Timeline version 1
User timelines
1) Planning meetings with host school, participating teachers, local day centre for older people/other groups who might contribute memories ti the project.
2)Van arrives at host school. Bronia and Sam introduce themselves as artists who are collecting memories. They show a few examples of memories they have collected, but explain they need more memories, and they need to ind a way to bring the memories to life. They need the help o the children in the school to gather memories for their collection.
3)Workshop 1 with the children,introducing the process of memory collection. Who will we be talking to and what questions will we ask them? Gather as many ideas from the chidren as possible.
4)Workshop 2. Parents /grandparents / older people from day centre are invited to the school. The children have the opportunity to interview them about their memories of the past.
5)With their teacher, the children research some of the history of the period from which the memories were collected. What was it like to live in the 1940s/1950s? WW2, postwar, rations, etc. Bearing in mind if the project is done in an ethnically diverse area, memories may come from abroad, different perspectives on history etc.
6)Workshop 3. The children respond creatively to the memories they have collected through drawing. The sound recording of a memory could be played back, and they could draw in response to this.
7)Workshop 4. The group decides on a small selection of the memories to work with (2 or 3?). The children develop their drawings using mixed media and collage into simple 2-D puppet cut-outs which can be animated on a tabletop with an overhead camera.
8)Workshop 5. The class animate their cutouts in short sequences. The group could also contribute to a sound track for their ‘memory films’ by recording sound effects, eg water running, footsteps, leaves rustling.
9)Bronia and Sam take way the footage that has been created by the group. They edit and possibly add further layers. The footage is woven into the expereince of being in the van - ie the memories also now are given a three dimensional quality in terms of the decor inside the van, certain props eg books on the shelves, a memorable object from one of the recorded memories (eg an umbrella, a special quill pen, an old wireless?)is placed in a drawer that can be opened, etc. Perhaps there is a puppet character to guide the audience through this expereince or perhaps it is a gallery assistant/actor.
10)Meanwhile, with their teacher, the children engage in creative writing work based on the memory collections they have made. They might write an imaginary diary of themself as a child in the 1940s, using the research they have done and the memories they have heard. These stories could be illustrated. Teachers might do further work with their class in geography/history/science related to the memory findings. All this can be recorded and used later.
11)The van complete with the installed memory footage returns to the school for a special ‘exhibition’ where the older people who contributed memories are also invited. The van can be entered and the memories heard and viewed. The children’s work around the topic - their diaries, history/geography/science work, can be displayed as part of the exhibition.
12)The van goes on tour to other schools.
