'Wish You Could Hear'
Towner, the contemporary art museum
8 May – 6 June 2010
Free admission
5 May 2010
Young people across East Sussex have put parents in the spotlight for Towner’s latest exhibition, 'Wish You Could Hear', opening on 8 May. The participants, aged between 10 and 17, were encouraged to freely express their feelings on the often-sensitive issue of parenting, asking themselves the thought-provoking question: what makes a good parent? The resulting exhibition, developed in partnership with the East Sussex Youth Offending Team and Eastbourne Prevent and Deter Group, runs until 6 June. Come along and take the opportunity to express how you feel about parenting!
Towner received over 1000 highly imaginative responses, including paintings, text and poems, which will form the body of the 'Wish You Could Hear' exhibition. All responses remain anonymous. While the project called for thoughts expressed on postcards, a small selection will also be displayed on canvas and in giant print.
'Wish You Could Hear' has been in development for several months, with Towner’s outreach team working closely with East Sussex Youth Offending Team and Eastbourne Prevent and Deter Group to engage young people from schools across East Sussex in this creative project.
Towner’s visitors are invited to actively participate in the exhibition by creating their own responses on the subject of parenting, on postcards in Towner’s resource area. Visitor responses will be displayed alongside the exhibition. The results of the exhibition will be fed back into the Youth Offending Team’s work in encouraging more positive parenting.
Matthew Rowe, Artistic Director of Towner, said, “Towner is proud to be able to offer young people a platform to express their views and opinions on the subject of parenting, and we are extremely impressed by the rich and varied set of responses.
“The partnership with the East Sussex Youth Offending Team maintains our commitment to an inclusive gallery for all, whilst tackling issues of real relevance to our participants, partners and audiences.”
The new exhibition is part of Towner’s award-winning Outreach and Inclusion programme, which regularly provides activities and support for marginalised groups. The Outreach and Inclusion work is an important facet of Towner’s programme, and embodies Towner’s role as an accessible art gallery and a community resource.
With this as a focus, Towner and its partners routinely employ creativity as a means to facilitate young people’s exploration on a whole range of issues which have the potential to contribute to social exclusion and in some cases criminal behaviour. The resulting work is used both to provide a forum for further discussion and as a diagnostic tool. Previous initiatives have focused on drugs, bullying and violence amongst young people.
Towner’s award-winning outreach work also contributed to its nomination for the prestigious Art Fund Prize 2010, which sees Towner up against 10 other galleries and museums across the UK. To be in with a chance of winning the £100,000 prize, Towner needs your vote – please visit the Art Fund Prize website to show your support by voting in the public poll – but hurry, the poll closes on 7 May!
