Home    About Us    Our Work    Projects    Intergenerational    Training    Services
	News & Events    Contact Us    Visit Us    Fundraising    Funders

Projects

< Back to Past Projects >   Love the Festival Hall

First pair of roof trusses being assembled, May 1950 Photograph courtesy of Jean Symons	"...for the first time we are seeing the hall as it was designed to be. Full of light, crowds and fine dresses, music. It has come splendidly to life. And all around me four great stairways lead up to the promenades that surround the auditorium. And I've got straightaway an impression of great space. The hall is designed to make the fullest and most daring use of glass and concrete, and all the new materials. No, this is no out of date timid building. It is bold. It is modern." From the opening of the Royal Festival Hall, broadcast by W.Vaughan Thomas of the BBC, 3rd May 1951 Age Exchange is currently engaged in an exciting 2-year partnership project with The Royal Festival Hall. To mark the major refurbishment of the Festival Hall, we will be working together to collect memories from across the nation, that span the 55-year life of this important national treasure. In 2007 these memories will contribute to a range of creative outcomes including an exhibition charting the people's experience of the Festival Hall since its opening in 1951. Age Exchange is currently running a series of pilot projects in care settings as part of the first stage of the overall project. To explore the memories gathered, visit: http://www.lovethefestivalhall.org.uk
Pilot project at 'Inspire' Walworth Road, South East London http://www.in-spire.org.uk/	Pilot Project at Inspire This was a partnership project between Age Exchange, Royal Festival Hall and Inspire, a community arts venue on the Walworth Road in South East London. Following reminiscence sessions, artist Mona Bauer worked with the group on a series of ceramics, which incorporated life stories and memories that the participants chose to illustrate and utilise as part of their designs. Elders used elements from 1950's ceramics design as a starting point for their own works. This is the first time that Age Exchange has worked with ceramics as a reminiscence artform and the results will be exhibited at the reminiscence centre in Blackheath in autumn 2006. images from the Inspire project > *The images show the work in its current pre-fired stage - these will be updated once the work has been fired.
Detail from the reminiscence quilt produced as part of the pilot project at Time Court, Woolwich	Pilot Project at Time Court This project took place at the Time Court day and residential care setting in Woolwich. Age Exchange ran a programme of reminiscence sessions with the African and Caribbean elders group. The focus was on elder’s childhood and adolescent memories of life in their homelands after the Second World War, and before moving to the UK. The project was lead by Caroline Baker who worked with the elders to help them dramatise their stories, whilst artist Seiwa Cunningham worked with the group to translate stories and experiences into a large-scale reminiscence quilt, illustrating the memories, patterns and colours from Caribbean and African home life. This is the first time that Age Exchange has used textile art in reminiscence and the quilt will have its first exhibition at the reminiscence centre in Blackheath in autumn 2006. The quilt measures 7' x 6' (214 x 183cm) images from the Time Court project > *The images of the quilt shown here are details.
Apprentice Arts students and their parents open the new 'Living Archive' space at the Royal Festival Hall more images from this event >	Living Archive Age Exchange has now completed 20 filmed interviews as part of this international memories project, which marks the re-opening of the Royal Festival Hall. Students from Age exchange's Apprentice Arts programme performed emailed memories received by the 'Love The Festival Hall' website, as part of the re-opening 'Overture' weekend, on the 8th of June. The students and their parents were also invited to open the new 'Living Archive' space. more about Apprentice Arts > http://www.lovethefestivalhall.org.uk
	back to top >

< Back to Past Projects

© Age ExchangeTheatre Trust Ltd. 2008 (a company limited by guarantee) Registered in England No. 1929724. Registered Office 11 Blackheath Village, London SE3 9LA Registered as Charity No: 326899 Patrons: Roy Hudd OBE Glenda Jackson MP Rt. Hon. Nick Raynsford MP Sir Sigmund Sternberg KCSG JP