Invite teenagers into your gang, implores the new Kids in Museum Manifesto, unveiled last night at a party at the Wallace Collection. Government Ministers, celebrities, museum leaders, policy makers, young people who took part in Museum Take Over Day, and our own Kids in Museum volunteers, celebrated and debated in the famous courtyard, surrounded by 18th Century French Art.
Penny Smith, television presenter, had everyone laughing with her own stories of being told off for trying to touch a Rodin, contrasting this with her joy at a different type of museum experience where she spent the day playing on reconstructed Leonardo Da Vinci machines in Rome.
“Kids in Museums is a wonderful charity”, said Ed Vaizey, Minister for Culture, Communications and Creative Industries, remarking on the 600 museums who have all applied to be Family Friendly Museum of the year and the 400 museums who have pledged to follow the manifesto.
Kids in Museums Director, Dea Birkett, implored Museum’s to use common sense in attracting children, families and especially teenagers who are a particular 2012 Manifesto priority. “Don’t engage” said Dea, asking for a jargon free approach, “be genuinely welcoming.”
Director of the Wallace Collection, Dr Christoph Vogtherr, introduced the Wallace Collection Young Curators and told the audience how as a boy his local museum in Hamburg had welcomed his passion for their Rembrandts by giving him unlimited access. Dr Vogtherr praised the work of the young curators and the impact the Manifesto has had.
The Manifesto couldn’t have had a better launch in lovelier surroundings.
