Past News and Events
The Open Museum attend and arrange a number of community events throughout the year, all around the County.
Open Box: Celebrating 80 years of Resource Box
The Resource Box loans scheme celebrated its 80th birthday in 2011. To mark the occasion an exhibition of some of the fascinating museum artefacts, natural history specimens, models and replicas from the collection, went on show at Snibston.
The Resource Box collection ranges from the Palaeolithic period through to the present day, and includes domestic appliances, toys, costumes, stuffed animals, puppets, religious artefacts, stone age tools, Roman lamps, and much, much more.
Open Box: Celebrating 80 years of Resource Box displayed a selection of these resources as well as examples of the first loans boxes that were made in the 1930s. Also on show was the original ledger which recorded the first objects that were sent out for loan on the 12th January 1931, when a Miss Burley of Willow Street Infants’ School borrowed a Tree Sparrow and Great Tit from the natural history collection.
Over the decades Resource Box has provided inspiration to thousands of people. The exhibition also showcased winners of Open Box - a competition which invited local schools, colleges and local community groups to submit creative work inspired by Resource Box. See the
Competition Winners (.doc)
Voicing Things is a fantastic performance that was written and performed by members of the Arts for Health group from Blaby. It was the headline act at April 2011’s WORD!, the East Midlands’ longest running and most renowned spoken-word and poetry night, based at Leicester’s Y Theatre.
The performance, which was commissioned as part of Resource Box 80th year celebrations, is now available to view online.
Visit
Voicing Things to see the performance and find out more about the project behind its creation.
Opening Minds
Leicestershire's Open Museum has published "Opening Minds: Mental Health, Creativity and the Open Museum".
New Consumed? Display for Moving Objects
Find out how you can borrow this great new display!
The Manager at Coalville Library borrowed the "What a Waste" display to link in with National Science Week. She felt that members of the public responded very positively to the display and gained "valuable knowledge about waste and recycling". The display in her opinion, actually "encouraged people to recycle" which may inspire a change in the way that people manage their lives.
Costello (03/04/2009)
'Centre 88' provides educational and social opportunities for people with physical and/or learning disabilities. Audrey is a tutor for adults with learning disabilities studying for OCN qualifications. She commented that the display "was particularly useful for the after school club as older children looked up information about the display to read to younger ones". Overall the display generated interest, provided an opportunity for individuals to share their knowledge and proved to be "a very good talking point".
Larkins (20/05/2009).
Behind the Scenes anthology launch
July 2011
The Open Museum launched Behind the Scenes poetry anthology, The Smallest Part of Truth.
Behind the Scenes poetry workshops took place in museums and heritage sites across Leicestershire. This anthology showcases poems that were produced in, and inspired by, the workshops from Series VI. Venues for this series included Ullesthorpe Windmill, Moira Furnace and the Bell Foundry Museum.
Lyric Lounge Write Way Up at the Y Theatre
Objects from the Open Museum were in the spotlight in the thrilling Write Way Up performance at the Y Theatre in Leicester.
ONE 8 Festival at Nottingham Castle
In September 2008 Moving Objects was invited to participate in the ONE 8 Festival at Nottingham Castle supported by Renaissance East Midlands. The festival was a melting pot of engaging activities encompassing heritage, the arts and sport and included performances, participatory workshops and exhibitions targeting young people aged 11-24.
This event was a tremendous success with over 4000 visitors joining in a day packed full of fun and creativity. The Open Museum provided the opportunity for young people to join Rob Gee and participate in performance poetry workshops using our handling objects as inspiration.
