The arena space in the new museum is where the old theatre was. They have taken out the seating and created this fantastic space, which is going to reflect the creativity and culture in the city. What we’re doing is putting a map of Leeds on the floor, which will show the inner city and the outer edges of Leeds. On the map will be six audio-visual units and we are looking for something really vibrant and lively to go on these units that will capture every ones’ attention as they walk into this fantastic space. The project we came up with was called ’Steps in Time’ which is a history of dance in the city, and [for that] we’re recording contemporary and historic images of dance through Leeds. We’re really focusing as much as we can on the Leeds connection, filming places and people related to the city. We’ve been working in partnership with some of the famous dance companies like the Northern Ballet Theatre, the Northern School of Contemporary Dance, Phoenix dance, RJC, and so on. We also wanted to capture some of the more local community groups that were out there dancing. We’ve been working in partnership with the Irish Arts Foundation and the Rastafarian community; people who have come into the city and contributed their own culture to Leeds, [showing how] their own culture influenced and infiltrated others. So we’ve got traditional dance, contemporary dance, and classical dance; really we’ve tried to cover as much as we possibly can.
That’s interesting because the old approach to the museum was sort of “a stuffed tiger from India” and maybe a big collection of Roman coins, so this will be very different. How have you found actually going out into the community and engaging with these groups, because that’s quite a new thing for museums? What sort of experience did you have there?
That’s been a real revelation. Once [people] knew this project was going to be shown in the city centre, and that it was going to involve so many different groups of people, they really opened up and welcomed us. [We were] shown things from their own archives and contemporary collections. I’ve met so many different people and one of the things we wanted to really reflect in the project was the cultural diversity. We’ve got footage and partnerships with all sorts of people we would never ever have dreamt of working with in the past. We’re really trying to bring the museum to the people so that everybody coming through those doors will find something that they can relate to, that has a meaning to them; whether its archive footage of ballet dancing, or a contemporary street dancer. We’re trying to mix and match the different forms of dance and the communities we’ve been working with have been really up for the project and really keen to participate in it. Our logo that we’ve tried to incorporate throughout has been ’everyone can dance - everyone dances’ - its something that can impinge on every ones’ lives and so I think that, hopefully, will be the message that comes across from the carnival in Chapeltown. That’s why working with the community groups has been so positive because I think they feel they can contribute to this fantastic vibrant, really happening kind of project. Although the museum will have the stuffed tiger, and the coin collection, and all that kind of thing for the traditional museum visitors, we’re hoping that this sort of exhibition will really bring in people who wouldn’t normally access the museum.
That’s fantastic, so as you said you’re engaging new audiences and at the same time your possibly regaining access to archives or materials that in the past you would never have made those inroads into. How long will the ‘Steps in Time’ project actually last in the museum? Will that be replaced by another theme?
‘Steps in Time’ will run from the opening in August 2008
The new Leeds Museum
There is much more to the new Leeds Museum than stuffed animals and coin collections - Curator Gabriella Hamilton tells us about the opening of the street-wise, multi-cultural, centre for Leeds heritage.
until round about January/February 2009. We want it to run for about six months and then, from of some of the consultations [surrounding] the dance project, one of our next projects will be ’Faith in the City’ where we will continue with some of the links we’ve made, building new ones as well, and hopefully carry on from there. We’re [also] going to look at themes around the environment, around sport, all that kind of thing and ask the community [what their thoughts are]. One of the important things we’ve been doing in this process is asking the community what they want to see in that space. The idea eventually, although we will be using a professional film maker at the moment, is that the community groups will provide us with some of their own material that we can then edit and make into a self contained exhibition that is fully representative, made by and for the community group.
‘Steps in Time’ is obviously a new initiative for Leeds, is this something that has been done in other cities across Britain before, or is this part of a new approach that Leeds has evolved?
