Rochdale school explore their idea of representation

Falinge Park High School artwork for Represent! Voices 100 Years On exhibition at PHM

Liz Thorpe, Learning Officer at People’s History Museum (PHM), discusses a recent project with Falinge Park High School in Rochdale.

As part of our year long programme exploring the past, present and future of representation, marking 100 years since the passing of the Representation of the People Act (1918) and since all men and some women won the right to vote in Britain, we have been encouraging people to discuss, discover and reflect upon one of the great milestones for equality, and what representation means to them 100 years on.

I would like to share with you PHM’s recent project with Falinge Park High School (Falinge Park) in Rochdale, who have been working with the museum to explore their own ideas of representation.

Rochdale is an area with a long social history and is the birthplace of the co-operative movement.  It is home to many different communities and this is reflected in Falinge Park High School where over 50 languages are spoken.  Their head teacher, Janice Allen, was keen to promote a sense of shared history amongst different communities at a time of divisions in society and against the backdrop of a recent rise in far right groups in Britain.

Over the course of the last year, 15 students have discussed some of the issues facing Rochdale, learnt about its history and thought about how they could promote a more positive and harmonious place to live.

The project included a visit to PHM to watch one of the museum’s popular Living History performances, Moving Stories – Migration & Identity, which looks at the life of a young girl who was born in Manchester and whose parents came from India.  Moving Stories explores the themes of both migration and identity.  Also at the museum, the students debated issues that mattered to them in a Have Your Say workshop, where current issues, linked to the museum’s collection are explored.  In addition to all this the students set up and ran a stall at Bury Market to find out from the general public what local attitudes were to their neighbouring multicultural town.

The project finished with a two day art session, facilitated by artist Alex Godwin aka Billy.

Billy and the students worked together to make a series of simple, bold and visually striking flags showing themes of equality, civil rights and the representation of people today.  The students raised questions about gender norms, diversity and representation using colourful and positive techniques demonstrated by Billy and her creative practice.  Following a series of collaborative workshops, the final artwork shows a visual language highlighting the notion that 100 years on from the Representation of the People Act (1918) we can be happy about achieving a certain equality amongst people in today’s society, but there is still a long way to go before everyone can feel equally and completely represented. See a film of the artwork being created on PHM Facebook.

The group’s large scale artwork proudly introduces visitors at the museum to the Represent! Voices 100 Years On exhibition, on display until Sunday 3 February 2019.

This Family Friendly, Heritage Lottery Fund supported exhibition features objects which help to paint a picture of what representation meant in 1918 alongside crowdsourced items telling the very personal stories of today’s movements and campaigns, giving a platform to those who are still fighting to make their voices heard today.

One Falinge Park student described their work, as showing “how we want to live in equality and diversity and peace” and labelled their artwork, Opposites Attract.

At PHM we offer an engaging Learning Programme for all ages, inspiring early years, schools, colleges, universities and community groups to find out why there are ideas worth fighting for.

Visit the Learn section of the museum’s website for all the information you need to arrange a visit, or  please contact the Learning Team on learning@phm.org,uk or call 0161 838 9190.

 

Opportunity: Creative Writing Facilitator- £85 per two hour workshop Contract (Freelance)

 

Are you a creative writing facilitator who can champion People’s History Museum (PHM) and its programme by delivering creative writing workshops in response to the museum’s collection?

People’s History Museum (PHM) in Manchester is the national museum of democracy, telling the story of its development in Britain: past, present, and future.  The museum provides opportunities for people of all ages to learn about, be inspired by and get involved in ideas worth fighting for; ideas such as equality, social justice, co-operation, and a fair world for all. PHM offers a powerful programme with annual themes; 2018 looks at representation and commemorates 100 years since the first women and all men got the vote, and 2019 will see a year of activities around protest movements to mark the bicentenary of the Peterloo Massacre in Manchester, 1819.

We offer an inspiring Learning Programme for all ages that uses Living History performances, art based workshops and creative writing to engage learners with ideas worth fighting for. In line with Arts Council England (ACE) Cultural Education Challenge, we want to make sure that more children and young people can create, compose and perform. We want every child and young person to have the chance to visit, experience and participate in extraordinary work, and be able to know more, understand more, and review the experiences they’ve had.

Through our creative writing workshops participants examine key political speeches and explore their own voice and ideas.  These workshops are delivered to a range of audiences including schools, colleges, community and adult groups.  Using hot seating drama techniques and gallery exploration, participants give a voice to a historical object. By the end of the workshop participants, individually or in a group, create an original poem or story to perform in the galleries.

