Things of the least: lively exhibition-making through the material encounters of under-3s
Lead Research Organisation:
Manchester Metropolitan University
Department Name: Education and Social Research Institute
Abstract
Based in Manchester, this project will develop new and experimental exhibitionary practices through the spatial, material and embodied knowledges of children who are under 3. Overturning conventional assumptions about very young children by framing them as active contributors to the public space of the museum, the project emerges from a longstanding
partnership between Manchester Metropolitan University, Manchester Art Gallery (MAG) and a Sure Start centre. It is underpinned by two key strands of our research: young children's more-than-verbal capacities to animate collections and gallery architecture; and artistic processes that call on different kinds of attunement to embodied sensations and affective
encounters, both deeply related by their commitment to interdisciplinarity and co-produced inquiry.
Recognising the potential of young children's expressions of vitality in their encounters with collections, this work redresses the paucity of knowledge, understanding and practice around co-produced engagement with, and exhibitions for under 3s. It contributes to moves in UK museums and galleries towards more inventive and experimental exhibition cultures by
developing curatorial practices and participatory exhibition-making with young families across a three-year period. Working with three teams of artists, the project will examine how young children's ways of knowing can contribute and have a positive impact on museum collections.
Combining museum studies, early years education and art as vital components in the creation of new forms of decolonising museological praxis, the project will open up a stored collection of over 4,000 objects of domestic life and childhood from the early 1800s-1900s for creative use by audiences who do not usually connect with the GLAM sector - objects that might seem insignificant and humble, yet anchor us deeply in a sense of belonging (The Mary Greg Collection). At the same time, it will facilitate deeper engagement with families and early years communities already engaged with MAG. Artists will translate key sensory and narrative qualities of selected objects from the collection into 10-15 prototypes (Mary Greg Play Kit) - sound or movement-based pieces, physical objects or digital artefacts specifically designed to engage children under 3 and their families. Prototypes will function as artefacts, play things and research objects giving insight into under 3s' play. With families as co-researchers, we will create a vocabulary of gestures, sounds and movements as the children engage with the prototypes to incorporate their forms of encounters into reworked objects and installation ideas.
In the process of interrupting normative practices by democratising knowledge production, the project interweaves a range of public engagement activities with exhibition-making processes. These entangled events will occur across a number of sites, including a supported housing complex for young mothers; a temporary shelter for asylum seeking & refugee families; a nursery school & Sure Start children's centre; and Platt Hall (a closed former costume museum with an uncertain future, in the process of becoming a dynamic cultural space for local communities).
The project will produce a range of shorter- and longer-term outcomes and impacts for Platt Hall and the Mary Greg collection as relevant and revitalised cultural assets.
partnership between Manchester Metropolitan University, Manchester Art Gallery (MAG) and a Sure Start centre. It is underpinned by two key strands of our research: young children's more-than-verbal capacities to animate collections and gallery architecture; and artistic processes that call on different kinds of attunement to embodied sensations and affective
encounters, both deeply related by their commitment to interdisciplinarity and co-produced inquiry.
Recognising the potential of young children's expressions of vitality in their encounters with collections, this work redresses the paucity of knowledge, understanding and practice around co-produced engagement with, and exhibitions for under 3s. It contributes to moves in UK museums and galleries towards more inventive and experimental exhibition cultures by
developing curatorial practices and participatory exhibition-making with young families across a three-year period. Working with three teams of artists, the project will examine how young children's ways of knowing can contribute and have a positive impact on museum collections.
Combining museum studies, early years education and art as vital components in the creation of new forms of decolonising museological praxis, the project will open up a stored collection of over 4,000 objects of domestic life and childhood from the early 1800s-1900s for creative use by audiences who do not usually connect with the GLAM sector - objects that might seem insignificant and humble, yet anchor us deeply in a sense of belonging (The Mary Greg Collection). At the same time, it will facilitate deeper engagement with families and early years communities already engaged with MAG. Artists will translate key sensory and narrative qualities of selected objects from the collection into 10-15 prototypes (Mary Greg Play Kit) - sound or movement-based pieces, physical objects or digital artefacts specifically designed to engage children under 3 and their families. Prototypes will function as artefacts, play things and research objects giving insight into under 3s' play. With families as co-researchers, we will create a vocabulary of gestures, sounds and movements as the children engage with the prototypes to incorporate their forms of encounters into reworked objects and installation ideas.
In the process of interrupting normative practices by democratising knowledge production, the project interweaves a range of public engagement activities with exhibition-making processes. These entangled events will occur across a number of sites, including a supported housing complex for young mothers; a temporary shelter for asylum seeking & refugee families; a nursery school & Sure Start children's centre; and Platt Hall (a closed former costume museum with an uncertain future, in the process of becoming a dynamic cultural space for local communities).
The project will produce a range of shorter- and longer-term outcomes and impacts for Platt Hall and the Mary Greg collection as relevant and revitalised cultural assets.