Sustainability in Focus: The Imagination Museum in Cornwall

Sustainability in focus

How can we use dance in museums to support greater access to and understanding of nature and natural sites?

At our second Advocacy Event we invite you to imagine ways that dance can respond to historical sites, objects and collections to increase visitors’ access to and understanding of the environment and the world around us. We will also consider ways that, by connecting people more closely with the world around them, we can also support them to connect more closely with themselves, supporting their health and wellbeing.

Drawing inspiration from the beautiful Wheal Martyn Clay Works site and collection, we will offer a programme integrating Case Studies, opportunities to participate in discussion, practical activities and a chance to network and watch films over lunch.

Case Study artists will include dance artist Suzie West, who has responded to the Wheal Martyn site on multiple occasions through performance promenades and films for example, most recently as part of the Art Fund’s Wild Escape project, and fine artist and photographer Ruth Purdy from Make It Better CIC.

We will add more information about the agenda for the day and confirmed speakers in due course.

Tickets: £30 (for those representing organisations); £20 (for freelance practitioners or those representing smaller/volunteer-led organisations)

There are also a limited number of 10 x £5 Early Bird tickets available to freelance practitioners and those representing smaller/volunteer-led organisations on a first-come-first-served basis.

We do not want cost to be a barrier to anyone attending our events so please get in touch, in confidence, with our Project Manager Alice on manager@imaginationmuseum.co.uk should you wish to discuss any alternative arrangements. We also have an access fund available if you require assistance with any of the additional costs (such as travel) that you may incur by attending the event.

This event is planned until 4pm, but there will be an opportunity to stay to visit the site until 5pm.

Please note, the day on the 22nd May will be followed by an optional practical session at Wheal Martyn Clay Works on the 23rd May (10-1pm). This free session will be aimed primarily at dance artists interested in working in response to heritage (but all are welcome), facilitated by The Imagination Museum’s current Strategic Lead, Katie Green. Booking details for this practical event are now available here.

Who is the Cornwall Imagination Museum event for?

Our online and in-person Advocacy Events will be open to anyone from dance, arts, heritage, community contexts with an interest in collaboration and finding creative ways of interpreting local sites, collections and stories through dance and movement.

You may have some experience of working with dance in response to heritage, museums, archives, galleries, or you may be completely new to this way of working.

We want everyone to feel welcome, and we are working with Access and EDI consultants to support us to make the events as inclusive as we can (and to learn about how to do this better in the future). Please get in touch if there is anything that we can put in place to support you to access this event.

We also plan to record any key presentations (where it is possible to do so) and will make these recordings available on our website after the events to enable more people to access the content on demand.

If you have any questions or need any further information, please contact our Project Manager Alice Odin on manager@imaginationmuseum.co.uk .

The Imagination Museum is supported by the National Lottery through Arts Council England, and is currently being managed by Made By Katie Green. In 2024 it is being delivered in partnership with Colchester and Ipswich Museums, DanceEast, Wheal Martyn, Showtown, the Horniman Museum and Gardens and Trinity Laban, with additional support from an Executive Committee, and Advisory Organisations including the Association for Suffolk Museums and Arts & Heritage.

Photo credit: Wheal Martyn Clay Works and Suzie West (Clay Walks)