Duties

To deliver workshops on a freelance basis, scheduled in response to booking requests. We expect approximately four creative writing workshop bookings per month, though this number may fluctuate according to demand.

To deliver the majority of workshops at PHM, however there may be occasions when workshops are required at outreach locations.

General

To perform all tasks in line with the museum’s policies, including Equal Opportunities, Safeguarding, Environmental and Health and Safety.

This role requires the post holder to work with children and vulnerable adults.  Please provide a Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) certificate (less than 12 months old) or willingness to undertake checks.

Essential skills

Experience working with a range of formal learning groups, including primary, secondary and college students.

Experience adapting delivery style when working with informal learners from a range of backgrounds.  This could include (but not restricted to) English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL), youth groups, adult groups and groups with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND).

Willingness to work with the Learning Officers to regularly monitor, review and improve the workshop to ensure all sessions are delivered to a high standard.

Strong time keeping, planning and organisational skills.

Ability to work independently, be proactive and use own initiative to deliver workshops

Conditions

We work with another creative writing freelancer and we aim to evenly distribute workshop facilitation between both facilitators.  We aim to fit with any prior commitments and work flexibly with groups to find times and days that suit the group, the facilitator and the museum.

This is a freelance post. You will be responsible for all of your tax and National Insurance contributions.  You will be required to provide evidence of your Unique Taxpayer Reference (UTR) when invoicing for fees.

One day paid training provided. Opportunities for further training and Continuing Professional Development (CPD) will be available.

Where delivery of workshops is at outreach locations, travel arrangements and expenses will be organised with the museum.  A car is not essential.

Where the post holder is disabled, every effort will be made to supply all necessary aids, adaptations or equipment to allow them to carry out all the duties of the job.  If, however, a certain task proves to be unachievable job redesign will be pursued.

As an equal opportunities employer, we welcome applications from all suitably qualified persons.  However, as Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) and disabled people are currently under-represented within our organisation, we would particularly welcome applications from BAME and disabled applicants.  All appointments will be made on merit.

For enquiries relating to the post, please contact Charlie Corkin, Executive Support Officer at charlie.corkin@phm.org.uk  or 0161 838 9190.or phone 0161 838 9190.

To apply:

Please send your CV and a covering letter to charlie.corkin@phm.org.uk.

Closing date: Monday 8 October 2018 at 9.00am

Interview candidates notified: Thursday 11 October 2018

Interview date: Thursday 18 October 2018

Please indicate on your covering letter if you are unable to make the interview date.

Black Radical History

The museum is delighted to continue to work with the Workers’ Educational Association (WEA) to host a series of courses in autumn 2016. You can find out more about the Black Radical History course in our guest blog from WEA tutor Mark Krantz, who is leading the course.

For Black History Month, a course to explore how Black radicals have made history. From opposition to slavery and the battle for the vote, to the fight against racism and Islamophobia, and the question of supporting refugees today. The course includes a presentation from Ahmed Iqbal Ullah Race Relations Resource Centre and a visit to the PHM’s archives and galleries.

The uprising of slaves on the sugar island of Saint-Domingue began in 1791 and lasted for 13 years. A slave army led by Toussaint-Louverture defeated the professional armies sent to crush the revolt. Spain, France and Britain were defeated and the slaves won their freedom in the country known today as Haiti.

William Cuffay was a Chartist leader at the forefront of the struggle to win the vote in Britain. Cuffay was the son of a former slave, he led strikes, spoke at meetings, and led protests of mainly white workers across the country.

When Abraham Lincoln declared the abolition of slavery during the American Civil War, 30 former slaves who had escaped to Britain spoke at meetings in the Manchester area. They played a crucial role in winning workers to support the union struggle that defeated the army of the slave holding states of the Southern Confederacy.

Too often the role of black people in the struggles for their own liberation is omitted from history. This course places black radicals at the centre of historical change, exploring the history and politics of race, and strategies for fighting racism.

