Manchester Collaboration - Imagine their Shadows
Early Years Collaborative Project: The Manchester Museum, PLACES, RENEW Northwest, Horse and Bamboo Theatre
Imagine their Shadows was a collaborative project involving Early Years children and staff from a local sure start children's centre. The centre
worked with an artist in residence for 1 day/week (funded through the Manchester Education Partnership), Elaine Bates Early Years Co-
ordinator at Manchester Museum, John Bishop Education Consultant and Catherine Clements Education Co-ordinator for Places Matter; and the Horse and Bamboo Theatre company.
The Project - view Imagine their Shadows VIDEO here
The aim of the project was to use Manchester Museum as a place for the children to interact with and respond to in a site specific way; exploring the building through the whole body of sensory perception - experiencing first hand the scale, light, colour, acoustics, tactile effects etc of the building, which is essential for young children to make sense of and engage freely with the world in which they inhabit.
The starting point was a half day visit to Manchester Museum by the children, staff and artist from the children's centre. This was an opportunity for the children to explore and respond to the building, and for the teachers and creative collaborators as co-learners of the project, to interact with respond to and facilitate the spontaneous creative ideas generated by the children.
The visit was followed up by outreach work at the children's centre by Elaine Bates Manchester Museum, a creative collaborator from Horse and Bamboo Theatre, and the artist in residence. The activities in the workshop were themed related to the children's visit to Manchester Museum.
Following on from the workshop there was a second visit to Manchester Museum, and the work produced during the workshop in the children's centre was incorporated into a performance piece by the children in collaboration with the Horse and Bamboo Theatre. The emphasis of the performance was the play of light and shadow using the wonderful space at Manchester Museum to project the children's fantasy and imagination of the space.
This was also used as an opportunity for a story telling session. The performance was filmed in situ and forms part of the exhibition.
The Outcome: An Exhibition
An exhibition at The Manchester Museum in the form of a written text about the project, photographs of the project and a film of the collaborative performance.Download a copy of the project evaluation report here. Images taken by Manchester Museum.
Places Matter! Education supports staff in pre-school organisations, schools and colleges in groundbreaking work with children and young people to develop their experiences and expressions of the built environment. The emphasis of the programme is on creative learning through exploration of the built environment, where children and young people learn to 'see the big picture': developing their abilities to communicate with others; work as an individual; contribute to a group; discard ideas without a sense of failure; and maximise the advantages of cultural diversity.