Young Curators is our programme for getting young people involved in the museum. By joining Young Curators, young people can become part of the museum team, develop their creativity, collaborative skills and knowledge, working together on events and activities at the museum and projects out in the community.
Our first Young Curators group was formed in September 2018 and comprised secondary school students from Callywith College and Bodmin College. The group learnt how a museum works, had special access to collections and got hands-on with objects. They met new people and worked alongside museum professionals to see what goes on behind the scenes. They did loads of digital work by making vlogs, creating their own virtual reality experiences and helping us to tell stories about our collections in new and unexpected ways. Whether helping to create an exhibition, leading a tour, running an event or writing a blog, they were able to use their creativity to bring history to life.
Young Curators 2.0
In 2021 three Young Curators from Callywith College took part in the programme, which aimed to provide meaningful insight into working in the cultural sector with behind the scenes access.
Young Curators took part in sessions with heritage professionals including those from Learning and Participation, Curatorial, a Digital Intern, a PhD student at Cambridge University, Digital Engagement and Audience Development and an Activity Programme Manager within an Archive.
Our Young Curators also planned activities for Digital Takeover Day, which is a national annual event coordinated by Kids in Museums. Lacey took over our twitter account for the day and Cerys wrote a blog about careers in the cultural sector. This can be seen here: https://bodminkeep.org/behind-the-scenes-careers-in-museums/
Digital Takeover Day empowers young people and gives them a platform to engage with museums, galleries, historic houses, archives, heritage sites, cultural and arts organisations across the UK. Young people’s #TakeoverDay tweets have reached hundreds of thousands of people and the hashtag even trended on Twitter!
Young Curators tells young people a lot about a sector which isn’t very well known among young people. It’s also a great way to develop their historical interest. Young Curators has been informative, interesting and welcoming. I have learnt about the variety of jobs and had an introduction to the requirements to these.
Cerys, Young Curator 2021
It’s nice to get a look behind the scenes of a museum and to be involved! Lacey, Young Curator
If you’d like to find out more about Young Curators, email Leah Mason, Learning and Participation Manager at leah.mason@bodminkeep.org.uk
