Author: Regina

Last weekend we made dolls at The Joy of Opera at The Cockpit Theatre in London. 

Nicola, Connie, David, Nancy, Dilys, Emma, Hannah, Caitlin, Marc, Simone, Ruby and Harries were the makers and we made 22 dolls together. 

‘A feeling of tenderness and connection. It was very powerful to have a sense of relaxed meditation but also a moment of risk and challenge inserting the heart. Thank you for this time and space. I appreciate your sense of presence and warmth Regina!’ 

‘A lovely calming afternoon filled with joy and giggles, gorgeous soul, thank you.’ 

‘It felt loving to create something with a gentle and nurturing touch. I felt really safe, free of overthinking and at peace while I made and created. This little activity has taught me a valuable lesson… to hold on tightly but let go lightly. I felt elated to be part of something bigger than all of us.’

‘Dreams and a Heart was a moment of peace and harmony, like a calm island in a busy day. I leave it feeling quiet and reflective. I feel like I left something of myself behind in the heart and also take something with me. Thank you for the experience!’

‘Let’s keep filling reality with more dreams.’ 

‘Calming, delightful and cathartic. A truly grounding activity that made me feel entirely content.’ 

‘This was such a lovely experience. It was so comforting and calming as well as really enjoyable. Such a clever idea by Regina and she was so kind. Her whole idea is so inspiring and the dolls are so beautiful. It’s hard to sum up how nice this experience was.’ 

‘When making a doll, filling it with dreams, I felt really very peaceful and connected with the sentiments behind the work. It felt very familiar to me in a strange way, and I was reminded of many other things that have been meaningful to me recently. I filled my doll with dreams with my friend who I always seem to come across important and intriguing and special things with, and this is also true for her. It also made me think about a workshop I was with some young students from my school when I wanted to collaborate on creating things personal to the human form. This felt like a very special moment.’ 

It was a real joy to make 22 dolls with wonderful people the whole weekend. We had inspiring conversations and connections. I am so honoured to have been invited to another Joy of Opera that allowed me  to spend time in my happy place – making dolls together with other people. Thank you so so much Bill and Anna for the invitation and all the team for the hard work to organise such an amazing event, Thank You! 

Yesterday we spent the whole day at Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London to work with  ‘Burning the parachute: can community power survive the funding cycle?’ 

We worked with Open Space Technology – it allows us to talk and do what we really want and need. We all love it. Mary’s own style introduction was a wave that welcomed pauses and silences, beautiful! 

Zyne, Julius, Curie, Raj and Deni came to the session, we made 7 dolls. 

‘Regina’s workshop was a real treat! Holding the doll and filling it with clouds (the stuffing) and inserting a heart felt really grounding and connected me to the other people in the workshop and to Regina’s global aspirations (8 billion dolls to represent each one of us on the planet). There was a wonderful sense of calm and unity in the session and seeing the dolls stand up and support each other was wonderful.’

‘The experience was deeply relaxing. It was great to connect with people in the group. The meditation was very calming and energising. Thank you Regina.’

‘In the experience of my kindergarten class I was fascinated with everything especially drawing, in my little anxious mind. I used my transferable skills from my kindergarten class to make a shapeless doll into a fascinating doll with dreams. My entire body was fixed on filling the doll and it had a therapeutic effect on me.’ 

‘The heartbeat has been regulated. Constant observation on the doll. Quite few minutes are needed to achieve something. Concentration is needed for this exercise.’ 

‘Togetherness and not isolation. The dolls filled with dreams need each other to stand up together to tell their stories. This for me is balance and balance is mathematics.’ 

Thank you so much for all makers, for unique Mary’s introduction and for another opportunity to join an Open Space event, thank you! 

Last full moon we went to Espaço Sergipe in São Paulo Brazil. It’s a beautiful space created by Cassiano, an old friend that I had the joy to reconnect recently. He likes to call himself the space’s caretaker – he wants to care for the space and for artists in the current difficult moment for the arts in the world.

I was glad that the invitation coincided with a full moon day. I have been thinking to invite people to make dolls on full moon because every single doll is a full moon.  

Solange, Gisela e Cassiano came to make dolls. We made five in total. 

‘The heart beats and activates life. My little doll is strong and whole, even with atypical scar. It doesn’t matter, he goes…’ 

‘Each experience is unique. This is my fourth time participating in the project. I noticed that this time it was much easier to put the heart into the doll. May our dreams continue to beat.’

