Intersections: Faith, Ecology & Digital Pattern-Making

Part of Intersections — a community-led cultural programme developed by SD Projects and rooted in over a decade of collaboration with East Kent’s Islamic communities — this workshop brought together young participants to explore the connections between faith, ecology and design through creative play and digital experimentation. Intersections connects local residents, designers and cultural partners to foreground underrepresented narratives in public culture through shared authorship and co-design.

In this session, children used a digital microscope to uncover delicate, often invisible details within their beachcombed finds — from fine kelp filaments to clusters of sand crystals. Observing and recording these fragments encouraged participants to see the coastline not simply as landscape, but as a living source of sacred pattern, geometry and story.

Using a custom-built video synth, the live microscope feed was transformed into shifting, animated geometric compositions. These evolving visuals echoed the mathematical principles of Islamic design, bridging tradition and technology through joyful experimentation and collective discovery.

Through workshops like this, Intersections continues to reclaim visual language, empower young people as cultural contributors, and root environmental awareness within lived heritage and community experience.