This course will cover

• Opposition to slavery, and the American Civil War
• William Cuffay and the fight for the vote
• Racism and anti racism from the 1970s until today
• Rebel women from Farhat Khan, and Lydia Besong, to Manjeet Kaur and Aderonke Apata
• The challenge of Islamophobia, stereotyping, and the Prevent agenda

Suitable for people aged 19 years and over

Course runs Friday 7 October to Friday 4 November 2016

1.00pm – 3.30pm

Cost £40.30 or free to those in receipt of means tested benefits

Booking Requirements: Booking required by contacting WEA on 0151 243 5340 or booking online via WEA’s website. Please quote course ref C3839448

*Please note this is a five week course, attendees are required to book onto all five weeks of the course*

Zombie Capitalism and its discontents: The economics and politics of austerity

The museum is delighted to continue to work with the Workers’ Educational Association (WEA) to host a series of courses in autumn 2016. You can find out more about the Zombie Capitalism and its discontents course in our guest blog from WEA tutor Mark Krantz, who is leading the course.

Since the economic crash of 2008 austerity has been imposed on the people by politicians and bankers.  Today the need for austerity is being challenged.  This course will examine various explanations of economic crises, as well as the impact of austerity on people and politics today.

Faced with the financial crisis that began in 2007, some commentators talked of the dangers of ‘zombie banks’.  Too many financial institutions had lent money they did not have, to people who could never pay them back.  This led to the ‘banking crisis’.  As the banks got bailed out, their debts were taken over by nation states, which in order to balance their books, brought in harsh cuts and an economic policy of austerity.  With no signs of an end to the economic crisis, increasingly people are challenging the assumption that austerity is necessary.  Some economists are predicting even more economic uncertainty, others a long recession or even another crash.

This course will study:

• Previous economic crises, and the crisis today
• The impact of austerity on the people and on politics
• We will consider competing economic theories; from Neoliberalism to Keynesianism, Marxism to Corbynomics, as well as current theories of economic inequality
• Look at current protest movements, the political and electoral consequences of austerity, as well as alternative economic futures.

Suitable for people aged 19 years and over

Course runs Mon 26 September to Mon 5 December (half term break on Mon 24 October), 1.00pm – 3.00pm

Cost £65.10 or free to those in receipt of means tested benefits

Booking Requirements: Booking required by contacting WEA on 0151 243 5340 or booking online via WEA’s website. Please quote course ref C3839453

*Please note this is a ten week course, attendees are required to book onto all ten weeks of the course*

 

Fabric of Protest Session 4: Starting the banner!

Artist Helen Mather has been working with the Learning Team at PHM to run monthly textile workshops The Fabric of Protest where participants can create their own piece of protest art in response to the museum’s collections and learn new textile techniques. The group are currently looking at the Match Girls’ Strike of 1888 and working on a banner piece to commemorate the bravery of the young women and the start of unionism as we know it today.

You can read Helen’s latest blog post about the most recent session. You can follow the group’s journey on Helen’s tumblr blog.

We had a number of new participants this month working alongside our regulars doing some excellent stitching and creative collaborations.

We welcomed a group of lecturers in textiles and fashion from Huddersfield University, a London fashion student about to go on her travels around Europe and two women who were off to do some cycling activism (there’s definitely a banner in there somewhere!).

We discussed the project so far and the ideas behind the Match Girl banner before setting to work on the first job, stitching the words. We used a mixture of appliqué and trapunto quilting to raise the surface of the letters. It was a great start and its exciting to see something grow from everyone’s contributions.

One of our regulars, Tricia has been attending a broadcasting course at all FM in Levenshulme and was armed with a zoom recorder to interview participants, Lisa and myself about the work we have been doing together. She was pretty impressive behind the mic, a natural it seems! We look forward to hearing her piece once its been edited.

A lot of tea drinking and chatting whilst stitching, ideas and conversations flowing freely, exchanges of knowledge and skills passing effortlessly, what a great session! Thank you to all who attended, I hope you had as much fun as I did, though it really did go too fast…

The next Fabric of Protest workshop will be on Saturday 20 August. Future workshops are Thurs 15 September, Sat 22 Oct and Thurs 17 Nov

 

Political Leadership After Brexit – Have Your Say

A guest blog by Mark Krantz

With Teresa May now Prime Minister, and Jeremy Corbyn facing a leadership challenge …

It’s Time For You To Have Your Say!

‘A week is a long time in politics’ said Harold Wilson.

In the ‘weeks’ since the Brexit vote, politics in Britain has seen much turmoil and change. Teresa May has become the new leader of the Conservative Party. We now have a new Prime Minister. Jeremy Corbyn contests an election for the leadership of the Labour Party. What will be the outcome? After an audio visual update on the current situation from tutor Mark Krantz, we will have a discussion in which you can have your say on what is happening in the political parties today.

