Monthly Archives: April 2016

Chester Beatty’s Creative Lab for Teens

Chester Beatty Library, Ireland

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The Chester Beatty Library holds a collection of rare books and manuscripts from all over the world. Chester Beatty’s Creative Lab for Teens is the first in-house club set-up for teens aged 12-17 years and was established in January 2014. The programme was originally set-up with the advice of the City of Dublin Youth Service Board http://www.cdysb.ie/.

Young people are encouraged to both participate as well as contribute to the programme which includes monthly workshops (lasting over 3 hours). The club has two designated coordinators who specialises in youth work as well as art / craft / design. Each month a specific theme is selected based on a temporary exhibition in the Chester Beatty Library and/or a related theme e.g. animation,
robotics, book-making, electronics, craft, etc. The Library and coordinators work with teens to programme future events through feedback sessions at each event (over a hot chocolate break). The Library has formed partnerships with a number of local organisations: TOG Maker Space, Science Gallery Dublin,
Festival of Curiosity, to deliver the sessions. It is paramount that the teens are empowered not only to participate but also to feedback and lead workshops.

 

http://www.cbl.ie/Education/Book-workshops.aspx#Creative_Lab_Club

Hackathon

Gallen-Kellala Museum, Finland

Project summary: The Gallen-Kallela Museum is a small cultural historical museum dedicated to preserving and keeping relevant the heritage of the well-known Finnish artist Akseli Gallen-Kallela (1865–1931). The GallenKallela hackathon was a two-day “hack marathon” in February 2015 during which a group of interested people worked together to create a series of digital responses to Akseli Gallen-Kallela’s heritage, making use of the
museum’s collections and digitised collections information. The event included out of hours visits in the castle-like museum Tarvaspää, guided tours to the permanent exhibitions, familiarising themselves with the museum’s information assets behind the scenes, and good catering.The event produced a number of different outputs: new Wikipedia entries, a graphic novel, a mobile application and a piece of research. The outputs were participant led. The event was cost-effective yet meaningful for the participants. The museum was supported by a number of external partners including Hack Your Heritage – Hack4fi, Open Knowledge Finland, AvoinGLAM
working group and Wikipedia Suomi.

http://www.gallen-kallela.fi/en/

Virtual Reality Night

Cap Sciences, France

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During one evening at Cap Sciences, visitors were engaged in the topic of virtual reality (VR) through several means, involving creativity and personal interrogations. For example, visitors were invited to use and test the Oculus Rift headset (a device for viewing 3-D) or make Google Cardboard VR (virtual reality) headsets for use with their own smartphones. The event aimed to go beyond the traditional conference/presentation format to offer a more playful and creative experience; attract new audiences, in particular 15-25 year olds; to provide a memorable experience of virtual reality, stimulate reflection (ethical, economic, social questions…) on this new way of perceiving the world and to provoke new conversations and actions on the topic of virtual reality.

http://www.nuitdeschercheurs-france.eu/BordeauX2015

Museum Hack

Metropolitan Museum of Art (and others) USA

Museum Hack crafts museum experiences for people who do not like museums by breaking down and remixing the facets of museum culture that fail to engage those visitors. By challenging the way institutions approach interactivity, engagement, tours, and events, Museum Hack aims to show museums how to connect visitors with collections and with each other, all while having fun in the museum space. Museum Hack appeals primarily to a millennial audience by making museums and exhibition spaces engaging and active. That being said, they have found that audiences of all ages get excited when the museum becomes a proactive, engaging space for them.
http://www.museumhack.com/

Exhibition: T-Rex

Cap Sciences – France

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In 2014, Cap Sciences curated an exhibition on T. Rex
dinosaurs. This subject is very popular at capturing the public’s imagination; there are films, cartoons, books, video games and a multitude of toys and children’s products all relating to dinosaurs and the T. Rex in particular. The aim of this project was to involve the audience in the making of the exhibition, setting up a participatory process in which the visitors could contribute to the displayed works. It was therefore decided to make the first room of the exhibition a display of pictures drawn by children, as well as toys, books and other representations of the T. Rex. This part of the exhibition was created with content generated by or donated by the people of Bordeaux. Once the exhibition was open, visitors were invited to draw a T. Rex picture, scan it and send it to Cap Sciences. They could do it at home or during a visit to the exhibition. The visitors who got involved felt the exhibition as theirs, and developed a special relationship with Cap Sciences.
http://www.britishmuseum.org/learning/samsung_centre.aspx

