Diverse Voices at Seven Stories

Earlier this summer I was offered the amazing opportunity to work on an exhibition to showcase the Diverse Voices Project, putting the spotlight on the 50 best children's books since the 1950s. Four groups, New Writing North, The Reader Organisation, Gem Arts and the Discover Project  immersed themselves in books from this list with support from our Learning and Participation team and made their own artistic responses.  I spent an illuminating afternoon visiting Gem Arts in Bensham taking part in a wonderful book sharing exercise and working with a multi-generational group led by artist Jayamini de Silva. We created art works inspired by the books around the theme of 'home'.

Last week our Bookshop set up a display to celebrate these inspiring books and I began to install the exhibition.

The groups' responses to the books were amazing and diverse. It was fascinating to see the artwork all together and begin to collate it visually.

Although the books are childrens' books, not all the people involved in the project were children. These journals were written by young adults from New Writing North.

After several months of careful planning the artwork was framed, the props chosen, the Bookden repainted and it was time for the work to go on the wall.  

The exhibition is on display in Bookden until Summer 2015, with copies of all the books ready to read. Visit the exhibition and dive into the wonderful world of Diverse Voices.

To find out more about events linked to Diverse Voices, visit out What's On page here.