Workshops
During all of her workshops, Fabienne concentrates on the encouragement of free self-expression through drawing, painting, and sculpture. It is this same freedom and empathy that she brings to all the people she draws with.
Facilitating a “breath of fresh air,” through art making, exploration, and encouragement, Fabienne provides a space for students and patients to confidentially draw outside the lines.
Her goal is to combine education, self-esteem, and quality of life in each experience with her students.
2022
Patan Museum
Fabienne held a one-day workshop focusing on clay and lino prints inspired by her exhibition "Hands of Memories". The group gathered the museum staff as well as visitors.
2022
Colomboscope : Language Is Migrant
The idea of this workshop was to draw something unusual, building identities, shaping maps of our space while being on the move. The "Lookbook" created by each participant was an open diary showing that drawing is a language and our emotions force our language out of our hand.
— Natasha Ginwala, Curator Colomboscope
10 days of uninterrupted expression of emotions, putting drawing, tracing, writing and shaping clay into a collective experience.
Questioning the visible, feeling a connection to other individuals, underlining how memory and art work together. Building an inventory of unusual drawings and marks of unexpected incidents focussing on portraiture and identity.
94 participants and as many "lookbooks" came out showing the need and the energy to say, to dare and share while on the move in a more and more dehumanized world. Drawing is thinking. February 27.
— Fabienne Francotte testimonial for the Goethe-Institut
Press
The Lookbook Workshop With Fabienne Francotte - Daily Mirror Sri Lanka
“The beauty of still-life drawing is that you can draw whatever you see when you look at it; the shades, the shapes, the colours” she says as she firmly presses the flat tip of her pencil to shade a part of her drawing before smudging it away with her thumb.
2018
Five Day Drawing Project
The mission of the project was to invite Rohingya ladies, adolescents and children to join two artists, Fabienne Francotte from Belgium and Farzana Ahmed Urmi from Bangladesh, in various creative activities.
To draw outside of the box, demanding no skills and requiring no standards. To use different tools, materials and art books to open their minds and hearts. To focus on identity, highlight the inner journey and provide a positive experience, even if just for five days. Expression was key.
2019
Galle Literary Festival
Drawing a one-of-a-kind piece and learning some new skills in a fun 3-hour workshop with Fabienne Francotte was on the Galle Literary Festival 2019 program.
The many participants used Saskia Pintelon’s “Book of Faces” for inspiration as they focused on identity, creating stunning portraits in this beautiful location.
2017 - 2019
National Institute of Mental Health
“Mrs. Fabienne Francotte is volunteering in Art Therapy every Tuesday and Thursday. (...) Her work is exemplary and I find our clients looking forward to her sessions. Furthermore; it should be mentioned that her art therapy sessions have given positive clinical outcomes in our clients. She also supports the institution by ways of fundraising and carrying out rehabilitation activities. I would consider her a model of leasdership in well-planned volunteering.”
— Dr. Kapila Wickramanayake,
Director of the National Institute of Mental Health
2020
MOD ART - LIFT
Fabienne was invited to give a drawing session to the students of LIFT (Lanka Institute of Fashion Technology) and Mod’Art focussing on the topic “Art is made with the hands”.
Fabienne has a unique approach to art; she concentrates on encouragement, self esteem and expression. She provides a space for students to confidently explore, evolve and draw outside the box. “Art does not have to be perfect” she says.
2019 - 2020
Academy of Design
“We had international artist Fabienne Francotte as a visiting guest at our campus! She shared her experience with Fashion/Interior Design students to develop and practice their design skills based on the themes for one of their portofolio projects.
Her feedback helped the students to develop their skills and create their own style using the techniques provided while sharing her own art material.”