Innovation Lab, Samsung Digital Discovery Centre (SDDC)

The British Museum UK

Project summary: The British Museum houses a vast collection of world art and artefacts. The SDDC offers a programme of schools and family learning sessions using Samsung digital technology to engage these audiences with the British Museum’s collections. The Museum offers workshops and drop-in sessions every Saturday and Sunday, 52 weekends a year for families. As part of this family programme, on one day per month the Museum schedules an ‘Innovation Lab’. This lab is a space in the programme where the Digital Learning Managers for the SDDC can experiment with new technology, new ideas and different approaches, and test these on the ground with the visiting family audience. To kick-start the Innovation Lab programme with energy and ambition, the Museum decided to seek out Makers, creative practitioners, artists and technology experimenters, to pitch and deliver these sessions.

http://www.britishmuseum.org/learning/samsung_centre.aspx

Poppy Day

Cap Sciences, France

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In April 2015, over the course of one weekend, 6 science
centres across France built six robots – one in each city – with the help of their audiences. The robots were Poppy robots, an open source and 3D-printed android designed by the INRIA lab in France. At Cap Sciences (a science centre located in Bordeaux), to avoid focusing only on the technical construction of the robot, several creative activities were associated with the building of the robot. 

The goal was to involve the audience in contributing to the making of resources for the science centre, and to allow them to discover the multiple possibilities offered by the open source approach.

 

http://www.c-yourmag.net/post/2015-04-02/bordeaux-des-chercheurs-inventent-poppy-lepremier-robot-modulable-%C3%A0-imprimer-en-3d

The creative museum at Museumnext

Chester Beatty Library, Dublin – Ireland on Monday 18 April 2016

Eight lightning talks, two hands-on workshops and lots of social mingling in a high-paced, interactive and fun event about creativity and maker culture in museums.

THE CREATIVE MUSEUM AT MUSEUMNEXT

The Creative Museum at MuseumNext brings together a great mix of people who believe museums are places for creativity, invention, making and doing, and who share their experiences in bringing museums to life. Come prepared to hear stories from makers, doers, thinkers and tinkerers, to participate in short workshops and to share your own stories and experiences with your fellow participants.

 

We guarantee all participants a healthy dose of inspiration, at least three laughs and a few ideas that will help your institution tap into the creativity of your community, maker culture and – ultimately – your own creativity.

 
Speakers and facilitators include Jenny Siung (Chester Beaty Library), Ian Brunswick (Science Gallery), Cecile Marsan (Creative Museum Project), Ellen Byrne (Festival of Curiosity), Thom Conaty (Maker.ie), Mark Nagurski (Makematic), Jo-Anne Sunderland and Jeffrey Roe (TOG).

 
The event is facilitated by Jasper Visser and is part of the creative practice analysis programme within the framework of the Creative Museum project.

 

Co-Creation and Creative Practice – a case study in Ireland

In the Creative Museum the visitor engages with the collection, the building, and the people to make or create something.  The Creative Museum project is about opportunity: doing and making; experimenting and innovating; making connections; opening up museums; learning; concrete results and interpreting collections.
The Creative Museum conference, Bologna 2015

Chester Beatty Library, Dublin, Ireland

Chester Beatty’s Creative Lab for Teens provides young people aged 12-17 years the opportunity to make and create. Participants were introduced to the Fibonacci sequence as found in the Chester Beatty Library’s Islamic, East Asian and European collections.
Jenny Siung, Justyna Chmielewska, Caitriona Buggle and Ida Mitrani discuss the importance of collaboration and co-creation with art, science and museums.

 

 

Science Gallery, Dublin, Ireland

Science Gallery is an award-winning international initiative pioneered by Trinity College Dublin that delivers a dynamic new model for engaging 15–25 year olds with science.
Ian Brunswick, Programme Manager,  talks about the importance of co-creation and collaboration.

 

Jenny Siung – Head of Education
Cheater Beatty Library