Ocarina making workshop: learn to make your own clay instrument

We will make the ancient clay wind instrument, the ocarina, in this workshop! Join us for a two hour workshop in Allens Community Garden indoor classroom, where we will learn to make ocarinas - aka potato flutes - our of clay. These are hollow, enclosed vessels with a mouth piece and finger holes! By making then joining two pinch pots we will create the body, before the fiddly part; creating the mouthpiece. We should then have time to decorate our little instruments by adding limbs and using surface decorating techniques. We will be looking at references from ancient Mesoamerica, where it was traditonal to shape the instruments into birds, mimicing the cooing sound they make~~~ NOTE: There is an additional optional firing cost of £10 if you would like to keep your piece. This can be paid at the end of the workshop. Work will be collectable from the garden after 1 month. Directions Allens Community Garden is situated inside Allen's Gardens park in Stoke Newington. The postcode is N16 5BD. The entrance to the park is on Bethune road, near Manor road, and the garden is on the right when you enter the park through a wooden door, which will be clearly marked. Do make sure you don't go to the Allens Gardens in Shoreditch! what3words - rainy.caves.bond Accessibility The garden has no steps but is uneven and can be slippery in wet weather. The toilet is accessible by a ramp that has unfortunately broken, so includes a slope upwards and downwards. The main paths are wheelchair accessible but the spaces between beds can be too narrow at points for a wheelchair to pass. The site has running water, an indoor heated space and lots of seating. There is an unfenced pond, so small children need supervision. The garden is stewarded by primarily neurodivergent people, and we will do our best to accommodate any sensory needs. We love dogs, but if you want to bring a dog, please let us know in advance and keep them on a lead.