Inspiration Africa! Project Description

In 1999 Cloth of Gold and the education department of the Horniman Museum secured funding from the DFEE for an exciting series of school based Art, ICT and Literacy projects called Inspiration Africa!

The projects were inspired by the Horniman Museum's new 'African Worlds' exhibition -the only permanent gallery in Britain dedicated to African related cultures.

Each project aimed to explore and expand pupils' reaction to African objects, encouraging and stimulating a range of exciting creative responses that develop ICT, Art and Language skills as well providing an increased respect for African culture.

Over a period of two years 12 schools from the London Boroughs of Lewisham and Bromley took part - 2 secondary, 2 primary and 2 special schools from each borough.

One class from each school (or equivalent) participated in the project and over six days they worked with an African or Caribbean storyteller/poet, a textile artist, a Website designer and an outreach worker from the Horniman Museum.

Each project included the following activities:

A twilight INSET session with participating teachers from both boroughs

an introductory day visit to the school involving a handling session of objects from the museums collection, story telling, ICT and a textile screen printing demonstration

a half day visit to the African Worlds Exhibition with a supporting workshop

3 days workshops with the poet/storyteller and artist

one day adding images to the Inspiration Africa! collaborative 'virtual banner'

The class produced their own artwork to be exhibited at the end of the project before being returned to the school. They also contributed to the formation of the Inspiration Africa! project Website. This site offered opportunities for sharing experiences with all those involved in the project and explored creative ways of interacting using e-mail and the World Wide Web.

The projects were free to the schools except for the transport to and from the museum plus any teacher cover that was necessary for the school's full involvement.

The only two criteria for schools participating in the project were:

1. That children involved must have good and frequent access to the Internet

2. A member of staff must agree to act as the school co-ordinator for the project. They need to attend the inset, meet with the project co-ordinator when necessary, assist in practical arrangements for the workshops and project evaluation and, above all, be enthusiastic and supportive of the project aims and objectives.

Please see the diary/calendar section for dates, links and further information.

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