Premier Screening of Changing Lives The film of a journey to China

Saturday 2nd July
12pm
Colchester Arts Centre

Colchester and Ipswich Museums and The Gilberd School are pleased to invite you to the premiere of “Changing Lives”, a film documenting the journey of ten young people as they travelled to China, selecting objects from Nanjing Museum to be exhibited at Colchester Castle as part of Stories of the World, one of the projects at the heart of the London 2012 Cultural Olympiad.

The screening will take place on Saturday 2nd July at 12 o’clock at Colchester Arts Centre.

Back at the beginning of the year (20th February 2011), ten Year 9 students from The Gilberd School, Colchester left by coach for the airport to embark on an experience of a lifetime trip to China.  

Whilst in China the students worked closely with Lisa Wright from Signals Media to record their trip onto video.  When they returned to England they worked with Signals Media to compile their work into a short film, enabling them to also work towards achieving their ‘Bronze Arts Award’.  This is the film we are inviting you to preview on 2nd July.

Lisa Wright, Education Co-ordinator, Signals Media said, "The 'Stories of the World: Changing Lives' project has been the highlight of my career. The young people involved have been an amazing group to work with and it has been a real honour and privilege to share in this once-in-a-lifetime experience with them. I hope the final film we've made does justice to the time we spent in China, immersing ourselves into the rich history and culture of this beautiful country. I still can't quite believe that I have been lucky enough to travel across the world to shoot a documentary with such an inspiring group of young people, who are a real credit to their school and our community."

The group of young people spent a week engaging with Chinese culture and history and helping to select objects and stories for a major international exhibition Treasures of China to be loaned from China and launched at Colchester Castle, Essex in June 2012.  They not only choose objects to go on display but also research and interpret the objects they’ve chosen for the exhibition itself.  The group also spent time with students and in lessons at Nanjing Foreign Language School, which enabled the students to meet Chinese children of a similar age and gain experience of life in a Chinese school.

Cllr. Nick Barlow, Commerce and Sustainability Portfolio Holder at Colchester Borough Council said, "I'm delighted that these young people have had such a detailed involvement in creating a major exhibition for our museums and have had the opportunity to experience Chinese culture so closely as part of the project. This is one of a number of ways in which the Museum Service is bringing the world to Colchester, and the exhibition they have helped to create will be a must see for everyone."

Amy Cotterill, Community Outreach Officer at Colchester and Ipswich Museums said, “This is a very challenging and groundbreaking project.  The involvement of young people in decision making has been a key theme through all of the 2012 Olympic [Stories of the World] projects. These young people are gaining insight into how museums put on exhibitions, learning about Chinese culture and developing a variety of new and useful skills.”

This unique project has been made possible because of the support of Essex County Council and Jiangsu Provisional Government in China who have had a strong affiliation for 23 years which has brought many benefits to both regions.  In addition to business and cultural opportunities on both sides, 88 Essex schools are linked with schools in Jiangsu.

This project has been fully funded by the British Museum and through the Museum, Libraries and Archive Council’s “Renaissance in the Regions.  Funding that is external to Colchester Borough Council.

This trip is part of The Changing Lives project at Colchester and Ipswich Museums.  This project is part of Eastern Exchanges, a major festival celebrating the culture and colour of the east to mark the London 2012 Games. For the next year museums across the region will be delivering a major programme of international exhibitions and events which will unlock the secrets and stories of China, India and Pakistan. At the heart of Eastern Exchanges are the region’s young people, creating exciting news ways for visitors to experience our great museums. Eastern Exchanges is part of London 2012 Cultural Olympiad  programme Stories of the World .

We hope that you are able to come to the premier of Changing Lives and we look forward to seeing you there!

ENDS

NOTE TO EDITORS:
Contact Laura Hardisty, Assistant Marketing Officer, Colchester and Ipswich Museums 01206 282434.

Signals Media: http://www.signals.org.uk
Bronze Arts Award: http://www.artsaward.org.uk/site/?id=65
The Gilberd School: http://www.gilberd.com

Essex County Council and the Foreign Affairs Office of Jiangsu Provincial People’s Government have had a special relationship for 23 years.  This link has developed over the years to bring many benefits to both regions.  In addition to the business and cultural opportunities on both sides, 88 Essex schools are linked with schools in Jiangsu.   In 2008, Essex County Council celebrated the friendship between the two governments with the Essex - Jiangsu Cultural Festival which launched the beginning of the Cultural Olympiad in Essex.  A festival highlight was the Guardians to the Kings exhibition at Colchester Museum, with Han figurines from Xuzhou Museum in the north of Jiangsu.  These special projects, including Treasures of China are possible because of the support of Essex County Council and the Jiangsu Provincial People’s Government as part of the link between the two regions.

Contact for Essex County Council: Belinda Farrell, International Cultural Festival Manager 01245 347456 or Belinda.Farrell@essex.gov.uk

For comment or opinion please contact Cllr. Nick Barlow
Colchester Borough Council - Commerce and Sustainability Portfolio Holder
Telephone: 01206 570753

Regional press contact for the Eastern Exchanges programme:
Caroline McDonald, Communications Officer, Renaissance East of England
01473 433543
caroline.macdonald@colchester.gov.uk

MLA press contact for the national Stories of the World programme:
For further information please contact Sunita Sharma at the MLA Press Office on +44 (0)207 273 8299, sunita.sharma@mla.gov.uk or visit the website at www.mla.gov.uk

London 2012 Cultural Olympiad press contact:
For further information please contact Paul Woodmansey the London 2012 Press Office on +44 (0)203 2012 100, paul.woodmansey@london2012.com or visit the website at www.london2012.com/culture. Find out the latest from London 2012 HQ on our blog http://blog.london2012.com or follow us on Twitter http://www.twitter.com/london2012

About The London 2012 Cultural Olympiad:
The London 2012 Cultural Olympiad is the largest cultural celebration in the history of the modern Olympic and Paralympics Movements. Spread over four years, it is designed to give everyone in the UK a chance to be part of London 2012 and inspire creativity across all forms of culture, especially among young people. Millions of people around the UK are already part of the Cultural Olympiad, through the Inspire programme and Open Weekend.

The finale of the Cultural Olympiad will be in a twelve week UK-wide Festival in the summer of 2012, bringing together leading artists from all over the world.

The Cultural Olympiad has benefited from a National Lottery grant of £15.6 million from the Olympic Lottery Distributor. Other funders include The Legacy Trust and Arts Council England. British Council will commit £3million to the international development of London 2012 Cultural Olympiad projects. BP and BT are Premier Partners of the Cultural Olympiad. Panasonic are the presenting partner of Film Nation: Shorts. For more details visit www.london2012.com/culture

About Stories of the World:
London 2012 Cultural Olympiad programme Stories of the World presents exciting new museum exhibitions across the UK, created by young people. The project is led by the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council (MLA) in partnership with the London Organizing Committee of the Olympic and Paralympics Games (LOCOG).