November 2019 will see the launch of an exciting Absolutely Cultured project; Model City.
The ground-breaking project, funded by NHS Hull CCG, will see primary school children from across the city take part in several themed creative workshops, culminating in an outdoor exhibition and event in the city centre in February 2020.
Model City will give the children involved the chance to be our town planners, architects and decision makers of the future. Through creative workshops they will make decisions about how we should live in the future, what our cities and spaces should look like and how we should behave as a community.
The children will meet people from all walks of life who undertake a wide variety of roles in the city, including those working in healthcare, transportation, on the high street and who care for the city streets and spaces.
Speaking of our involvement in the project, Dr Dan Roper, NHS Hull CCG Chair said:
“We as a CCG think it is of upmost importance that children and young people are encouraged to be creative, experience arts and culture and learn about people working in a wide variety of job roles and living a wide variety of lives. It develops their appreciation and understanding of the world they live in and the people who inhabit it.”
“One of our focuses as an organisation is around the next generation, whilst we look to support and educate children and young people around healthy lifestyles, we also want to inspire children and young people throughout their lives, so they can go on to lead healthy and happy lives as adults .”
“Model City is the perfect example of this; through the workshops the children will be able to imagine their future, and all of the exciting things that are to come for them, whilst we support Absolutely Cultured in educating children around healthy lifestyles.”
Lindsay Stockley, Senior Producer at Absolutely Cultured, said: “The workshops with children will empower them to shape the project and give them a voice about their city. They will learn about how things work in cities today and will explore their dreams and aspirations of how the city will be in the future.”
The children’s thoughts and hopes for the city and its future will be recorded by BAFTA and Ivor Novello Award winning sound artist Dan Jones during the November workshops.
February 2020 will see these visions turned into a soundscape where the children’s limitless imaginations, unique opinions and voices will be brought to life in this large-scale, multi-speaker soundscape installed in a pedestrianised area of the city centre, where children and families will be encouraged to attend and join in the discussion around the future of Hull.
Dr Roper added: “Arts and culture can be an incredibly accessible way for anyone, young or old, to express and understand theirs and others’ feelings. Encouraging participation in activities such as Model City has numerous social and psychological benefits, and I for one hope that the project spreads further than just the children involved, inspiring friends, family and the local community to be empowered in their own physical and mental wellbeing and encouraged to get involved in activities they originally might not have thought were for them.”
Model City is a pilot of Generation Hull, a project that takes forwards the learnings from Hull 2017’s No Limits Learning and Participation programme. Generation Hull will provide access to high quality arts and culture, which can change children and young people’s lives. Working in partnership with organisations in the city, it will include projects created with children and young people, giving them a forum to explore their creativity and how they can shape the world. Find out more here: www.absolutelycultured.co.uk
