Bradford is one of the youngest cities in the UK, with nearly a quarter of the population under 16. But young people (14–19-year-olds) are one of the groups who participate least in the museum, making less than 25,000 visits each year. That’s why we’ve put young people at the centre of our Sound and Vision project through our Youth Forum, as we completely transform the museum and bring our world-class collections to life in new and exciting ways.
The Youth Forum brings together young people from across the Bradford district to work with the museum to help shape the design of the galleries, objects and stories we’re telling, as well as our supporting public and learning programme.
We want not only to increase young people’s representation in the museum, but look to them to help us to find new ideas and creative ways to do things. We are keen to work with young people from diverse backgrounds who will challenge how we work, and bring new ideas and fresh perspectives to the process of creating the gallery.
Many young people are innately good at creating and fostering fresh ideas. While we try to keep up with the latest social trends in science, art, culture and technology, younger people can absorb, process and use them in a matter of hours. For them, it’s just another Tuesday afternoon.
So, as we’re consulting and collaborating with the community to deliver this ambitious project, it only makes sense to consult with experts in new ideas. I like to think that’s where the idea came from for the Youth Forum.
The first Youth Forum session was on 16 July 2022, and was the result of a lot of community outreach, groundwork with youth groups and plenty of trial and error. The seven young people who attended the forum were understandably reserved to start with, but once they got a grasp of the project and we started looking at designs, they were rolling out the ideas. They questioned the layout of the objects, the floors, the columns, the font, the colour schemes and the visitor flow. They picked up on the concept of designing a museum like second nature, and were already jotting down how they would represent a production line through concrete floors, bright factory lights and stainless-steel tables for the collections to be displayed on.
It’s exciting stuff, and now that they’ve been introduced to the project, the next step will be meeting with the project team to have more in-depth discussions. We’re looking forward to seeing how these young people shape Sound and Vision and become better represented in the museum.