Vlasta Hozova.

This workshop is part of Open School East’s 2024-26 thematic cycle Home is where the garden is –  find out more here: openschooleast.org/home-is