This site is part of the South West Heritage Trust.
Our work with 2BU Somerset, a local LGBTQ+ organisation, proved to us the relevance and importance that conversations about heritage, culture and identity have for young people in our communities.
Across a series of three sessions, we gave these young people an opportunity to explore our museum stores at the Somerset Heritage Centre, encouraging them to think about how they are represented in our collections – if at all. The young people became particularly interested in our collection of paintings depicting ‘Unknown’ individuals created by ‘Unknown’ artists.
We looked deeper into this idea in subsequent sessions, giving the young people space and time to explore how portraits and methods of self-portraiture can portray identity and other important messages without words. The young people from 2BU Somerset then created their own photographs, playing with ideas about anonymity and how their belongings and clothing represent them.
Coming soon: Explore the virtual gallery below to see their work!
We have recently begun working with local organisation YourITNow, who operate across Somerset creating opportunities for neurodiverse people to have new experiences, in a safe space among friends.
In the first instance, we attended one of their ‘Game Changers‘ sessions, taking along some of our vintage games and consoles from our museum stores at the Somerset Heritage Centre. Members of the group were very happy to have a go on them, an experience not many people get to have.
‘Your IT Now is a service based in Somerset that has been set up by Alex Roland to enable people with a Learning Disability, to access the internet and information technology with help from our training and support program.’ – YourITNow.
