RURART Program & Activities

During the 7-day RURART training in Solsona, Spain, participants explored storytelling, theater, artivism, and creative tools to strengthen rural communities. This page presents an overview of the workshops and activities, highlighting the skills, experiences, and creative methods participants engaged with. Click on any session to see a detailed description of the activities and outcomes.

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Introduction to Basic Concepts

Participants explored key project themes—community building, storytelling, social exclusion, and active participation—through creative exercises using different artistic disciplines. The session sparked creativity and set the stage for deeper workshops later in the week

Land Art – Music, Emotions, and Nature

Participants explored emotions and creativity through music and natural materials. They created individual drawings inspired by songs and collaborated on a collective land art piece, fostering self-expression, bonding, and a connection with the natural environment.

Theater Impro Actress Workshop

Participants engaged in theater and improvisation exercises to build storytelling skills, creative expression, and self-reflection. Through interactive games, Playback Theatre, and group activities, they strengthened confidence, collaboration, and the ability to communicate ideas through performance.

Characters Prototyping v2

Participants created complex characters and explored archetypes to develop meaningful stories. Through group exercises and storytelling practice, they strengthened empathy, perspective-taking, and creative confidence while learning how to craft narratives that reflect human experiences.

Character Prototyping & Storytelling Techniques

Participants learned about the 12 Jungian archetypes and applied structured storytelling techniques to create short narratives. Working in groups, they combined characters and archetypes with different storytelling methods, enhancing creativity, empathy, and the ability to communicate complex ideas through story.

Project Development – From Local Challenges to Artistic Ideas

Participants engaged with the local community to identify challenges and brainstorm artistic projects. Through group discussions, conflict tree analysis, and creative planning, they developed project ideas that reflect real community needs while applying their artistic skills and collaboration.

Land Art – Music, Emotions, and Nature

Focus:
Exploring emotions, creativity, and self-expression through music and natural materials while fostering bonding among participants.

Activities:

Participants listened to two songs (Fly by Ludovico Einaudi and Boadicea by Enya) and individually created drawings expressing the emotions and feelings inspired by the music.
Each participant named one emotion they felt during the music exercises.
Participants shared their drawings and connected with others who experienced similar emotions.
For the final exercise, participants collaboratively created a land art piece using natural materials (rocks, plants, wood, leaves, flowers, etc.) while listening to a final song.

Outcome:

Enhanced creativity and emotional expression.
Strengthened collaboration and participant bonding.
Developed a deeper connection with the natural environment and a tangible collective art piece representing shared emotions.

Materials Used: Wood pieces, brushes, paint, rocks, leaves, branches, flowers, bricks, dirt

Introduction to Basic Concepts

Focus:
Getting familiar with the core themes of the RURART project—community building, storytelling, social exclusion, and active participation—through creative exercises.

Activities:

Participants were split into four groups and each group randomly drew one concept (Community building, Narratives, Social Exclusion, Active Participation) and one artistic discipline (Silent theatre, Human statue, Drawing, Poem).
Groups had 20 minutes to prepare a short artistic representation of their concept using the chosen discipline.
Each group presented their work, explaining the choices they made and reflecting on the creative process.
Facilitators connected the activity back to storytelling, community engagement, and social inclusion.

Debriefing Questions:

How did the process feel while working with your artistic discipline?
Which concept did you feel closest to, and why?
How can these concepts be useful in creating stories or projects through art?

Outcome:
Participants became familiar with key project topics, strengthened creativity, and gained insight into how artistic methods can communicate ideas and address social issues.

Theater Impro Actress Workshop

Focus:
Building storytelling, improvisation, and creative expression skills to foster self-reflection, social change, and collaboration.

Activities:

Welcome & Introduction: Participants met the facilitators and were introduced to the aims of the workshop.
Icebreaker: “Name That Story”: Participants practiced storytelling while playfully learning each other’s names using connecting words and spontaneous narratives.
Introduction to Impro Basics – “Yes, and…”: Participants engaged in exercises to accept and build on each other’s ideas.
Physical Warm-Up: Activities to get participants out of their heads, focus on the present, and experiment with movement, attention, and expression.
Metaphor and Emotions: Exploring emotions through body language and imaginary journeys, identifying emerging characters and personal connections.
Coffee Date – Resonance: Participants shared personal stories in pairs; partners expressed their feelings physically, emphasizing active listening and emotional resonance.
Playback Theatre: Introduction to interactive, improvisational theatre where participants performed and reflected on stories from the group, using humor, embodiment, and active listening.
“Match the Move” & Sculptures: Energizing activities to experiment with rhythm, team coordination, and representing emotions or situations through static or fluid group sculptures.
Playback Stories Practice: Small groups presented improvised stories emphasizing themes from their areas of work.
Reflection Circle: Group resonance and closing discussions, sharing insights, and asking questions.

