Community Clay Dialogues
Clay Workshops with Undocumented Women at the Wereldhuis, Amsterdam
Creating space through clay
In 2025, artist Esra Şakir initiated a series of participatory clay workshops in collaboration with Wereldhuis in Amsterdam.
The workshops brought together a group of women with undocumented migration backgrounds in a safe creative environment where making, conversation and reflection could take place side by side.
Working with clay — one of the oldest materials used by humans — participants explored themes of origin, identity, migration and belonging. Through handbuilding techniques and collective dialogue, the workshops created a space where personal stories could emerge through material and form.
The film above documents moments from these sessions and the atmosphere that developed during the process.
Why clay?
Clay carries a universal language.
It is a material that connects people to the earth, to memory and to shared human history. For participants who often live under conditions of invisibility or precarity, working with clay offers a powerful form of expression that does not rely on language or formal artistic training.
In the workshops, clay became:
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a tool for self-expression
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a medium for collective storytelling
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a catalyst for connection between participants
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Through the act of shaping clay by hand, participants could translate emotions, memories and ideas into physical form.
The workshop process
The program consisted of four intensive workshop sessions, each lasting approximately three hours.
Every session followed a structure combining making, artistic context and dialogue.
Material exploration
Participants learned accessible handbuilding techniques such as pinching, coiling and slab building. These techniques allowed everyone — regardless of experience — to create sculptural forms.
Artistic references
Each workshop introduced visual references from art history and contemporary art, connecting personal making to broader cultural narratives and traditions.
Themes included:
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Earth and origin
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Migration and movement
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Body and identity
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Community and connection
Dialogue and reflection
A central component of the workshops was conversation. Participants shared stories, reflections and interpretations of their work, creating a space where individual experiences could be collectively acknowledged.
This exchange was not separate from the artistic process — it was part of it.
A socially engaged artistic practice
The workshops are part of Esra Şakir’s ongoing social-artistic practice, where community engagement and artistic research intersect.
Her work explores the relationship between:
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material and memory
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migration and landscape
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collective histories and contemporary identities
The encounters within the workshops directly inform her own artistic development. In this way, the project forms a reciprocal exchange between artist and participants, rather than a one-directional teaching format.
Impact
The pilot workshops demonstrated how powerful artistic participation can be within vulnerable communities.
Participants reported:
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increased self-confidence
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a stronger sense of connection with others
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the experience of being seen and heard
For many participants, it was the first time they had engaged in an artistic process in a supportive collective setting.
The workshops also created moments of joy, play and recognition, something that is often missing in the daily realities of undocumented migrants.
Community and collaboration
This project was made possible through collaboration with the Wereldhuis, a space in Amsterdam that supports undocumented migrants through legal guidance, community activities and cultural programming.
By embedding the workshops within this trusted environment, participants could engage freely and safely.
The collaboration demonstrates how art and social support structures can reinforce one another, creating spaces where creativity becomes a form of empowerment.