‘Everything that happens around making the doll. Conversations, food, get together, silences of people focused on an activity. Make things with your hands. Memories of family, of women who sewed, of the father doctor who took the pulse. Meditation, a moment of peace, silence, connection with your heart, with hearts. Thank you Regina. It’s good to reunite with you.’ 

I thank so much Cassiano for the invitation and the makers who joined us for our first workshop in the space. We really enjoyed the experience and we hope to come back soon. 

‘As soon as the experience began, I thought about how beautiful it is to have a body filled with dreams; a body entirely made of dreams! I chose the softest dreams to fill my feet so that my heavy feet on the ground wouldn’t hinder my dreams’ ability to fly. I chose the hardest dreams to fill my head because this more solid form made them more real and achievable. I thought about my dreams and those of everyone around me. It was beautiful to think like that. I sewed for the first time so that my dreams wouldn’t leak out of my body, and it was also beautiful to think like that. I missed my bus for a beautiful reason. I loved it!’

‘I loved the experience of making the dolls and materializing the beauty of hidden things, dreaming together is always more fun and challenging.’

‘Making the dolls was a unique, fun and special experience. We were able to exchange ideas and play with the ambiguities of dreams and the word ‘dream’ itself. At the end, we shared a moment of immersion through meditation, which made everything more intense and sensorial. I feel like part of me stays with the doll. I hope it goes far in the world and carries a bit of my essence.’

“Yesterday I had this dream

I dreamt of you

I don’t know if I was dreaming my dream

Or if the dream I dreamt was yours.”

(A Dream – Nação Zumbi)

’It was inspiring to participate in the event and break out of the routine and think less. Sewing is a very special activity for me, and knowing that my hands can form a little doll with many dreams is unique. I found myself thinking more about my dreams and the importance of keeping them inside me, cultivated and preserved. And also remembering one of my favorite songs.’

‘Being able to choose and place each thread of cotton into the doll created almost like a lightning bolt, a connection. I’m not a Christian, but I kept wondering if God had dreamed of his creation this way. Could it be that in his absolute perfection, in his solitude, he wanted to hold us and smile at the corner of his mouth as he wondered if he wasn’t too old to play with dolls?’ “Let us make man in our image…and God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good.”

‘Making dolls and bringing them to life was an experience of patience and concentration, but also a reflection on the art of manual work. The most satisfying part was making something from start to finish and leaving our mark at each stage.’

“American Heart

I woke up from a strange dream”

(São Vicente – Milton Nascimento)

We were invited to run a workshop at UNIFESP – Federal University of São Paulo Brazil last June. We felt honoured and excited to work with the students, mainly students of Languages.

Isabella, Yan, Leandro, Luana, Rafaela, Helena, Mariana e Ana came to the session and we made 9 dolls.

We also looked at Dreams and a Heart picture book and talked a little bit about the book’s creative process.

I am super grateful to Ana Claudia who carefully organised the event, to Simone who opened her class for the project, to Beatriz for the flyer, to Unifesp for the space and to the makers for their openness and creative joy – we had such a lovely time together, thank you!

Yesterday we met at 503 Studio to work on ‘Do we need to talk about the future of Executive Directors?’ 

Joanna joined us to make a doll, we made five in total. 

One of the dolls was confused about their identity – am I an artistic or a creative director? We joined a session where people tried to help them clarify it, they felt happy and less confused. 

‘Thank you for a lovely session to pause, reflect and make something beautiful. I found the experience and conversation to be very supportive and generous. Thank you! ‘ 

Thank You Joanna! I am also grateful for the inspiring sessions, for Ellie delivering her first ever introduction and holding the space alongside Varshini. We had a great opportunity to be together and have important conversations, thank you! 

This week we went to Battersea Arts Centre to work on ‘What does migrant solidarity look like now and for our future’. 

Fiona and Olivia came to make dolls. We made three in total. We were happy to remember that migrants don’t ‘think with accent’. Would be great if we can always keep it in mind. Looking at the dolls standing in the middle of the room we also remember we can’t stand up alone, it’s simply not possible. 

‘I really enjoyed being immersed in the story of the project, and it felt very honest and simple yet very moving and beautiful! It was also great to make something with my hands and break away from the heaviness of the day.’

‘I found my experience making the doll to be very therapeutic and relaxing. Filling the doll with dreams and making sure it is very strong felt like a reflection of life and putting the heart in at the end gave a sense of completeness to the doll. I really enjoyed the meditation at the end whilst holding the doll, it was a spiritual experience that connected the physical with the non physical aspect of life which was so powerful and positive.’ 

I’m grateful for the makers and the entire group for giving their time to work on an essential question in such difficult times, thank you!