As far as we know there [has been] nothing done very much [like this] before. When we were looking at the use of that space we wanted to incorporate something on the performance history of that building, and of that space. We looked at things like sport, which we’re going to do later on, and of more general themes but dance seemed to be something that captured everybody straight away. As far as we’re aware, certainly working in partnership with the Yorkshire Film Archives, nothing has been done quite like this before. What the Yorkshire Film Archive is going to do for us, as part of this project, is incorporate archive footage with the contemporary footage we’ve taken. I don’t know how they’ve managed to do it [but] they’ve (YFA) mirrored the contemporary dance with some archive dance using the same soundtrack in the background and it is just phenomenal. There’s a group of people at the seaside dancing around, and then it moves to somebody doing something - I think it’s called ‘crumpling’ - which is a really happening, quite aggressive form of street dance. They’ve mixed the two together and it just looks amazing - they just switch from one to another within a very short space of time.
So I suppose in terms of heritage and culture, this really puts Leeds on the map nationally as well as locally doesn’t it?
Absolutely. One of the things we want to show in the museum is how dynamic the city is and that, [although] its’ wealth has been founded since the industrial revolution, we’ve moved on. Now it has become a real cultural centre for England, and particularly for the north. We’ve got the Northern Ballet, Northern School of Contemporary Dance, and if people don’t go to London to study those sorts of art forms, they are coming to Leeds. That seems to be the big message. I didn’t realise until we started this project some of the dancers who have gone through the schools like Northern Ballet, the Northern School of Contemporary Dance are in fact world famous dancers. [This] is something that’s great, that we can be proud of - even if they weren’t born here, they’ve trained here, and performed here, and we’ve got some fantastic venues outside of London where individuals and companies really want to come and show their skills and their talent.
So the new museum is due to open up in August 2008 - is that correct?
Yes, I think the new museum opens the last weekend in August, after the bank holiday. The museum is on millennium square, it was the Mechanics Institute historically, then it became the civic theatre, and is now going to open up to the museum.
‘Steps in Time’ is obviously a new initiative for Leeds, is this something that has been done in other cities across Britain before, or is this part of a new approach that Leeds has evolved?
As far as we know there [has been] nothing done very much [like this] before. When we were looking at the use of that space we wanted to incorporate something on the performance history of that building, and of that space. We looked at things like sport, which we’re going to do later on, and of more general themes but dance seemed to be something that captured everybody straight away. As far as we’re aware, certainly working in partnership with the Yorkshire Film Archives, nothing has been done quite like this before. What the Yorkshire Film Archive is going to do for us, as part of this project, is incorporate archive footage with the contemporary footage we’ve taken. I don’t know how they’ve managed to do it [but] they’ve (YFA) mirrored the contemporary dance with some archive dance using the same soundtrack in the background and it is just phenomenal. There’s a group of people at the seaside dancing around, and then it moves to somebody doing something - I think it’s called ‘crumpling’ - which is a really happening, quite aggressive form of street dance. They’ve mixed the two together and it just looks amazing - they just switch from one to another within a very short space of time.
So I suppose in terms of heritage and culture, this really puts Leeds on the map nationally as well as locally doesn’t it?
Absolutely. One of the things we want to show in the museum is how dynamic the city is and that, [although] its’ wealth has been founded since the industrial revolution, we’ve moved on. Now it has become a real cultural centre for England, and particularly for the north. We’ve got the Northern Ballet, Northern School of Contemporary Dance, and if people don’t go to London to study those sorts of art forms, they are coming to Leeds. That seems to be the big message. I didn’t realise until we started this project some of the dancers who have gone through the schools like Northern Ballet, the Northern School of Contemporary Dance are in fact world famous dancers. [This] is something that’s great, that we can be proud of - even if they weren’t born here, they’ve trained here, and performed here, and we’ve got some fantastic venues outside of London where individuals and companies really want to come and show their skills and their talent.
So the new museum is due to open up in August 2008 - is that correct?
Yes, I think the new museum opens the last weekend in August, after the bank holiday. The museum is on millennium square, it was the Mechanics Institute historically, then it became the civic theatre, and is now going to open up to the museum.
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