3rd May 2025 Workshop with Claymen, in JeddahHosted by the Diriyah Biennale Foundation.In a bright corner of the Islamic Arts Biennale in Jeddah, a long table slowly turned into a world of stories.There were no rules. Just a sheet of paper, a pencil, and some questions:Imagine your character’s name, one word to describe them, what they love, a strange or silly habit, and where they live. The workshop, titled Create Your Own Character, featured a specially designed questionnaire that encouraged participants to deeply engage with their imagination. The participants came from all walks of life—kids with boundless energy, illustrators with practised hands, mothers sitting beside their children, and friends curious to try something new. Each person arrived with a different reason, but as they began to work, the reasons faded. What remained was the simple joy of making something, together.We were invited to conduct a workshop during MADE. There wasn’t much to plan—the invitation felt like the right moment to try something open-ended, something playful. So we said yes. The session began with drawing. Not instruction-led, not technical, just an invitation to imagine. Who is your character? What do they do? Where do they live? Do they have a name? A shape? A purpose? It was a moment of quiet discovery, especially for the adults who hadn’t drawn like this in a long time. Some were hesitant at first, worried about whether they were doing it “right.” But the children reminded the room of something important: it wasn’t about getting it right.One child created a tooth fairy. Another person drew a long-legged creature that lived by the sea. Some people leaned into imagination, others began to recreate their favourite Claymen characters from memory—a kind of homage. Once the drawings were done, small balls of terracotta were handed out. Every table had its own set of tools, and slowly, the room shifted from sketching to shaping. There was music playing gently in the background. People got quieter, focused. Hands took over where pencils had stopped. Aman moved from one table to the next, answering questions, showing how to knead clay, how to form a ball, how to hollow it out, how to make limbs, how to join parts without breaking them.By the end of the session, the table was filled with clay characters, each one holding the energy of its maker. It wasn’t about finishing something perfect. It was about spending time with an idea, seeing it through with your own hands, and letting it become whatever it needed to be. The heart of this workshop wasn’t about perfect drawings or polished clay forms—it was about something many of us forget to nurture as we grow older: the imagination. As adults, we often stop giving ourselves permission to imagine freely, to play, to create without a goal. This session was an invitation to reconnect with that spark—an opportunity to explore ideas with open hands and curious minds.