Outcome:

Strengthened confidence and creative agency.
Expanded repertoire of artistic expression tools.
Practiced storytelling and nonviolent communication in interactive, performative settings.

Characters Prototyping v2

Focus:
Creating complex characters and exploring archetypes to develop meaningful storytelling and deepen empathy.

Activities:

Opening & Safe Space: Facilitators introduced the session’s focus on imagination, perspective, and meaning, and set ground rules for respectful and judgment-free participation.
Archetypes as Inner Engines: Short input on how archetypes describe motivations, desires, fears, and behaviors. Participants learned that one person can carry multiple archetypes.
Group Formation: Participants were divided into groups and randomly assigned a character and an archetype. Characters included: artist in a rural area, war refugee, farmer, transgender person, senior living alone, and more.
Deep Character Creation: Groups defined the character’s identity, context, inner world, fears, desires, and how the archetype shapes decisions. They explored internal contradictions and avoided clichés.
Short Sharing Round: Groups shared one sentence summarizing their character’s main motivation.
Storytelling Structure & Creation: Facilitators introduced storytelling techniques (e.g., Hero’s Journey, In Media Res, The Mountain) and groups created short stories using their character and assigned structure.
Story Presentations: Groups presented their stories to the whole group, highlighting archetypal traits and transformations.
Debriefing & Integration: Reflection on challenges, surprises, and connections to real life, discussing representation, empathy, and narrative impact.

Outcome:

Developed understanding of character creation and archetypes.
Strengthened storytelling skills and creative confidence.
Fostered empathy and perspective-taking through narrative exploration.

Character Prototyping & Storytelling Techniques

Focus:
Exploring Jungian archetypes and structured storytelling techniques to create meaningful narratives that combine character depth with narrative structure.

Activities:

Introduction to Jungian Archetypes: Facilitators explained 12 archetypes (e.g., The Innocent, The Hero, The Rebel, The Caregiver) including their characteristics, motivations, fears, and key traits.
Character Assignment: Participants randomly received a character (e.g., artist in a rural area, refugee, senior living alone) and a Jungian archetype to embody.
Storytelling Techniques Overview: Introduction to eight storytelling structures, including Hero’s Journey, The Mountain, The Nested Loop, Sparklines, In Media Res, Converging Ideas, False Start, and The Petal Structure.
Story Creation in Groups: Each group applied their assigned storytelling technique to their character-archetype combination, developing a short story that clearly reflected the archetype’s traits and journey.
Story Presentations: Groups presented their stories to the full group, practicing performance and narrative clarity.
Debriefing & Reflection: Participants discussed the challenges of combining character and structure, insights on archetypes, and how storytelling techniques influenced creative expression and empathy.

Outcome:

Participants gained practical knowledge of Jungian archetypes and storytelling structures.
Enhanced creative confidence and ability to craft meaningful stories.
Developed empathy and understanding of diverse perspectives through narrative exploration.

Project Development – From Local Challenges to Artistic Ideas Focus:

Focus:
Connecting with the local community to identify challenges and developing artistic projects that respond to real needs while applying creative skills.

Activities:

Local Community Mapping: After meeting local farmers, participants brainstormed challenges faced in the community and additional problems they could identify. Ideas were written on pieces of paper and clustered for discussion.
Topic Selection: Each participant or small group chose a topic of interest to work on during the week, connected to their artistic project ideas.
Conflict Tree Exercise: Groups analyzed the roots and outcomes of selected challenges using large flip charts to visually map problems and effects.
Brainstorming Artistic Responses: Participants generated ideas for artistic projects that could reflect, highlight, or address the identified challenges. The brainstorming incorporated the diverse skills of the group (artists, musicians, painters, designers, activists).
Project Planning: Participants selected one idea to develop further individually or in groups of up to three, defining the action idea, purpose, dream version, motivation, and materials/tools needed.
Presentation of Ideas: Groups shared their project concepts in a “bench presentation” format, receiving feedback from facilitators and peers.
Debriefing: Reflection on learnings from the community mapping and project development process.

Outcome:

Clear understanding of local community challenges.
Developed actionable artistic project ideas addressing real community needs.
Strengthened collaboration, creativity, and ability to translate insights into artistic expressions.