Earlier this month I attended Future Creative’s Creativity in Practice course at Bore Place Farm near Sevenoaks. I made a lot of new er… creative friends and began to get to grips with the principles and er… creative processes that will enable me to devise and run successful er… creative projects in schools that both engage students and meet the hopes and aims of the teaching staff.

During the summer term I’ll be working with the Science Department at Brockhill Park near Hythe, a school which has, over the last few years, very successfully built its learning culture around arts and creative thinking. It’s well known for its excellence in Performing Arts, but encourages creativity right across the curriculum. I’ll be working with the teachers to develop some project ideas, possibly an exploration in science fiction encompassing topics such as of alternative energy, the environment and healthy lifestyles.

And ultimately, the hope is that this work will also lead nicely into my involvement in the government’s £25 million Find Your Talent programme, an initiative aiming to provide young people with five hours of quality cultural activity a week, which is being piloted here in Shepway (one of ten pilot areas) over the next couple of years.

The website, which has been used in conjunction with a series of workshops in East London schools, opens up the Whitechapel archives to allow kids to explore the rich histories of both the gallery and of the local area. An interactive timeline provides an easy way of trawling through the decades, revisiting local notables from Dizzee Rascal to Jack the Ripper. But the most innovative feature enables schools to build their own archives, uploading text and images to an online scrapbook with its own secure log-in and a range of cool visual elements allowing kids to customise and decorate their pages.

Margaret Hodge, the MP for nearby Barking, is pictured here at the launch day with Whitechapel director Iwona Blazwick and the team of fifteen students who advised on the project. A full description of the project will appear on this site soon.

Archive Adventures

Recorded last week, and benefiting hugely from the patience, energy and technical knowledge of Oliver Craggs at Hidden Track Studios in Folkestone, the audio guide will be available both as a download and on mp3 players available for loan at the Triennial visitor centre.

Look out for a feature on the Folkestone Triennial on BBC2’s Culture Show this week.

Curator Andrea Schlieker says: “It’s a tribute to Folkestone’s truly inspirational character that our roster of acclaimed artists from LA to Lodz have all responded with extraordinary enthusiasm and artistic insight to creating works for this seaside town. Our aim is to bring art of the highest quality to the widest audience, and to put Folkestone on the cultural map in the same way that Münster receives world-wide recognition for its Skulptur Projekte. We are especially excited about the legacy element of the Triennial which will maintain the focus on Folkestone as a place committed to contemporary art beyond the timeframe of this inaugural exhibition.”