We will also look at relevant material from the museum’s collections, including the Labour Pains: Intra-Party Tensions and Divisions, from Cole to Corbyn exhibition that is on show at the museum Mon 25 July – Thurs 1 September. This exhibition has been created with the University of Sheffield to examine past and present tensions within the Labour Party.

Join us to Have Your Say on Political Leadership After Brexit at PHM this Friday 29 July 1.00pm -3.00pm, booking required through Eventbrite: http://haveyoursayjuly.eventbrite.co.uk

**Please note– we will take a summer break from our monthly Have Your Say events in August and they will return in September, moving to the last Thursday of the month. The autumn dates will be Thurs 29 September, Thurs 27 October and Thurs 24 November. Topics for these dates are yet to be decided.

 

The Fabric of Protest Monthly Workshop

Artist Helen Mather has been working with the Learning Team at the museum to run textile workshops that explore and respond to collections and displays. Following the success of these workshops, Helen will be running a monthly The Fabric of Protest workshop where participants can create their own piece of protest art that reflects the issues that are important to them.

Starting this Friday 15 April, Helen will be asking participants to the use a range of protest materials, including ribbons, rosettes, patches, flags and badges, to contribute to an art piece using their slogan for change. Participants will produce individual pieces that will combine to create a collaborative installation that will be displayed in the museum. Participants can attend an individual workshop or join us on a regular basis to shape how the installation develops. Groups can book onto these sessions by contacting Lisa Gillen on 0161 838 9190 or emailing learning@phm.org.uk

You can find more about the previous fabric workshops Helen has held at the museum on her tumblr blog.

Or you can visit the museum to see the installation from The Fabric of Protest workshops Helen recently held for International Women’s Day; this is on display until the end of April 2016.  In these workshops participants created their slogans of change for women today.

The Fabric of Protest workshops will run on Fri 15 April, Fri 13 May, Sat 18 June, Fri 15 July & Sat 20 August, 1.30-3.30pm. You can book onto these via Eventbrite or by calling the museum on 0161 838 9190.

Who mined the coal? Who ran the locomotives? Who built the Manchester Ship Canal?

A guest blog by WEA tutor Mark Krantz

The coal owners, engineers, contractors, and financiers were all crucial. But without ‘grafters’ the coal would remain underground, trains could not run, and the Ship Canal would never have been built.  The photographic exhibition Grafters: Industrial society in image and word brings to life those who were central to the productive processes – the workers who did the hard grafting.

Pit brow girls from Wigan, locomotive cleaners from Lancashire, navvies who dug the ship canal, all are brought to life in enhanced photographs.photographer Ian Beesley

Leading documentary photographer Ian Beesley has curated this exhibition. To accompany these scenes of industrial life, Ian McMillan, the ‘Bard of Barnsley’, has written new poems giving new voice to the unknown people captured in the images.

To discover more about the history, politics, and technology that inform this exhibition the Workers’ Education Association (WEA) is running a five week course at the People’s History Museum, led by tutor Mark Krantz.

The exhibition curator Ian Beesley will give a guided tour of the exhibition and lead a discussion about the photographs.

This five week course started on Friday 5 February and will run until Friday 4 March.website

Find out more about the WEA courses that run at PHM please check the museum’s website.

Grafters will be on show until Sunday 14 August. Please check  the What’s On section of the museum’s website for details of theWhat’s On events programme that will run alongside the exhibition.

 

Money Matters?

A-Level Economic students from Xaverian College took part in Money Matters? Patchwork quilt workshop on Friday 13 November 2015.  Most of the group had not visited the museum before so it was fantastic opportunity to learn more about the museum and explore and discuss our current changing exhibition Show Me the Money: The image of Finance from 1700 to the present. The group had a tour of the exhibition with our Curator of Exhibitions and Collections Chris Burgess and then took part in patchwork quilt workshop with artist Helen Mather. The group led a fascinating discussion about how they valued money, how the market was visualised, what the market and finance means to them and its meaning in the world today. You can find out more from the students themselves in the blog below.  Another group of Economics students from Xaverian took part in another Money Matters workshop later in December.

Show Me the Money will be on display until Sunday 24 January 2016.  We are working with a range of groups to create their own patchwork pieces in response to themes explored in the exhibition. Each piece represents a collection of voices, as a whole it is a community of people brought together by stitch. The patchwork pieces will be on display in the museum until Sunday 24 January 2016.  

