workshop

Foam x de Hortus:
Summer Workshop for Children

Join us at de Hortus to explore the secrets of the most beautiful garden in Amsterdam. Children participating in the workshop will collect flowers and leaves to make blueprint postcards. Afterwards, we will travel to Foam to finish our creations while enjoying delicious pancakes and lemonade drinks.

Blueprint postcards

For this workshop, we take inspiration from the botanical work of Ana Atkins. In 1842, Ana Atkins was the first female botanical photographer to create blueprints of algae and ferns, among other things. She created an entire collection of photographs without using a camera.

The children will follow in Ana's footsteps and start making postcards based on blueprints. After returning to Foam, they will place their collected flowers and leaves on a 'magic paper', which will then be placed in the sun. After the sun bath, the objects are removed and the paper goes into a water bath.

What happens next? A miracle! When the cards dry up, the children will write a nice holiday greeting to someone they love.

Chylocladia ovalis © Rijksmuseum.
Cyanotypes

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Foam x de Hortus:
Summer Workshop for Children