The family factor

Alongside our ‘Family Album’ exhibition we offered a series of community-based activities during autumn 2008.

Family-friendly workshops drew their inspiration from the show, which looked at the idea of family from the Elizabethan period to the present day. Our art-based activities included making a family album, a family tree, a self portrait and a family crest. Attendees were able to bring in originals or photocopies of pictures of their families, friends and favourite pets to use.

A workshop for adults was also held where one of our regular participants led a group session on illustration, looking at the portraits in the exhibition and at family photographs brought along by the attendees.

We developed a digital photo frame which was included in the interactive section of the show. This featured photographs provided by our Imaginators pre-school group, members of staff and the local Barbican Archive Project.

Our biggest community project saw us working in partnership with the Plymouth and District Racial Equality Council (REC) with groups of women from across the city. They explored all aspects of women’s relationships within the family using the exhibition for creative inspiration. The experiences of wives, mothers, sisters, girlfriends and grandmothers provided them with a starting point to create a ‘community quilt’ which celebrated what women, from all backgrounds and cultures have in common.

The project encouraged the participants to challenge their preconceptions of people from other cultures and gave them an opportunity to socialise. It has led to an ongoing partnership with the REC and the establishment of a traditional crafts group who meet at the Museum each week.