A Level Economic students were invited into the People’s History Museum for a guided tour of the Show Me the Money: The image of Finance from 1700 to the present exhibition.  This exhibition attempts to question ‘what is money’ and the value we place and trust in it.

This exhibition asks: what does ‘the market’ look like? What does money really stand for?  How can the abstractions of high finance be made visible?  Who is finance for?  All money is a matter of belief and if that belief is shattered then a financial crisis will inevitable occur.  The exhibition charts how the financial world has been imagined in art, illustration, photography and other visual media over the last three centuries in Britain and the United States.

A2 Economics student Nomsa Mwimbi said, “The ‘Show me the Money’ exhibition combined philosophy, politics and economics so seamlessly that it required anyone viewing it to think deeply. History never looked so good.”

Hinda Ismail said, “I really enjoyed how money was illustrated in an artistic way since normally money is seen as just numbers and figures and not everyone really understands the impact it has, not only on our lives but to the change in society.”

Sumer Bhatti said, “The trip was a very educational experience. I never really thought about the concept of money or money in general, I just spent it whenever I got it. However, this trip taught me some fascinating elements about finance and money. For example, the digital version of the stock markets was a fun way to show the fluctuation in stocks.”

After the tour the students then attended a workshop to create their image of money in today’s world. They worked with an artist, Helen Mather, who quizzed them and debated with them about what the role of money meant to them individually. Each student then worked on an image and designed a piece of a patchwork quilt which at the end was stitched together to create a full patchwork quilt. This patchwork will now be on display at the museum for all to see in the future!

The 1842 General Strike, Richard Pilling and the Lancashire Chartists

Book launch

Sunday 6 December, 1.00pm – 3.00pm 

The PHM shop will host an illustrated book launch by the author Mark Krantz. Book tickets for this free event here.

The General Strike of 1842 has been largely forgotten. Those who organised and led what was at that time the ‘biggest general strike in the history of the world’ are almost hidden from history.

Mark Krantz will introduce his new book that tells the story of the strike, the people who led it, and the politics of the period.

‘The 1842 General Strike was the pinnacle of the Chartist movement. Mark Krantz’s latest pamphlet evokes and delivers a brilliant depiction of this significant historical event. Concise, passionate, and powerfully written, it truly inspires us. He breaks the pamphlet up into readable chunks of information; he never overburdens the reader, but instead offers gentle, intellectual snapshots of each moment. I particularly relished the fact that Krantz offers a section to the women of the strike – most people tend to ignore women activists right up until the militant suffragettes arrived on the scene – but Krantz offers everybody involved in the strike a voice.’ Helen Antrobus, Business Development Officer, People’s History Museum

Mark Krantz will be delivering a ten week Worker’s Educational Association (WEA) course, People Make Their Own History, at the museum on Mondays from Monday 11 January to Monday  21 March 2016. Places on the course are limited, please book now through WEA.

People Make Their Own History

The course will cover Peterloo and the Chartists; the struggles over jobs, against Fascism, and for access to the countryside in the 1930s; fighting Section 28 and for LGBT rights in the 1980s; to Stop the War, and the protests against the Bedroom Tax, and at the Conservative Party Conference in 2015.

Living History characters, access to the museum’s exhibitions and the Labour History Archive & Study Centre will ensure an inspiring course of study.

This course has been popular and well received – see comments below from previous course attendees:

• ‘This course was really interesting – very well taught, the tutor was an excellent facilitator and enabled the students to participate fully.  The museum itself was inspirational.’
• ‘I have not attended any course of study for many years, but found my feet ok at this one and really enjoyed it.’
• ‘Good to feel positive about coming to the sessions’

This is a WEA learning experience in association with the People’s History Museum. Mark is the author of two pamphlets; Rise Like Lions – The History and Lessons of the Peterloo Massacre of 1819 and The 1842 General Strike; Richard Pilling and the Lancashire Chartists.  Both pamphlets are available at the PHM shop.

• Course runs Monday 11 January to Monday 21 March (half term break on Monday 15 February)
• 1.00pm -3.00pm
• Suitable for adults aged 19 and over
• Cost £65.10 or free to those in receipt of means tested benefits
• Booking required. Please contact WEA on 0151 243 5340 or book online via WEA’s website.  Please quote course ref C3838091
• *Please note this is a ten week course, attendees are required to book onto all ten weeks of the course*