All welcome, pre-registration required

Join us for a special edition of Family Saturdays at Jameel Arts Centre, featuring a guided tour of the Youth Takeover 2025 – and a series of hands-on art making activities for all ages.

This edition offers a unique chance to gain an in-depth exploration of several works from Spoon Spade Shovel, an exhibition curated and developed by the 2024-2025 cohort of the Youth Assembly. 

The tour, led by Assembly member Ayesha Fernandes, takes an in-depth look at the exhibition ‘Spoon Spade Shovel’ throughout the ground floor of the Centre, delving into the Takeover themes and exhibited works, the Assembly members, and the learning experience of the programme. Following the tour, families are invited to participate in a series of immersive self-led activities inspired by the Assembly members’ practices, including ecology, internet culture, sonic art and urban research.

The activities are free to attend and run all day to encourage and support creativity and imagination. Jameel Arts Centre strives to provide space for children to share stories, and to foster cultural awareness through artistic exploration that supports healthy child-development and growth.

Family Saturdays at the Jameel are suitable for all ages. All materials and step by step guides will be provided.

Activity Breakdown: 

11:30AM:

• Tour of the exhibition ‘Spoon Spade Shovel’

11:00AM – 4:00PM: 

• Scoop, scrape, sweep:  A sensory station for your younger ones to get hands-on and explore different textures by uncovering buried treasures using a range of tools. A fun sensory activity for curious hands and minds.
• Water Marbling: Discover the magical shapes and motions of water through paper marbling! Drop colours onto water and watch them ripple and swirl to create unique designs on your paper. Each marbled print captures a moment of flowing, ever-changing motion.
• DIY Musical Instruments: Make music with your own handmade instruments! Craft pan flutes, spin drums, rainsticks, tambourines, and mini banjos using simple recycled materials like straws, cardboard, bottle caps, and string. Add your personal touch by decorating your creations before making some joyful noise!
• Dot by Dot: Slow down and see how small marks can build a big picture. Explore pointillism by using tiny dots and nodes of colour to fill in a larger drawing. This mindful, meditative practice lets you enjoy both the small details and the bigger image they create.
• Distorted Portraits: Play with perspective and create colourful, abstract portraits! Use coloured markers to trace the face of your partner and watch how tiny movements, laughter, and distortion turn simple lines into lively portraits.

This programme is organised by the Assembly 2024-2025 member Ayesha Fernandes as part of the 2025 Youth Takeover.

Ayesha Fernandes is a visual artist and designer and a member of the 2024-2025 cohort of the Assembly. She explores the material qualities of unconventional mediums by taking inspiration from nature and her surrounding environment. With a B.Sc in Visual Communication from the American University of Sharjah, her work often merges digital and analogue processes.