Teachers Session: Making Space for Experimentation

Join teacher Hannah Rennie and artist Shepherd Manyika for a hands-on CPD session exploring ways to bring curiosity and creative risk into the classroom.

Through practical exercises and discussion, Hannah and Shepherd will introduce Which Way Is Up? - a resource developed through their collaboration with students from Highsted Grammar School and share insights from their process of making it.

Participants will have the chance to experiment with the prompts, consider how they might adapt them for their own teaching and reflect on how making and experimentation can re-energise classroom practice.

Please note: This session is part of our teachers’ programme, and specifically aimed at primary and secondary teachers.

Programmed in partnership with The Photographers’ Gallery as part of Autograph's Visible Practice Residency project.

Read more about the event on Autograph's website

About the Resource

Which Way Is Up? is a deck of 36 prompt-cards by Hannah Rennie and Shepherd Manyika commissioned by Cement Fields. The resource grew from a series of workshops exploring how artists and students navigate moments of uncertainty and creative block. Each card offers a small provocation - an action, question or reflection - designed to open up new ways of thinking and making. Together, the cards form an adaptable tool for encouraging experimentation and curiosity in learning environments.

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Led by

Hannah Rennie is based in Kent, working in secondary Art and Design education since 2009 with a passion for the arts, education and people. With a background in textile design, she won the fashion and design category of the World Wool Award in 2005.

Shepherd Manyika is a London-based artist-educator whose works take on multiple formats and mediums. He is interested in memory, place, space and repair as forms of restoration, themes such as workshopping, play, music and sound are utilized in his practice to create transformative art spaces.

About Visible Practice Residency

The Visible Practice Residency is a three-year project designed to publicly champion the work of Artist Teachers from global majority backgrounds working in London’s state schools. It reimagines the classroom as a space where teaching and artistic practice intersect and inform one another.

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Your Visit

Location: This event will take place at the Photographers Gallery, in the Studio on the third floor.

Refreshments: There will be complimentary refreshments at this event.

Step free: The Photographers' Gallery is step free. A wheelchair accessible lift goes to all floors.

Materials: All materials will be provided.

Ticketing policy

Autograph's events are popular and often sell out. We recommend booking a ticket in advance. This event is free.

Supported by

Autograph is supported using public funding by Arts Council England.

This event is in partnership with The Photographers’ Gallery. Supported by Freelands Foundation.

Images on page: 1) 'Which Way is Up?' Workshop. Photograph by Sam Wainwright.