Feedback from visitors
“My community is already very creative and it was amazing to see something similar being celebrated. I would like to think about making something creative which intersects with social justice”
“It’s brilliant!”
This exhibition presents findings from a research project funded by Centre for Cultural Value and jointly led by Fun Palaces and sociologist Dr Katy Pilcher. Together they investigated whether communities who make creative and cultural experiences for themselves also create ways to have their needs heard.
The project highlights how communities come together across social divides to share knowledge and create cultural value while exploring how cultural participation, might unlock wider civic activism and address the barriers and social inequalities preventing this from happening.
The findings of the research are presented through stories, photographs and objects shared by those who participated in the research project, bringing to life the experiences of Fun Palaces Makers from across the UK and demonstrating what their Fun Palaces have led to.
Creative Voices, Activist Voices: Sensory Stories of Creative Communities exhibition opened at The Albany CaffA on 21st August 2024. This event brought together guests, Fun Palace makers and participants who contributed to the research. The event used the objects from the exhibition to create the activities; food using recipes from the Nom Nom cookbook and bubble-making activities. There was also a banner-making workshop, the results of which were displayed as part of the exhibition.
Tour dates of the exhibition
Bureau Blackburn, 5 Exchange St, Blackburn BB1 7JN – Dates TBC
The Moseley Hive (Community Centre), 93 Alcester Rd, Birmingham B13 8DD – Saturday 9th November 2024
More dates to come soon. If you would be interested in hosting the exhibition at your venue, please get in touch
Credits
Dr Katy Pilcher (Aston University, UK)
Amie Taylor (Fun Palaces Director)
Kirsty Lothian (former Fun Palaces Co-Director)
Ayesha Chouglay (Fun Palaces Exhibition Producer)
Rachel Attfield (Fun Palaces Producer, and Exhibition Consultant)
Alex Marshall (Fun Palaces Communications and Marketing Manager)
Kerris Casey-St.Pierre (Citizen Researcher)
Julia Hines (Citizen Researcher)
The Centre for Cultural Value are a national research centre based at the University of Leeds. Their core mission is to build a shared understanding of the differences that arts, culture, heritage and screen make to people’s lives and to society.
Please note the people speaking the text may be of a different demographic to the original speaker, we would like to acknowledge that this could be problematic in some ways, and create power imbalances or shift meaning in some circumstances. The original voice recordings from the speakers could not be featured due to anonymity reasons. We felt it was still important to record audio versions of the content of the exhibition in order to make it accessible to those who would benefit from audio recordings.
This research project was funded by the Collaborate Fund (AHRC, Arts Council England, Paul Hamlyn), through the Centre for Cultural Value at the University of Leeds.