A Toe in the Water: Introducing Exhibitions on Video with Young People at the Whitechapel Art Gallery

This paper focuses on the production of introductory videos for gallery exhibitions through collaborations between young people, professional artists and gallery staff. Fundamental to this process is the quality of encounter young people involved have with original works of art, artists and gallery staff. Their enquiries about the work on show and critical response is valued by the gallery and its diverse audiences for its unique and individual perspective. Students are invited to explore and familiarise themselves with the work prior to articulating their ideas and views on video within the exhibition spaces. Recorded footage is then edited to a professional standard and shown in the gallery during the run of each show. The videos are also posted out to local schools, marketed as peer-led introductions to each exhibition, in order to offer up questions and ideas to students and teachers prior to their gallery visit. A commissioned, external evaluation of the videos, against their stated aims and objectives, was undertaken by Goldsmiths College’s Art in Education team.