More used to wiping noses and tying shoe laces in a primary 1 classroom, it has been an exciting change and privilege to be seconded to work at V&A Museum of Design Dundee. As the current Schools Development Officer I have been working as part of the Learning and Innovation team for two terms now.
There have already been many exciting projects developed by V&A Dundee, including the Schools Design Challenge which involved all Dundee and Angus secondary schools, so it is a thrill to be part of the continued and developing schools programme.
We are currently involved in the Bonnetmakers project, an exciting collaboration led by V&A Dundee and two local schools. The plan is to get young people exploring design heritage in Dundee as a source of inspiration for their own hat designs.
Rosebank Primary School and Our Lady’s RC Primary School, both located in the Hilltown area of Dundee, have been investigating the Nine Incorporated Trades associated with their area.
Bonnetmakers used to design and sell bonnets from outside their houses here and it became known as Bonnet Hill. We saw this as an opportunity to celebrate the city’s rich design heritage, and started by running a ‘Design Detectives’ session where the children went looking for evidence that bonnetmakers did live and work in their area.
As well as finding a large bonnet sculpture outside one of their local shops, the pupils also discovered one of the multi storey flats is still named Bonnethill Court. Using iPads to record photos of this and other evidence they found the children soon built up a collection of images and inspiration for their own designs.
We also arranged visits around the city to find other references to the bonnetmaking trade, including Verdant Works where Learning and Audiences Officer Anna Murray helped the pupils imagine what life was like for a bonnetmaker around that time. Handling objects, looking at exhibits and listening to stories really helped bring the city’s history to life.
A tour of St Andrew’s Parish Church led by Alex Coupar was fascinating, showing the children much of the rich symbolism connected to the Nine Incorporated Trades. The children took photographs of the beautiful stained glass windows which showed the logos of the Nine Trades, and they had fun sitting in the Deacons’ chairs.
Each class was also given a guided tour around the Howff by former city archivist Iain Flett. They were guided safely around, looking carefully at sculptures and symbols on the stones, reading the inscriptions and thinking about the lives of the people buried there.
But how does all this history help inspire the children’s learning? How can Dundee’s past inform its future?
We’ve been working with the incredible Scottish milliners Sally-Ann Provan and Pea Cooper to help the children translate their research and inspirations into ideas for a hat design of their own, which helps to show these pupils that their ideas are important, respected by expert designers, and can also be used to develop an entirely new design.
Connecting the past to the future like this is incredibly important, as it can help bring local history and other school subjects to life – as well as showing Dundee’s young people the range of design careers that are open to them. We’re delighted that this has attracted the support of the Nine Trades of Dundee who passionately support education around Dundee’s history.
We’re now busy preparing for a design jam event in the first week of February, bringing the pupils from the two schools together to develop their 2D designs into 3D prototypes. This is an opportunity for the two sets of children, who will merge onto a new school campus in 2018, to mix and develop friendships.
And the whole project will finish with a grand fashion show on Friday 24 March in the Wellgate shopping centre. Some children have decided to design their hat for family or friends who will be invited to models at the event.
With such high expectations the children will have to work hard to produce a quality finished product. But from what I’ve seen of these pupils, I’m sure they will rise to the challenge.
Susan Whye works for V&A Dundee