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Arnolfini
Address
16 Narrow Quay
Bristol BS1 4QA
Location/(AC regn)
Gloucestershire/(England)
Web
www.arnolfini.demon.co.uk
Fax
0117 925 3876
Performance type
Target groups
Education activities
Main Contact
Michael Prior
Telephone
0117 929 9191 ext 204
Email
education@arnolfini.demon.co.uk
Hours of work
Contact 2
Telephone
Email
Hours of work
Education policy
Arnolfini is one of Europe's leading centres for the contemporary arts with a national and international reputation for presenting new and innovative work in the visual arts, dance, performance and film. Such a broad programme offers tremendous teaching possibilities - from a one-off injection of new ideas and seeing art up-close, through to special projects working with artists, film-makers, performers and writers.
We are located in the stunning and very active Harbourside area of Bristol, a short walk from many other educational places to visit and explore with young people. Each year we organise about six exhibitions and three seasons of live art and dance. We do not own a collection, so every 7-8 weeks we close the galleries briefly to install the new exhibition. However, certain visits are still possible during this time, the café and bookshop are open and the live art and dance programme is often still running during these times.
All Arnolfini exhibitions and performance seasons are supported by an education programme. Working with schools and colleges is central to the life of the organisation, supporting teachers and students at all levels to explore new work and ideas through visits, projects and events. Contemporary art and ideas are often complex and not always seen as a useful resource for school children. However, Arnolfini has hundreds of group visits a year and we see all the time the value of looking at, talking about and exploring around the work at Arnolfini. We are currently increasing our work with schools in conjunction with our dance and live art programme.
Admission to the galleries and support with your visit are available free of charge. There may be a charge for more in-depth workshops and discussion sessions. Special group rates are available for dance and performance events.
All Arnolfini Education events and projects develop the following principles:
Critical questioning. Like artists, we want to look at things in a new way and question our assumptions about the world.
Diversity. Of opinions, of ways of looking and thinking, of ways of making and of people who take part.
Revealing processes. How artists make work, how ideas are formed and how Arnolfini works.
Sustained relationships. We are especially interested in working with groups on long term projects.
Playfulness. Having fun, trying something new and being inventive.
Recent projects
The Turing Test
Performance company Reckless Sleepers set up a laboratory in the galleries and invited people in to investigate just what goes on in a place like Arnolfini. For six days, with the help of KS2 and 3 children they collected data, information and observations about everyday life at Arnolfini. What is the average speed of a visitor? What is the predominant colour of people's lunch?
This project was a fun way to explore how art can be made from data and information and offered a good introduction to conceptual art and collaboration. It also explored different ways that gallery spaces can come alive with performers and can be meeting places for discussion and investigation.
Tongue - Tied a creative text messaging service from Arnolfini
Aimed at children out of school during the summer holidays, this was also a pilot for future projects. In conjunction with the exhibition by Chinese artist Shen Yuan (which explores language, symbolism and communication), this project brought together young people and a writer to produce very short poems, phrases and statements. Some of them combined different spoken and specialist languages (eg English and Medical words). 14 of these were selected and sent to over 100 gallery visitors who had signed up to the messaging service. They were intended to extend thought and discussion about the work and ideas in the exhibition through the opinions and responses of others.
View Finders
One of Arnolfini's projects aimed at platforming the voices of young people and others within Arnolfini's programme. A group of young people worked for five days with an artist and designer to explore the organisation, experiment with ways of communicating ideas about art and produce a children's guide to an exhibition about landscape. The resulting leaflet was widely used by younger visitors and their families over the summer holidays.
Virtual Stages
An ambitious project exploring new ways of using digital sound and visuals. Working with three digital artists and sound composers, young people explored the nature of sounds, the shape of sounds and what sounds look like. Short compositions were then combined with digital moving image to produce a series of short films. These were screened at the school and will be screened at Arnolfini cinema and via Arnolfini's website in December 2002. The whole group working process and collaboration between sound and visual artists ran in parallel to a similar project developing new work from a group of artists which was screened in a flight simulator in February 2003.
Current projects
The Turing Test
Performance company Reckless Sleepers set up a laboratory in the galleries and invited people in to investigate just what goes on in a place like Arnolfini. For six days, with the help of KS2 and 3 children they collected data, information and observations about everyday life at Arnolfini. What is the average speed of a visitor? What is the predominant colour of people's lunch?
This project was a fun way to explore how art can be made from data and information and offered a good introduction to conceptual art and collaboration. It also explored different ways that gallery spaces can come alive with performers and can be meeting places for discussion and investigation.
Tongue - Tied a creative text messaging service from Arnolfini
Aimed at children out of school during the summer holidays, this was also a pilot for future projects. In conjunction with the exhibition by Chinese artist Shen Yuan (which explores language, symbolism and communication), this project brought together young people and a writer to produce very short poems, phrases and statements. Some of them combined different spoken and specialist languages (eg English and Medical words). 14 of these were selected and sent to over 100 gallery visitors who had signed up to the messaging service. They were intended to extend thought and discussion about the work and ideas in the exhibition through the opinions and responses of others.
View Finders
One of Arnolfini's projects aimed at platforming the voices of young people and others within Arnolfini's programme. A group of young people worked for five days with an artist and designer to explore the organisation, experiment with ways of communicating ideas about art and produce a children's guide to an exhibition about landscape. The resulting leaflet was widely used by younger visitors and their families over the summer holidays.
Virtual Stages
An ambitious project exploring new ways of using digital sound and visuals. Working with three digital artists and sound composers, young people explored the nature of sounds, the shape of sounds and what sounds look like. Short compositions were then combined with digital moving image to produce a series of short films. These were screened at the school and will be screened at Arnolfini cinema and via Arnolfini's website in December 2002. The whole group working process and collaboration between sound and visual artists ran in parallel to a similar project developing new work from a group of artists to be screened in a flight simulator in February 2003.
Future projects
Experimental communities
Over the next twelve to eighteen months Arnolfini plans to develop close working relationships with a number of groups, some schools, some community, some pre-existing, some brought together for this project. These will become 'experimental communities' for a period of their existence and work closely with artists and others to develop work, discussion and projects. Together the project will explore both the potential for arts within the group as well as the nature of the group and their sense of community.
Further information
For every school we can provide
Introductory talks including a history of Arnolfini and brief outline to the current exhibition. Discussion workshops exploring the exhibition through careful looking and in-depth questioning. Talks, lectures and conferences led by a wide range of people as part of our public programme of events and very useful for teachers and students. Pre- and post-show discussions for live events. Information such as articles, images and slides that can be used to prepare a group for a visit and for follow up. Careers workshops using a specially devised workshop to explore what Arnolfini does and how it works. Support with planning and follow up for teachers: face to face, phone, fax, post or email.
Booking a visit
We strongly advise anyone planning a gallery or performance visit to see the exhibition or request information about a performance before bringing the group. This also gives you the chance to meet a member of staff who will be happy to help plan your visit and any associated project work. Please book all visits in advance.
Galleries open
Monday - Saturday 10.00 am - 7.00 pm.
Thursday until 9.00 pm
Sunday and Bank Holiday Mondays 12.00-7.00 pm
We welcome contacts and visits from anyone, but we are particularly interested in Bristol and the surrounding area.
Please note, there is no wheelchair access to some galleries.
Site design by Maria Evans and Jim Gatten. Last updated 4 September 2003.
