Newbury College and Corn Exchange celebrate culture in the community

Students from @NewburyCollege are collaborating with award-winning theatre-maker Caroline Horton and film-maker Rachel Bunce, in partnership with the @CornExchange Newbury, on a brand-new project, The Museum of Listening (The Work Edition). One of 40 new projects taking place in and around 40 arts centres in the UK, Here and Now is a national and local celebration of culture within communities. It is supported by Arts Council England and Future Arts Centres and marks the National Lottery’s 25th birthday.

Throughout November, students will work with Caroline and Rachel to gather lived experiences from one another and from members of their household through home-filmed interviews. Caroline and Rachel will then edit and sculpt this material into a final piece to be shared online via the Corn Exchange Newbury website and other platforms.

Katy Griffiths, Director, Corn Exchange Newbury commented:

“We are really excited to be working with students from Newbury College on The Museum of Listening (The Work Edition) and are thrilled to have artists such as award-winning theatre-maker Caroline Horton and film-maker Rachel Bunce curating the project. 
“We are extremely grateful to Here and Now, Future Arts Centres and Arts Council England for supporting the project and are excited to be one of 40 arts centres in the UK taking part to mark the National Lottery’s 25th birthday. We can’t wait to see the outcome of all their work!”

The group participating have a variety of needs and abilities which will provide an interesting range of voices to the work. The project involves the students telling their story, talking about and expressing their opinions on ‘work’ and what that means to them. They will be learning some basic camera skills to capture the footage that will then be crafted into a film by Caroline and Rachel.

The project forms part of the students’ work experience and involves students from a wide range of vocational programmes at the College including, Foundation Learning, Music Technology, Art and Creative Media.

Steve Greenwood, Employer Engagement, Newbury College said:

“It is a fantastic opportunity for students to immerse themselves in the technical and creative aspects of this industry. 
“We hope this will become a prelude to more joint ventures, working with the Corn Exchange Newbury and other local businesses.”