Our first introductory knowledge-exchange activity with the school community was in the winter of 2023. It explored our collective understanding of participatory approaches & arts-based tools, the assets that existed within the school & its current mechanisms for understanding pandemic related issues & well-being. Based on these collaborative discussions we went on to develop a package of arts-based tools, materials & resources that were targeted to the needs of the school and that allowed for the ‘untold’ stories of the pandemic to unfold.
In spring 2023, we collaboratively developed a series of workshops with the school using the arts-based tools and materials to tap into the lived experiences of the pandemic. These sought to draw out all of the voices of the school and collectively reflect on embodied and affective responses to the pandemic that had not previously been explored. Together, we assessed and reflected on the success of the tools across the phases of the workshops for unlocking these ‘untapped’ stories through the use of provocations during and at the end of the workshops.
In the summer of 2023, we launched an interactive exhibit showcasing the school’s creative outputs and stories of the pandemic to a wider Bristol audience. This website was created to showcase the creative outputs, the arts-based tools and resources from the project in order to provide guidance to other educational settings that wish to engage in similar work.
