Introduction
In 2014 the Hunt Museum, through the Communities of Culture initiative began working with community groups from the North-side and South-side of Limerick. Exploring their unique cultural experiences and heritages through a series of targeted community and museum-based projects. Communities of Culture aims to support these groups in expressing their unique stories and contributions to the cultural landscape of Limerick. To date the groups have been established through local community networks to ensure a wide range of perspectives and voices are heard, regardless of ethnicity, age, gender and physical or learning differences. This level of inclusivity generates a greater diversity of ideas, perspectives, and experiences, which enriches the process for all involved.
Communities of Culture is a Hunt Museum programme exploring the unique cultural experiences and heritages of each of Limerick’s regeneration areas – Southill, Ballinacurra Weston, Moyross and St. Mary’s Park.
Through a series of targeted community/museum based projects, Communities of Culture aims to support seven groups from these areas in expressing their unique stories. The groups are from a variety of communities. This is to ensure a wide range of perspectives and voices including young people, women, men, older people and people with disabilities.
Overview of the Project
In Phase 1 (2014) the groups produced a series of pop up exhibitions. In Phase II, they worked with a local artist to deliver two Loan Boxes, which contain rich cultural resources on different aspects of Limerick’s local history. Phases III (2018) & IV (2019) involved training community volunteers to facilitate workshops on local heritage and culture in local primary schools. This outreach service is offered on an ongoing basis.
Phase IV was designed to engage Transition Year students from regeneration areas in the production of video and other digital content relating to the Communities of Culture project and the associated local histories. Students participated in multimedia training provided by our partners Wired FM & LIR Media.tv. and collaborated with community facilitators to document their knowledge of local stories about heritage and culture.
Communities of Culture Phase V aims to develop the learning outcomes from the previous phases, and in particular the history and knowledge around local pastimes. Phase V will further build on the successful programming carried out in Phase IV with Transition Year (TY) students from local participating schools. The objective is to facilitate the development and delivery of a Communities of Culture TY Study Unit, which could be presented to primary schools.
This Unit will offer TY students unique upskilling opportunities through media and broadcasting, where they will create along with our community volunteers a range of educational online content about the wonderfully rich regeneration area’s cultural history. It is anticipated that year on year, The Communities of Culture TY Unit will engage an increasing number of students, who will work with our community volunteers to keep the regeneration area’s local history and culture alive.
Students from Thomond College completed multimedia training with WIRED FM
Viking Loan Box
Viking Loan Box
Viking Loan Box
Viking Loan Box
Mix of Northside and Southside Loan Boxes focusing on past times and leisure.
Mix of Northside and Southside Loan Boxes focusing on past times and leisure.
Mix of Northside and Southside Loan Boxes focusing on past times and leisure.
Areas of Study
Local History, Community Engagement, Personal Development, ICT Skills Training
Related Learning
This project will provide Transition Year students with an opportunity to participate in a local cultural heritage project, By working independantly and as part of a team the students should gain new levels of self-confidence, this is further combined with modes of experiencial learning designed to increase their verbal, written and digital literacy skills. These skills are further transferable across a wide spectrum of academic/employment sectors, therefore helping to prepare the students for third level education or the employment market.
Learning Outcomes
- Understand the importance of community involvement and community projects in building a sense of place and belonging
- Engage in team work, demonstrating their ability to work in a team and explain the benefits of diversity and a cohesive team environment.
- Explore the art and process of narrative generation using digital technologies.
- Develop confidence with a focus on audio and videography. These skills developed will be transferable to a broader range of contexts in a school or work setting.
- Develop verbal and visual communication skills (including empathy, listening and conversational) in personal and work-related settings, to include one-to-one, in a group/team and in formal and non-formal settings.
- Have responsibility for conceiving, recording and editing media relating to local heritage and culture.
- Assess their own personal development and engage with constructive feedback, including what can be learnt from failure and the benefits of resilience.
Phase V outcomes
A montage of clips from phase V of the Communities of Culture project, facilitated by the Hunt Museum and supported by Limerick City and County Council.
Click here to watch the full videos.
