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Pierce, Gina (2026) Connecting to archives through creativity to support wellbeing. In: Possibility Studies Network 2026 Conference, 30 June-2nd July 2026, University of Sussex, Falmer, Brighton. (Unpublished)
This paper discusses a series of workshops delivered within the Tangible Archives Research Outreach Project, to engage those outside of academia with archives and museum collections. Participants from a range of diverse backgrounds including young girls at a Southwark community centre, Age UK groups, mental health support for women and multi-cultural women’s groups were introduced to archival material using creative activities. Working in collaboration with London Museum, Southwark Heritage Centre, Mid and East Antrim Museum and Bolton Museum, imagery inspired by the archives is designed as stencils for textile printing. In the half day session, participants are offered an open ended opportunity to design their own composition without requiring any previous artistic experience. This freedom within pre-determined parameters allows for intuitive and experiential knowledge to be brought to the fore. The self-reported feedback from these workshops overwhelmingly shows that participants feel a positive connection to the process as they become absorbed in the physical act of making, expressing satisfaction and a sense of well-being. The paper asks how might the benefits of this creative process be recognised and quantified in order to be transferable to other situations and further extended.
Possibility-Conference-Presentation.pdf - Accepted Version
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