Audio Stories Summer School, August 2014
During August, we’ve welcomed 13 young people to the Museum for a Bronze Arts Awards accredited Summer School, looking at how museums tell stories. We worked with curators Quintin Colville, Richard Dunn and Heloise Finch-Boyer, Archive Learning Officer Tracey Weller and writers Izara B and Paul Sherreard to explore the Museum’s collection and make creative responses. And, of course, the Youth Advisors were here to welcome them!
Here are some of our highlights…
Day One
Getting to know each other
Getting to know each other
Emily making her book
Mateen making a book
YAG Workshop, Monday 28 July 2014
Today we worked with The Great Map project manager, Jennifer Ross, to learn more about the digital projects inspired by our huge map of the world. We played one of the games, finding treasure all around the map. We then thought about ideas of games for young people like us. We worked with writers Paul Sherreard and Tom Banks to make our own nano fiction stories and we were inspired by these to make Vine videos. Phew, it was a packed day!
Isobel and Terri playing one of the Great Map interactive games
Isobel, Charlotte and Terri playing on The Great Map
YAG Workshop, Saturday 28 June 2014
Today was our second workshop with Spoken Word Artist Izara B. We reflected on the objects we’d found last time in Nelson, Navy, Nation and then worked with Izara to refine and perform our spoken word pieces. Today was also the Caird Library Open Day and so we got to meet some of the Archives team to see original letters from the Georgian Navy.
Looking at the letters and love tokens sent by sailors to their loved ones
Looking at Nelson’s writing set and seal
Visiting the Caird Library to see archive material
Meeting Archivist, Martin Salmon
YAG Workshop, Saturday 21 June 2014
We had our first workshop with Izara B, spoken word artist. Izara worked with the Youth Advisors to create their own responses to the collection and being a young person at National Maritime Museum. We toured Nelson, Navy, Nation with Curator of Naval History, James Davey to learn about what the different themes are and to choose an object we can use for inspiration. The Youth Advisors were really inspired by the different forms of communication and how sailors shared their experiences with loved ones. We were interested in love tokens, letters home and Nelson’s gifts to his daughter, Nelson’s writing set and the ship’s biscuits.
Isobel chatting with James
What was life like below deck?
Nelson commemorative souvenirs
James Davey telling the Youth Advisors about port life in Deptford and Woolwich
YAG Workshop, Saturday 17 May 2014
We started thinking about the Sea and had an introduction to the new YAG project in this meeting. The Youth Advisors will work together to produce an audio guide aimed at other young people sharing stories from the Museum’s main themes.
In this meeting we started thinking about the first theme, which is the Royal Navy. The Youth Advisors explored Nelson, Navy, Nation and used gallery floorplans to note what they were interested in and what was inspiring.
Exploring Nelson, Navy, Nation
YAG Workshop, Tuesday 15 April 2014
The Museum’s new Re:Think space has opened and the Youth Advisors were the first group invited in use it. Working with artist in residence, Maria Amidu, the Youth Advisors met with the Asian Senior Citizen Club group to learn more about how the space will work and had a play. We also met with Exhibitions Interpretation Curator Hannah Kay to learn more about how the Museum tells stories and writes labels for the objects it displays. The Re:Think space features Yinka Shonibare’s Nelson’s Ship in a Bottle and is designed to be a space for conversation, learning and participantion to understand and share the artwork and it’s themes.
Looking at the displays
Re:Think
Youth Advisors in the Re:Think Space
Exploring the Re:Think space