Chol’s 2024 Partnership with Museums (Part 1)

Embedding  an Imaginary Communities Approach with Kirklees Museums 

Kirklees Museums are a long-term ally of Chol and have regularly invited us to collaborate on projects which help to animate their collections for new audiences. Both parties were keen to build on their partnership and explore how Chol’s unique Imaginary Communities approach could enable children to develop a love of history and widen their knowledge of the past.

Imaginary Communities (IC) is Chol’s dramatic story-making process.  IC is a collaborative process and everyone involved contributes to the development of the narrative. IC enables every participant to co-create an imaginary world; taking on their own unique character to explore their ideas through setting, characters and plot. Our robust research has shown that when taking part in an IC project children are engaged more deeply in their learning. When the opportunity arose to co-create a new project focusing on schools in museums it was agreed this project would be a fantastic opportunity to explore this approach in partnership with Kirklees Museums.

The delivery of this year’s project began with Lauren Ash, Chol’s Schools and Education Lead (and long term Imaginary Communities lead practitioner), visiting a Year 4 class at East Bierley Primary school. East Bierley Primary School has been a partner school on Chol’s Caring and Creative Schools programme for three years and are very experienced in the process of Imaginary Communities within their classrooms. The purpose of the workshops (or so the class thought) was to continue their IC journey with a one off workshop exploring the Ancient Egyptians. Using strategic IC activities, the class recalled their knowledge from the previous term’s topic to generate ideas, collaborate and build an immersive and imaginative Ancient Egyptian World. By lunchtime the classroom had been transformed into the valley of the nile, complete with pyramids concealing secrets, grumpy camels and a host of interesting characters.

However, normal proceedings were halted after lunch when the children came back into the classroom to find an old suitcase, locked with a chain and 4 digit code padlock. Lauren explained that someone from Bagshaw Museum had contacted her and turned up at school with the suitcase and note explaining they had to use their knowledge of the Egyptians to solve the clues to find the digits that would unlock the suitcase. The children quickly realised this was linked to their upcoming visit to Bagshaw Museum the following week, their excitement sparked their imagination and investment for the duration of the project.

The suitcase turning up at the school became the “Shared Starting Point’, an exciting stage in an Imaginary Community when teacher, artist and children have created a shared world with individual characters then work collaboratively to find the shared motive that inspires the narrative or next step. In this instance introducing the suitcase with its codes to solve created an opportunity to work together and draw on their previous knowledge to move their ideas forward and ignite their engagement.

What followed during their afternoon session and subsequently during their museum visit, was a series of IC activities called ‘Equal Playmaker Strategies’. These strategies are typically used during a classroom based IC to help the class to find and explore the end of their story, working together to resolve problems and decide on a final moment or scene to bring it to a close. 

Whilst in the museum, the children discovered the ‘problem’ was an empty exhibition and an invitation to create their own artefacts to fill the cabinet with their stories. The children were invited to sculpt, draw, collage and paint a variety of items to be incorporated into the empty cabinet, creating a brand new exhibition called ‘House of Stories’. Intertwined between these creative fine-arts activities,  responsive drama-based strategies were incorporated into the delivery plan to provide opportunities for the children to collaborate, invest and take ownership of their ideas.

Each item the children created shared a little bit of their personality and the students were encouraged to explore the museum to gather creative inspiration to develop their ideas. The day was brought to a close with a special ceremony as the children offered their creations to the temporary exhibition. The final House of Stories exhibition showcased clay animal talismen inspired by the Egyptian shabti, secret coded wishes influenced by the pyramid’s Hieroglyphics, patterned colourful jewellery inspired by the bold colours and patterns of Bagshaw Museum and postcards of special places and locations prompted by the museum’s very own holiday gallery; ‘Wish You Were Here’.

Utilising Chol’s Imaginary Communities approach and applying and adapting the key stages of IC to explore and co-create the final outcome of the House of Stories exhibit has been a huge success. The responsive nature of IC has encouraged the students to further develop personal and academic skills widening their knowledge and strengthening engagement. The excitement from the children as they left their newly co-curated exhibition on display for the public evidenced their collaborative and individual sense of achievement. 

Working with Chol is always inspirational! The team bring Museum collections to life in such innovative ways – creatively drawing upon Kirklees’ stories to engage the students through programmes of drama and art, developing children’s personal connections with their local history and heritage and instilling a deep sense of pride and confidence in their own abilities. The Imaginary Communities project brings joy! Emma Simpson, Cultural Engagement Assistant, Kirklees Museums & Galleries