About this Special Focus Feature: Stories of the World
Run with the support of the National Youth Agency (NYA), Stories of the World (SotW) is a unique and innovative UK-wide programme. It also forms a central part of the London 2012 Cultural Olympiad. This Special Focus Feature aims to highlight some of SotW’s aims, methods and achievements. Plus you’ll hear from three young people who have benefited from taking part – Lauren, Aobakwe, and Lucinda.
The programme puts young people at the heart of the curatorial process, to present exciting new museum exhibitions across the UK. SotW explores the UK’s place in the world, and the world’s place in the UK. It investigates the extraordinary global collections that museums hold, and connects them with relevant communities in the UK and abroad.
SotW is led by the Arts Council in partnership with the London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games (LOCOG). The programme began in 2010, and the finale will be a network of major exhibitions. This will leave a legacy of youth participation across?museums.
A unique and exciting project with 1,500 young people recruited
SotW is the largest ever youth participation initiative run by museums. ?In total, 1,500 young people have been recruited. They have received training, skills development and accreditation along the way. These 1,500 young people represent diverse groups, including:
• Those not in education, employment or training (Neet)
• Students
• Young workers
• School pupils
The NYA is proud to back such a unique and exciting project. It brings people together to share their stories across the generations and between cultures. SotW inspires young people by connecting them with their communities, and by firing their imagination to design and develop their own series of exhibitions.
How the NYA’s Hear by Right is helping to create a lasting legacy
Through embedding their positive participation through the NYA’s Hear by Right framework, young people are not just participants in the programme. They are also leaders. Young people are involved in all areas of the exhibitions. That means everything from display, design and interpretation, through to marketing, promotion and front of house.
The use of the NYA’s Hear by Right is helping to leave a lasting legacy on how museums, libraries and archives work with young people. This approach is also opening new career paths for young people, and is developing:
• New skills
• New ways of working
• New ways of developing and presenting exhibitions
Stories of the World demonstrates the vital educational role that museums and libraries continue to play in our communities. But it also highlights how creative, innovative and inspiring young people can be when they are given the opportunity.
Would you like to find out more about Hear by Right?? Then please visit www.nya.org.uk/quality/hear-by-right
Why the young people’s steering group proved so important
A key factor in the Stories of the World programme’s success so far has been their young people’s steering group, which is fully supported by the NYA. Stories of the World’s steering group first met in November 2010 in Birmingham. It considered the different ways young people could take part, and addressed questions such as:
• What do you want out of the museums?
• How can museums involve young people better?
• What would you like to see happen before 2012?
• How would you like the project to continue after 2012?
The steering group’s members represent young people from across the country. Now well-established, the group has helped plan and deliver events. These include the 2011 Youth Summit, Stories of the World Conference 2011, and the Parliament Event 2012.
Evidence and opportunities
The young people have also been developing a bank of evidence and case studies to:
• Capture what’s happening with young people and Stories of the World
• Help change young people’s involvement across museums
The steering group has also:
• Achieved a developing leadership skills qualification
• Been invited to influential events
• Taken the opportunity to host, present and facilitate sessions at the Stories of the World Conference
The steering group has invested considerable time and effort into developing a document for museums, to help encourage young people into the museums. The NYA will continue supporting the steering group until the end of 2012.
Have you met Lauren, Aobakwe and Lucinda?
All three of these young people have benefited from being involved in the NYA-supported Stories of the World (SotW) programme. Here are their stories . . .
Lauren Campbell? (National Museum of Scotland)
Lauren Campbell had what she described as an “unfulfilling job”. She was keen to spend time doing something she enjoyed. Lauren was also keen to work with young people, to be challenged in a new way, and to get some “intellectual stimulation”. Lauren was particularly attracted to SotW, because she wanted to be part of “something big” in the wider “cultural world”.
She enjoyed working with the National Museum of Scotland, a prestigious museum with which she feels a “personal connection”. She enhanced her existing research, public speaking and debating abilities, and she developed new museum-based skills. Lauren hopes to do an MA in museum studies, and to have a career in the museums sector.
Lauren is keen to remain involved with the museum in other projects. She wanted to help create a “lasting place for young people” at the National Museum of Scotland. Lauren liked working as part of the museum’s opening weekend, and joining the SotW national steering group.
Aobakwe Mokgakagadi? (London Transport Museum)
Aobakwe was excited by SotW, as it offered her the chance to take part in “something big”. She was also interested in joining in a community project, with close links to the London 2012 Olympics.
As part of her personal journey, Aobakwe was keen to act as a voice for young people, and to help engage young people through museums. The museum she worked with was the London Transport Museum. She wanted to use the museum and its collection as an inspiration for young people, and to create projects for young people within the museum.
Although her project is now complete, she says this “is not the end”. Aobakwe is determined to make museums even more “young people friendly”. She has suggestions on running young people’s workshops, and what more can be done with collections to engage young people. Aobakwe is interested in the design side of engineering, and how this involves creativity, exploration and art.
Among other things, Aobakwe says she is “exploring and visiting more museums”. She is also “looking at other things I can do for young people, museums or youth-led organisations”, to develop the relationships between them.
Lucinda Abel? (Brighton Museum and Art Gallery)
Lucinda wanted to learn more about the role of museums, as she is interested in developing a career in community outreach with museums.
A Brighton University student, she joined Brighton Museum’s “Museum Collective”. The collective was consulted on plans for improving one of the museum’s collections. “We voiced our opinions on the designs and marketing,” she said.
Lucinda enjoyed many aspects of SotW, including “learning about the behind-the-scenes of museums, and how they engage their local community, and create a space for them to discover and express themselves”.
She said: “I wanted to learn about the different types of models of distributing knowledge creatively to people. It has been a valuable experience and has inspired me to develop a community arts project celebrating local stories from Brighton seafront with puppet animations”.
Lucinda believes that SotW will have an ongoing impact. “The museum is always evolving,” she said. “There is always a forum of young people that organise projects and events for young people, and I think this will just get bigger and better the more we do.”
