What does it mean to have “children in charge”?
For the Water Drop Culture Project, it means directly involving children in the creation of cultural programming in the partner museums by inviting children to have a say and voice their opinion. To do this we have developed the Young Curators initiative, which invites Nordic children aged 8-15 to co-curate and develop series of exhibitions and festivals. Their task is to take charge in a new way of thinking about contemporary social challenges like environmentalism, gender equality and diversity in connection with Nordic classic literature.
Participants:
A few children are selected through an open call in each country for one year at a time. Together they will work locally in their seperate groups and meet their Nordic peers online. The children will be led by a facilitator in each country and by esteemed curator Chus Martinez. In addition the local curators in each partner museum will assist locally in selecting works by providing a catalogue of potential works to select from. The 12 Young Curators will create two tasks, based on an area where they have identified a need for assistance and external input. These tasks will be given to the local school classes and together with the teachers these will be solved and presented to the Young Curators.
Innovation:
The curatorial process and involvement of children is an innovation in both educational and cultural sector and this type of collaboration where the result a series of exhibition curated by children across border in Europe has never been seen before. All the partners but especially H.C. Andersen Museum has worked extensively with children’s involvement but never to this degree where the children are to a high degree in charge and the adults are facilitators of their ideas and directions.
Impact:
The children will learn to take part in the work processes and collaborate on an international level and see their work and ideas get an impact and be taken seriously. The children will be supported in trusting their inner ideas and life and be encouraged to think creatively and critically. In can also have the effect that some of the children will follow through on their interest in arts and culture and get more involved in this area and perhaps follow an educational path in this area in the future.
From the experience in H.C. Andersen Museum children that get to take an active part in creation in the museum appear happier and more confident in themselves. They learn to trust their inner world.
Transferability:
The impact and methods learned from this program will transfer on to other activities in the school and museums as well as have the ability for children, adults and institutions to become inspired and empowered from reading about the project or attending the exhibitions in real life or online.
Each child will be empowered to feel they have a say and can create impact on the world as a water drop touching the surface of water and creating rings around it. Both locally and internationally.
