I had been looking for a volunteer placement for a couple of months, when I picked up a leaflet at university. It had a pair of Dr Martens on it similar to a pair I had owned in the 80s, I’d worn them to destruction and remembered them fondly. The leaflet was inviting local people to get involved in an exhibition, had community work involved and curation. Having worked with participatory arts for a number of years I was keen to get involved with something that could challenge my comfort zone and offer me new experiences that I would not necessarily foresee.
So having taken myself off to the first information session, I decided to sign up for the next session, which was a full day based in Leicester. The session was very informal, the people seemed friendly, I decided to trust my positive visceral feeling and committed to the project. And so far, the enthusiasm has been catching, the other volunteers are willing to offer time (which apparently has become a commodity) and it has inspired me to devote my own energy and time.
Following a couple more training sessions, handling museum items, how items are accessioned into museums & contacting communities & organisations, I was invited to do a more challenging task. This involved meeting up with a student from Manchester, and going out on the streets of Derby and asking (begging?) people to let us take their picture. The aim of the day was to record to clothing identities of the public in 2009. The usual considerations of child and data protection had to be considered, permission forms signed and then the actual photo taken. So three hours of asking people if we could take their photograph while they did their best to run away, because obviously we were trying to sell, convert or scare them! We managed to complete a whole film before the rain set in. The most resistance came from older generations, who refused to be cajoled or flattered into having their image captured, while the 16-25 year old bracket were quite comfortable to pose (a reflection of growing up in a digital age?), overall we were met with bewildered attitudes which seems to follow when faced with something to do with the arts, once beyond that initial suspicion, people generally were comfortable talking to us, even if they didn’t want their picture taken.
I’m looking forward to the other commitments in my life coming to a close, and being unencumbered by the pressure of university life to be able to really concentrate on the streetstyle/sportstyle project. The training has been interesting and inspiring, the future training leaves me feeling excited and it has initiated some humourous reflections on the teenage years of my friends!
CG
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