“Playing Pictures” — Jarosław Majewski, Piotr Kikta (workshop for children)

Can You hear an image? ‘Playing Pictures’ workshop at Fonomo

Can you hear a photograph? Can an image contain rhythm, melody or silence? Or perhaps music can be seen, if only we look at a photograph in the right way? The “Playing Pictures” workshop begins with questions that may seem unusual at first, but lead to one of the most fascinating encounters between different art forms.

Notes written into an image

Photography and music use completely different means of expression. A photograph stops time – it captures one particular moment, frames it and allows us to return to it again and again. Music does not stop time; it flows through it – unfolding, disappearing and leaving a memory behind.

Both forms can tell stories, build tension, evoke emotions and leave space for the imagination – each in its own way.

Can these very different ways of storytelling meet?

During the workshop, participants will look at a variety of photographs and then try to treat them as musical scores. Shapes, light, shadows, gestures and colours will take on the role of notes, becoming clues for creating sounds.

Using their voices, their bodies and the instruments available, children and teenagers will create music together that, in their view, best reflects the mood, atmosphere and perhaps even the hidden story of a photograph.

Let Your imagination play

Different interpretations are not only allowed, but encouraged. After all, the same photograph may sound completely different to different people. Some may hear a calm melody in it, while others may hear a rhythm, the noise of the city or a long silence.

The workshop will be led by Jarosław Majewski – photographer and double bassist, professionally associated with the Museum of Photography in Bydgoszcz – and Piotr Kikta, musician, cultural animator and bookseller, known for his passion for unusual instruments.

Children and teenagers aged 9–15 are invited to experiment together – both those who already play an instrument and those who would simply like to give it a try. Regardless of experience or skill level, everyone will have a chance to discover whether – and how – an image can be turned into sound.

And then all that remains is to find out what the chosen photograph will sound like.

Recommended age: 9–15
Duration: up to 3 hours
Free admission