Pupils inspired by blast from the past
11:50am Thursday 9th February 2012 in Theatre & Arts By Scott D'Arcy
Zoe Dennington, heritage outreach and engagement officer, looks at some of the artwork at the exhibition
AN exhibition of artwork by 130 school pupils, inspired by a collection of photographs showing Swindon’s past, will open tomorrow.
Four schools across the town have taken part in Back to Black and White, an initiative run by Swindon Youth Forum and Swindon Council’s Culture Swindon team, supported by a £25,000 grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund Young Roots programme.
The nine-month project saw Swindon Youth Forum members, aged 11 to 16, work with digital artist Dani Landau.
Inspired by Swindon photographer Albert Beaney’s collection of 40,000 photographs of residents from the 1940s to 1970s, the young people took photos of people today, using images from the past and present to create their own exhibition, which more than 1,000 people attended at Artsite.
Culture Swindon’s digital media team Create Studios then rolled out the project to four Swindon schools, who produced their own artworks and curated their own schools’ exhibitions.
Dani said: “The photographs created a bridge across the generations, a starting point for conversations.
“Both young and adults were curious about each others’ lives. There was laughter as we realised they did a lot of the same things, even in the same places.”
Culture Swindon education manager Dienka Hines said: “This project has enabled young people to engage with Swindon’s history – and the older people who are part of it – in innovative and engaging ways.
“They have used the Albert Beaney collection to connect with the past and then produced fantastic digital artwork reflecting on their communities now. I’m really excited to see the final exhibition of the young people’s work.”
Pupils at Drove Primary created a walking history tour using photos to make pop-up models combining the past and the present.
Students at St Joseph’s Catholic College took images with their mobile phones before putting them to music and making a film, while at Commonweal School they made images of themselves with the old images superimposed.
Seven Fields interviewed the older generation about Swindon life in days gone by before visiting landmarks from Beaney’s images of Penhill, to make a film which paired together their old and new photos.
HLF’s acting head of south west, Richard Bellamy, said, “Young people are the future champions for heritage and through our Young Roots programme we want to inspire them to explore the richness and diversity of the past, and, as in the Back to Black and White project, learn in a creative way about people who, in previous generations, have influenced their local communities.”
Now all the work will come together in a range of photographs, digital films and installations at Swindon Museum and Art Gallery, in Bath Road. The exhbition opens at 10am tomorrow and runs until April 14. It will be open on Wednesdays to Saturdays.
