Home Sweet Home?

Project Name
Home Sweet Home

School/ Organisation
All schools involved are part of the West Coast Excellence Cluster in Cumbria: Beckstone Primary School, Distington Primary School, Kells Infant School, Maryport Infant School, Montreal Primary School, Westfield Primary School.

Year group/Age of participants
Reception to Year 6

Date
June to November 2007

Artist(s) involved
Paul Taylor, Jan Kelsey, Marion Booth, Gail Baskett and musicians from Soundwave.

What were the aims of your project?
The project aimed to explore the idea of home with children, placed in the wider context of issues of migration, exile and displacement. The theme was explored through several elements, against the background of the 200th anniversary of the Abolition of the British Trade in Enslaved People.

What did you do?
The children were invited to reflect on what home means to them - is it a place, a group of people, a smell, a story, a sound? They were then asked to think about what they would take with them if they had to leave home, just as migrant workers do now and slaves did in the past. Would it be physical objects, or less tangible- a song, a story, a smell, a dance, a memory?

Paul Taylor, one of the artists involved explains:

“Home Sweet Home was a genuine collaboration between artists and children, working round the themes of home and journeys. Children aged 5 to 11 years from four primary and infant schools in West Cumbria were encouraged to fill small cardboard suitcases with drawings and models of the things they would take with them if they had to leave, and maps of utopias they would like to travel to and the results are very moving. One particularly pragmatic boy drew his vision of utopia- basically it was his house next to Whitehaven Rugby Club. We were touched that, even though this was utopia, Whitehaven were still being beaten 26 - 19 by Castleford!”

One school chose to focus on creating a musical response to the idea of home with musicians from Soundwave helping to create a sound piece combining brass band music with djembe drumming that will accompany the visual art in an exhibition of work at The Beacon in Whitehaven from January to March 2008.

What were the successes of the project?
The project seemed to strike a chord with many of the childrens' families in the wider school communities. At one school parents, aunties, uncles and grandparents not only decorated their own paper houses to add the huge map in the school hall, but they even created their own row of terraces houses! Other parents wrote their thoughts of what they would take with them on a long journey onto suitcase luggage labels.

An unexpected outcome of the project was the stunning exhibition of some of the children's work at the Alexandra Gallery at the Lancaster campus of University of Cumbria. This was designed and curated by artists Paul and Jan and was a source of inspiration for students, staff and members of the public.

A key factor to the success of the project was ensuring that school staff were involved in the planning of the sessions at an early stage, making it a true collaboration between artists, the staff and young people.

What were the challenges?
Initially there were some concerns that the very young children would not be able to grasp some of the complex issues linked to the project. However, the majority of the children responded without inhibitions and engaged with the ideas at a very personal level.

The co-ordination difficulties of working with six schools, at least four artists and several partner organisations were overcome due to the great enthusiasm and commitment to the project shown by all involved.

For more information please This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it Kate Morgan, Cumbria Arts in Education

The project was co-ordinated by Karen Thompson, West Coast Excellence Cluster with support from Cumbria Arts in Education and was funded by Arts Council England, Creative Partnerships Cumbria, Cumbria Arts in Education, West Cumbria Excellence Cluster and the University of Cumbria.