A s part of our Creative Curriculum task group activity in early 2021, pupils from The Manchester College produced a brilliant collection of political wallpapers. The college worked with their MADE creative partner, education charity Comino Foundation, to develop designs inspired by research into the Black Lives Matter movement and our country’s colonial past.
Pupils were challenged to re-evaluate traditional empirical historical narratives and the impacts of the British Empire on everyone living in Britain today. This re-evaluation didn’t seek to eradicate our colonial past or to gloss over uncomfortable truths, but to understand our national history and heritage in ways that reveal, share, and celebrate the voices of those impacted by these events.
The project took place during lockdown with pupils supported through online face to face presentations, online video tutorials and downloadable resources created by textile artist-in-residence Sam French. The college facilitated student engagement through additional tutorials and the distribution of materials packs, delivered to students at home so they had the correct tools to work with.
Pupils developed a body of work which started with visual and written research, before progressing to image making in a range of media suggested by Sam. Mediums included charcoal, ink, paint and collage, with inspiration drawn from amazing artists including Sonia Boyce, Lubaina Himid and Chris Ofili.
Finally, pupils were asked to select from their bank of images to develop artworks for repeat textile patterns. Digital print-ready artworks, using pupil’s art, were created by Sam and several large-scale wallpaper designs were commissioned from a local textile print agency.
For the Autumn term, the wallpapers will be produced on a large scale and tour local schools affiliated with the college. The work will bring the themes and ideas, presented through the perspective of local young people, to hundreds of pupils in the area. Additionally, teachers will be able to find guides on the MADE website to deliver their own version of the project in the classroom.
We’ll continue to track the touring exhibition and post the creations of other young people in a future update. Watch this space.
