Students from Stepney Green School on a tour of Rivington Place
Photo: Harjeet Kaur, 2009
In collaboration with Eastside Education Trust, Iniva piloted Mapping Michael as part of the Performing for Success programme. The project aimed to raise young people’s awareness of the visual arts and to provide them with an opportunity to experience what it would be like to work in a gallery.
Artists Harjeet Kaur and Jonathan Boast worked with young people from Stepney Green School to explore opportunities within the visual arts. The sessions took place over a 6 week period giving the young people the chance to experience different roles. They also produced their own work and curated an exhibition. The participants took on various roles including marketing officers, finance officers, curators and artists which gave them a sense of the scope within the creative sector.
They initially looked at the language used in the arts and were then introduced to an A to Z of curating an exhibition. Participants were given a strong sense of ownership of both the space in which they worked as well as the work that they produced. They gained confidence in accessing galleries and the project generated an interest in working within the visual arts in the future.
It culminated in a one day exhibition Mapping Michael at Rivington place which was curated by the young people and featured their own works.
The project was supported by Find Your Talent a subsidary of Performing for Success.