Darwin helps children make things up and tell stories
Artist Ricki Outis worked with Years 5 and 6 at Milton Road Primary School and children at Brunswick Nursery to create textile pieces inspired by Darwin’s voyage on the Beagle and the rocks and fossils he collected.
The older children created drawings inspired by a visit to the Darwin exhibition at the Sedgwick Museum which were then developed on a light sensistive fabric. Both schools worked with Ricky to produce felted textiles inspired by rocks and fossils.
Working alongside her, storyteller Marion Leeper helped the children invent their own stories of exploration using a story mat specially commissioned from Cambridge-based textile artist Jenny Langley.
The project finale was a ’story bazaar’ at Brunswick Nursery, where the older children entertained the under fives with their tales of adventure.
Selected textiles made by children at both Milton Road and Brunswick are now on temporary display at the Sedgwick Museum of Earth Sciences.