Ever wondered what it is like being a teenager living in Hull today? In a new exhibition, pupils from Endeavour High School invite you to experience life from their perspective. “What’s Your Story?” uses films, photographs and personal objects to create an insight into the lives of a diverse group of young people.

The exhibition is part of the “Campaign! Make an Impact” project, an innovative project in which students are inspired by museum collections to create their own campaign about issues which affect their own lives. This project has been led by Hull Museum Education who have also been working in partnership with Cafesociety.org, the British Library and the Thackray Medical Museum.

Hull Museum Education teamed up with creative media practitioners Jon Robson and Matt Stephenson of Cafésociety.org to work with the students on their contemporary campaign inspired by museum collections.

Jane Avison, Senior Education Officer at Hull Museum Education said: “The young people have created the exhibition as part of their campaign against racism and intolerance. First they made short films about their own lives and then came to the museum to investigate the slavery collections and issues around racism. They developed a greater understanding of each other and wanted to run a campaign to promote tolerance between different cultures.”

The aim of the campaign is to break down barriers between communities, dispel some myths and promote understanding of different cultures. Jane continued: “The young people have been very courageous in putting themselves forward as the face of the campaign, giving us an insight into their lives. They would like the viewer to stop and think before making judgements, to consider the person and their story, not just nationality.”

The exhibition will be officially opened by Sir Keith Ajegbo, the Government Advisor for Citizenship. There will also be the opportunity to show case campaigns from the other partners involved in the “Campaign! Make an Impact” project.

The exhibition will be held in the Live Arts Space at the Ferens Art Gallery from Saturday 8th March to Sunday 27th April. It will then be displayed at the Artlink Centre for Community Arts from Thursday 8th May to Monday 2nd June.

More exciting work with Hull Museums Education Service

Hull Museums Education Service, together with the British Library and Museums, Libraries and Archives Yorkshire (MLA Yorkshire) havre asked us to get involved in a programme of work relating to citizenship, identity and campaigning, following on from the succesful Making an Impact Young Campaigners project we developed at Winifred Holtby School earlier in 2007.

In the first phase we’re planning on working with pupils from Hull’s inner city Endeavour Secondary School, making a series of short films focussing on the views and stories of people from other countries who have chosen to settle in Hull.

A later phase will see us working with pupils to develop documentary photographic, journalistic and campaigning skills for an exhibition and book exploring the identities and lives of the pupils themselves.

Exciting stuff and a great project to be involved with.

Hull Fair Travellers School

Another exciting project… During the two weeks of Hull Fair, the city council runs a temporary school for the children of the families who run the fairground attractions. We’re really looking forward to working closely with the school on another photography and journalism-based project which will document the lives and views of the children who travel with the fair.

It will be fascinating for us to learn more about their lives, meet their families, and - of course - we’ll all be making work which will provide a unique insight into on of Europe’s biggest and oldest fairs.

The end result will be a book (which will be available to order - details soon) and a series of short Photo Story films.

Restorative Practice

Before summer we began work documenting the pioneering Restorative Practice work being developed by Estelle MacDonald, head of Hull’s Collingwood Primary School.

We’re currently editing interviews with pupils and expect to be back in school soon to finish the job and we’ll post the film on the site when it’s complete.

Keep an eye on the site for details of how work progresses and new jobs as they come up…

Powered by ScribeFire.

Back to work… been a busy summer though…

Our good friend Barmmy Boy returned to Freetown on August 10 so he could be back in time to vote in the elections. Barmmy had a great time here in the UK, worked really hard, made loads of friends, learned a lot. He now intends to work closely with the British Council to help Cafesociety.org develop school partnerships and media training work in Freetown.

Another Salonian friend of ours, Tony Gblah, also returned to Freetown recently after spending a year in Hull as a volunteer with various church social projects. Tony’s having a bit of a tough time at the moment - no money, no job, no fixed abode - we’ll be trying to help him get back on his feet.

Powered by ScribeFire.