1. Before the Activity

Art Through The Keyhole enrolment will be conducted via the 25by25 platform and Eventbrite. By fostering the use and accessibility of the 25by25 platform, we hope to inspire future creations of PBL.

The participants of this activity will divide themselves into groups (before or on the day). The number of groups is 4, with a maximum of 25 participants per group, and each group will receive a different challenge (Purple, Green, Red, Blue).

 

Challenge Purple:

 

 

Challenge Green:

 

Challenge Red:

 

 

Challenge Blue:

2. During the activity

A. In the first task, participants, broken into groups, will discover the history behind specific sculptures. Behind every selection, there were considerations of history, such as Yorkshire Penny Bank (Purple challenge) and William Edward Forster (Green), or contemporaneity and art such as Grandad’s clock and chair (Red) and Bradford by the sea (Blue).

The second and third tasks are one of the following:

• . Finding and discovering nine pieces of Art Works around the museum through clues provided to participants (Cartwright Hall Art Gallery)
  • What is the title of the photomontage showing David Hockney’s mother (wearing a green coat)? And what is the name of the place his parents first met in 1928?

Answer: Mother; Bolton Abbey.

• Can you find the portrait of David Hockney’s college friend Norman Stevens? David Hockney created the picture using pencil, conte (crayon) wash and what other medium?

Answer: ink

• Can you find the calligraphy called Excellency 2006 by Efdaluddin Kilic? What culture is calligraphy the central art of?

Answer: Islam

• Can you find a work that shows the Kabbah? What is the Kabbah and what year was this work made?

Answer: a sacred stone structure located in Mecca; 2001

• Can you find a picture that has red fish in it? What year was the female artist born and what language are the inscriptions on the picture?

Answer: (Zone of Dreams) 1942; Sanskrit & Persian.

• Can you find a stained glass window? Which church did it come from originally and which animal associated with the wool trade can be seen in the foreground?

Answer: Holy Trinity, Bingley; a sheep.

• Find the picture of a green woman with a long arm. What is she doing? How many blue pairs of scissors can you see?

Answer: embroidery/sewing; 9 scissors.

• Find the black and white picture of a boy hiding in a fish (by a Bradford artist). It is an etching (a type of print). What is the year the artist was born?

Answer: (boy hiding in a fish from Grimms Fairy Tales by David Hockney) 1937.

• You are looking for a sculpture of a ship in a glass case. It is called the Wanderer. Can you find out what the ship was used for and who is the artist?

Answer: it was the last ship to import slaves from Africa to the US (in 1858); Yinka Shonibare.

B. Learning the history of the local stadium through an intense private tour, with significant consideration and debating around the sense of belonging and impact that the stadium had locally (Bradford City Football Club)

C. Experiencing the depth of an intercultural exhibition ‘the People Power Press’, while listening to poetry. Youth will be encouraged to write their piece or research some local poetry (Kala Sangam)

D. Researching the meaning of the historical shields around the oldest wool training centre of Bradford.

The Wool Exchange has now been converted into a library, therefore, here the participants will also have to research the latest book trend on Tik Tok and find the book within the library (Wool Exchange- Waterstones).

1. Learning the history of one of the most prestigious theatre St George’s Hall through a private tour. Here the participants will actively take part in a fun workshop that will make the young people understand what does it mean to be a performer and improvising (St George’s Hall)

1. At the end of the activity

An award ceremony will be delivered in front of Bradford City Hall, a building designed in the Venetian-Gothic style. Here, the winning group of our “Art Through The Keyhole” challenge will receive small individual prizes to encourage continued engagement within the city.

All participants will receive a Certificate of Participation highlighting significant experience within activities under the European Union remit as Erasmus+ project in participants’ Curriculum Vitae (CV).

The activity is clear in general terms, however I think we need to be more specific at this point and ask ourselves the question “if a youth worker read this, would they be able to implement the activity?”. Meaning, do they know which sculptures are being targeted (or which artwork). How many?

I hope I am articulating well, but I think the activity itself should be more like a specific guide that someone can read and follow to implement.

One of the main objectives of Art Through the Keyhole is the young people’ participation and enthusiasm in cultural activities and heritage learning. This PBL is going to provide historical and contemporary perspectives in a combination of experiences that will enable the young people to interact in different fields of Culture, Art, and Heritage.

Traditionally, Bradford is known as a multicultural city therefore, the activity respects the variety of youth and their different cultural background to foster cohesion. All participants are prompted to recognise the importance of culture and tradition, this will foster intercultural activities and dialogue. This objective aligns with the spirit of Bradford becoming City of Culture of 2025. The sense of belonging and pride in your own city, and community is valued and should be promoted, and shown not just to the rest of the United Kingdom but to the whole of Europe.

Designing a meaningful Place-Based Learning Activity

1. Deciding on a setting

Art Through the Keyhole is proposed to be in Bradford, however, the activity itself will have a wide range of stops around the city centre. The routes proposed include a wide range of culturally significant sites and activities.

All sites in each route have been assessed for safety and accessibility, and maps will be produced to ensure navigation is as easy as possible. Participants will be supervised by guides, supporting the completion of the challenges, and encouraging engagement.

The sites we have chosen are well-known by supervisors and organisers, and should be recognisable to participants – even if they do not know the site specifically. Information about transport links and safeguarding processes are given to all supervisory stakeholders, and participants will be informed of safety measures and procedures in preparation of the challenges.

1. Choosing a trainer

The trainers and supervisors should be local youth workers or people who work with young people – for example tutors or pastoral care staff. The supervisors will go through preparatory PBL training, and become familiarised with all routes and challenges in advance of the participants. Trainers will understand and be able to give additional supporting information throughout the event, and be able to liaise with specialist experts (for example, art museum staff), to offer further information for participants interested.

Overall the trainers will facilitate the PBL and encourage independent learning and curiosity from the participants.

1. Evaluation

In advance of the activity, participants will be asked by trainers if they know anything already of the sites which their route will cover. If the participants have existing knowledge of any of them, the trainer will facilitate discussion and sharing of knowledge – thus creating a comfortable and exciting atmosphere for the group.

Inclusion is an important part of this PBL activity – as Bradford has a varied cultural identity, with many different ethnicities, religions, and communities within it. The discussions facilitated both throughout the challenges, as well as in preparatory phases will keep the multicultural quality at its heart. Participants will be encouraged to share their own experiences and opinions, and foster positive communication amongst their groups alongside the context of the cultural sites visited.

Participants will be asked to provide feedback on the PBL, and will be asked at the end of the activity to assess their perceptions, ideas, and understanding of the cultural qualities of Bradford and their local communities. Practical feedback will be used in the development of future PBL activities, as well as becoming part of the training for future trainers.

The next steps of this PBL would be to encourage the youth workers and stakeholders involved to apply the PBL concept to ideas of their own. The stakeholder network we have developed has a plethora of expertise and specialist knowledge about Bradford, and so would be beneficial to anyone wanting to develop their own PBL activity.  As a team who have already developed one, Aspire-igen would also be available for support and guidance.

The young people we are targeting for participation would also be beneficial to consult on the development of any future PBL activities. Although some research was conducted with young people to develop this activity, culturally significant places and phenomena are continuously changing, so frequent consultation would be beneficial to future PBL activity development.

This would require some in-depth research of a local cultural aspect, it could create opportunities for interweaving information from participants’ home countries and cultures, their experiences in the location of the PBL curriculum, so that it is educational for the local community beyond who would be the target group. With inclusion in mind, it would be particularly beneficial for people in local communities to become engaged in developing activities, through sharing experiences, ideas, and perspectives.