Kids in Museums volunteer, May Redfern investigates Stories of the World. It is the largest youth participation project ever carried out by museums, taking hold at over 60 museums across the UK, as part of next year’s Olympic celebrations…
With backing from the Arts Council, the museums have been busy working with over 2000 young curators to explore their collections and develop exciting exhibitions and events for summer 2012.
At the London Transport Museum, a small team of paid young ambassadors have been developing public programmes as part of their contribution to Stories of the World.
Kawy, who started working with the Transport Museum three years ago, aged 16, now delivers engineering workshops for children, “This has given me an opportunity that I never thought I’d be able to do. It has changed my whole view of my future. It’s given me the chance to experiment.” Plans to study civil engineering at university are firmly in place and Kawy now has a mentor at Transport for London, who helped her get work experience at two civil engineering companies. “I don’t know how I would have got such close contact without the museum.”
So are museums really ready for all this youth engagement? What if some museum people don’t want to share authority, thanks very much? Steve Gardam, Head of Live Programmes at the Transport Museum says, “We need to make participation public. We are working with people, not at people. Youth participation programmes give us a chance to experiment. Museums need a reason to change their approach. If there is a reluctance to change then it could be because people are evil or mean, but actually maybe they are just busy. We need to parent that change, to midwife it.”
Other lives are being affected by Stories of the World in Yorkshire, where 15 museums have got together to deliver Precious Cargo with young people aged 14-24. They’re busy creating exhibitions featuring precious items from around the world. More than a million people are expected to view these exhibitions next year.
These young people are certain their involvement has made a positive difference to their lives. One participant said, “I truly cannot express how important the project has been to me and how it has made me more certain about my future career.”
Another young artist said, “Working with museums has taught me to be more professional, not so loose around the edges. I feel ‘employed’ and not just like another young person.”
At a conference held at Leeds Museum, designed to showcase Stories of the World, young poet Andrew McMillian summed up in verse the question on everyone’s lips: what’s next?
But what of after 2012, after the last gold is sunk, the last ring
Run around the track? How could we go back to the monochrome
Before? It’s like we’ve only just learned what museums are for.
