Date: Saturday 27 June 2026
Time: 10:00–16:00
Location: Stichting BAD (Talingstraat 5, Rotterdam)
To Join: : All 3 workshops are free but with limited slot. To register, e-mail us at info@varia.zone with [Mess Fest] in the title.
Food: Refreshments and vegan Lunch will be provided. If you and your kin(s) have allergy, please e-mail us at info@varia.zone with [Mess Fest] in the title.

Join us for a day of hanging out and coming together through conversations, writing, doodling, colouring, printing, zine making, walking, playing, and just having fun and learning through making a “mess.”

Throughout the day, there will be children’s workshop and activities by Doodle Dabble with 3 guest artists (Irmak Ertas, Carmen Jose, and Paul Gangloff), meetings and work sessions by and for Caregivers Unite, and multiple moments of coming and being together.

Caregivers Unite will gather for their meetings and work sessions, meanwhile Doodle Dabble sets a children’s workshop and activities that runs through the day.

WORKSHOPS

Picture This: My Home, My Story
By Irmak Ertas

The workshop explore home, identity, and belonging by taking a short neighbourhood walk with instant cameras, capturing moments inspired by playful prompts!

Age group: 6-12 years
Maximum 6 participants
Duration: 1.5 hours
Start: 11:00 - 12:30

Collective Forest Zine Making
By Carmen Jose

The workshop explores collective drawing together. We start by drawing our own trees and pass the pages around to add something at specific moments and prompts. At the end, we can take a walk together through our own zigzagging big forest!

Age group: for all ages
*under 4 years old need to be accompanied with an adult
Maximum 10 participants
Duration: 1.5 hours
Start: 13:30-15:00

Freinet Press Printing: it made an impression!
By Paul Gangloff

The workshop utilizes the Freinet Press, the letterpress used in schools for pedagogical purposes. We will collectively print a text inspired by the memories we have of our surrounding environment, composed letter by letter, and respond to it with drawings!

Age group: 6 and above
Maximum 10 participants
Duration: 1.5 hours
Start: 11:00-12:30 (AM session)
13:30-15:00 (PM session)

Caregivers Unite is an ongoing series of semi-public gathering around caregiving and cultural work at Varia. Doodle Dabble is a series of children’s workshop at Varia that celebrates children’s intuitive ways of learning, storymaking, and residing in multi-lingual situations. This events is part of Varia’s Access Seed research thread and is supported by the Creative Industries Fund NL.