‘Get Inspired. Stay Inspired.’

Get Inspired Cover

 

Download this worksheet as a pdf

 

Reading takes us to new worlds, lets us meet new people and experience different things from the comfort of our homes. Isn’t it amazing how you can move from Hogwarts, to Middle Earth and hop onto Madol Doova and then return back right on time for the Mad Hatter’s tea party in Wonderland with this unique passport that we call a book?

 

If you are reading this, you are about to embark on a journey. A journey that will help you discover your inner writer.

 

But before we go on, I will tell you something that recently happened to me: The other day, I got scared. I sat down wondering “I’ve been home for two months now! Nothing special happens. What if I run out of stories to tell?” I think this is the problem with most of us writers, we think that inspiration is something out there. And that we cannot start writing if nothing special happens.

 

Where do ideas come from?

We hear that a writer writes when they are ‘inspired’. When I was little I used to wonder how inspiration worked. Is it like magic? Or is it like a dream where the entire story is revealed to the writer? After years of writing now I know that inspiration is actually a brilliant idea that you come up with when you see or feel something.

We have all had little moments of inspiration all our lives. And, now that we have had the peace and quiet of being home, we can draw on our banks of inspiration and start this journey.

 

Did you know?

Creativity is like a muscle that needs exercise. If you warm up and work out this muscle, you will easily be able to see everyday things in a different light!

 

Activity: Everyday Inspiration

What you need:
— A recent grocery bill
— A pen/pencil
— A piece of paper

 

Step 1: Research

Look at 5 interesting items on your grocery bill and see what each item says about the members of your household. Here’s an example from our grocery bill:

7kg of chicken: My dogs will only eat chicken
Allergy medicine: I am allergic to dust
A box of candles: We are having power cuts these days

 

Step 2: Re-think

Now imagine that you wanted to capture the characteristics of your family members using just a grocery bill. List out one grocery item for each person and explain what each reveals about them.

Eg: 1. Batteries: for my grandfather’s TV remote. He watches news from morning until evening.

 

Step 3: Re-write

Now, mix and match the products and backstories to come up with a single character—you can also assign new meanings to some of the grocery items.

161020_Worksheets_1345x675px_EM4

Here’s a sketch for a story idea that I came up with using the three grocery items on my list:

Sumudu lives alone with his dogs. He only eats chicken, but his dogs are vegetarian. He always buys a box of candles because he is afraid of the dark. His dogs are allergic to dust. One night during a power-cut he finds out that he has run out of their allergy medicine.

This worksheet ‘Get inspired. Stay inspired.’ was contributed by Phusathi Liyanaarachchi.

Onsite

Exhibition Tour

in Tamil

Learn More

Curator’s Tour

with Thinal Sajeewa

Learn More

Artist Tour

Learn More

Exhibition Tour in Tamil

Learn More

Online

Reading Group

Reading Group: ‘On Minnette De Silva and Architectural Method’ with Tariq Jazeel

Learn More

Sri Lankan Contemporary
Video Works and Panel Discussion

Learn More

Workshop

‘Comic Making and Storytelling’ with Shenuka Corea (for ages 16 and above)

Learn More

Workshop

‘Zinemaking and Art Journaling’ with Zainab Hudha (for ages 16 and above)

Learn More

Workshop

My Safe Haven’ with Aadhi Jayaseelan (for ages 16 and above)

Learn More

Workshop

‘Literary Translation’ with Saambavi Sivaji (for ages 16 and above)

Learn More

Workshop

‘Zinemaking and Art Journaling’ with Zainab Hudha (for ages 16 and above)

Learn More

Workshop

‘My Safe Haven’ with Aadhi Jayaseelan (for ages 16 and above)

Learn More

Workshop

‘Sewing and Embroidery’ with Hema Shironi, Sabeen Omar, and Shahdia Jamaldeen (for ages 16 and above)

Learn More

Workshop

‘Hello Again’ with Seema Omar and Shivani Jobanputra (for children aged 12–16 and their parents)

Learn More

Workshop

‘The Story of the Osariya’ with Tikiri and Co (for ages 8–13)

Learn More

Workshop

‘Upcycling T-shirts’ with Lonali Rodrigo (for ages 16 and above)

Learn More

Gallery Talk

‘Artists in Exile’ with Sandev Handy

Learn More

Workshop

‘Art with Family’ with Collective of Contemporary Artists (CoCA) (all ages)

Learn More

Workshop

Visual Journaling with Safiya Sideek (for ages 18 and above)

Learn More

For Kids

Special Children’s Day Curator’s Tour with Sharmini Pereira

Learn More

Kids’ Activity Session

‘My Happy Place’ (for ages 9–12)

Learn More

Kids’ Activity Session

‘Tin Foil Figures’ (for ages 6–8)

Learn More

Kids’ Activity Session

‘Mind Maps’ (for ages 9–12)

Learn More

For Educators

Workshop

‘Comic Making and Storytelling’ with Shenuka Corea (for ages 16 and above)

Learn More

Workshop

‘Zinemaking and Art Journaling’ with Zainab Hudha (for ages 16 and above)

Learn More

Workshop

My Safe Haven’ with Aadhi Jayaseelan (for ages 16 and above)

Learn More

Workshop

‘Literary Translation’ with Saambavi Sivaji (for ages 16 and above)

Learn More

Upcoming Programmes

April 06

Workshop

‘Writing Home’ with Kanya D’Almeida (for ages 18 and above)

Learn More

March 30

Exhibition Tour

in Tamil

Learn More

March 17

Curator’s Tour

with Thinal Sajeewa

Learn More

Support Us

Join us to create Sri Lanka’s first publicly accessible museum of modern and contemporary art.

The Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art Sri Lanka invites you to get involved through becoming a member or making a donation to our activities.

Join Us