One of the capital’s most wonderful buildings
The Guardian
Education &
Outreach
BAROQUE IDOL
April 2011
Baroque Idol is a fun ongoing project created and performed by our Associate Artists Spirituoso to
provide a glimpse of the day-to-day life of an aristocratic child in the Georgian era of Hawksmoor's
time.
On April 1st St George's Bloomsbury provided the perfect 18th Century backdrop for this exciting,
innovative and unique educational project, as 56 Year 3 children from St Aloysius Junior School and
St Dominic’s Primary School were introduced to Hawksmoor himself, as well as to a musician and a
very strict dancing master, to learn the latest trends of a true 18th-century celebrity fashionista!
The activities of the day started with learning about the history of the St George’s Bloomsbury and
features pertaining to Hawksmoor, with an architectural treasure hunt around the church. This was
followed by lessons in Baroque etiquette, costumes & fashion, including how to stand, sit and bow,
and the secret language of fans and beauty spots!
After looking at 18th Century instruments and dancing a few steps to the Minuet, the workshops
culminated in learning an entire Georgian Country dance before the children were each given a copy
of our in-house newspaper the Bloomsbury Echo from January 1730 to read and discuss in class.
_______________________________________________________________
ACROSS BOUNDARIES
October 2010
This project was created in collaboration with the October Gallery and
revolved around an exhibition of Benin artist Julian Sinzogan. Sinzogan’s
powerful and beautiful work centres on African slavery and offers a message
of redemption and healing. By exploring the visible world that we inhabit
and the invisible world of the spirit ancestors, Sinzogan pictures the ports of
West Africa not as sites of potential loss, but as the arrival point for the
homeward return of lost spirits.
St George’s Bloomsbury’s role as an abolitionist church in the 18th & early
19th Centuries was a catalyst for creative workshops with 44 children from
St Alban’s Primary School and Refugee Youth Arts from the PAN
Intercultural Arts programme.
A pilot workshop was held on June 3rd 2010 with members of the Orsino Ensemble.
In October 2010 the full creative workshops took place in conjunction
with the Bloomsbury Festival, London Big Draw and Black History
Month. The participants took inspiration from Julien Sinzogan's Spirit
Worlds and the imaginative improvisatory skills of artist Galen
Wainwright and West African musicians from Mosi Conde’s Kaira
Kora Afrika!
We ran a series of music and drawing based events, exploring heritage,
contemporary and cross-cultural music and art, community identity
and responsibility in a global context. In each 2 hour session the
participants were introduced to specific instruments in the music group,
the music being a mixture of instrumental improvisation and songs.
Co-led by Galen and the musicians, the participants then partook in a
series of activities that allow them to make visual representations of
the sounds and words. The whole group then painted their own
contributions to a joint canvas that became the sails of a ship (in the
style of Julian Sinzogan) that we named the SS Wilberforce after
abolitionist William Wilberforce.
On 23rd October 236 people - including 43 children - from a wide range of backgrounds and age groups
visited the Music & Art Tea Party drop in day. Many of the St Albans children visited the gallery with their
parents to look at the work that they had helped create and to participate further in events that day. As
well as tourists who were attending the Bloomsbury Festival, many of the other adult visitors were from
the local community. A concert of Mosi Conde and his dynamic band Kora Kaira Afrika! on Sunday
October 24th had the audience of over 100 members literally on their feet dancing in the church - a
wonderful sight!
We are indebted to the John Lyons Charity for their
generous assistance in supporting this project.
__________________________________________________________________
CD ROM
St George’s has produced a CD Rom (£5) covering 1,000 yrs of Bloomsbury history with ideas for
discussions and lesson plans. Suitable for KS2 +
Please contact us if you would like to purchase any copies (see Contact page).
__________________________________________________________________
HAWKSMOOR ONLINE!
St George’s Bloomsbury’s summer 2007 Education Project, Hawksmoor Online!, was inspired by the
creation of Hawksmoor & Bloomsbury (our multimedia exhibition located in the undercroft beneath the
church) and St George’s website. The aim of Hawksmoor Online! was to explore how work in ICT and Art
& Design could support students’ work in History and English.
During June 2007, teachers and students from three local primary schools (Sir Christopher Hatton
School, Gospel Oak School & St George in the Matyr School) worked with local web/graphic designers and
St George’s education team to explore the history of the church and of their local area before creating their
own web pages for the St George’s Bloomsbury website of that time.
St George’s Bloomsbury is very grateful to the following organisations for their support of Hawksmoor
Online!:
The Foundling Museum
Historia Archaeology
Trevor Wilson Design Ltd
UCL Museums & Collections
Education &
Outreach
BAROQUE IDOL
April 2011
Baroque Idol is a fun ongoing project created and performed by our Associate Artists Spirituoso to
provide a glimpse of the day-to-day life of an aristocratic child in the Georgian era of Hawksmoor's
time.
On April 1st St George's Bloomsbury provided the perfect 18th Century backdrop for this exciting,
innovative and unique educational project, as 56 Year 3 children from St Aloysius Junior School and
St Dominic’s Primary School were introduced to Hawksmoor himself, as well as to a musician and a
very strict dancing master, to learn the latest trends of a true 18th-century celebrity fashionista!
The activities of the day started with learning about the history of the St George’s Bloomsbury and
features pertaining to Hawksmoor, with an architectural treasure hunt around the church. This was
followed by lessons in Baroque etiquette, costumes & fashion, including how to stand, sit and bow,
and the secret language of fans and beauty spots!
After looking at 18th Century instruments and dancing a few steps to the Minuet, the workshops
culminated in learning an entire Georgian Country dance before the children were each given a copy
of our in-house newspaper the Bloomsbury Echo from January 1730 to read and discuss in class.
_______________________________________________________________
ACROSS BOUNDARIES
October 2010
This project was created in collaboration with the October Gallery and
revolved around an exhibition of Benin artist Julian Sinzogan. Sinzogan’s
powerful and beautiful work centres on African slavery and offers a message
of redemption and healing. By exploring the visible world that we inhabit
and the invisible world of the spirit ancestors, Sinzogan pictures the ports of
West Africa not as sites of potential loss, but as the arrival point for the
homeward return of lost spirits.
St George’s Bloomsbury’s role as an abolitionist church in the 18th & early
19th Centuries was a catalyst for creative workshops with 44 children from
St Alban’s Primary School and Refugee Youth Arts from the PAN
Intercultural Arts programme.
A pilot workshop was held on June 3rd 2010 with members of the Orsino Ensemble.
In October 2010 the full creative workshops took place in conjunction
with the Bloomsbury Festival, London Big Draw and Black History
Month. The participants took inspiration from Julien Sinzogan's Spirit
Worlds and the imaginative improvisatory skills of artist Galen
Wainwright and West African musicians from Mosi Conde’s Kaira
Kora Afrika!
We ran a series of music and drawing based events, exploring heritage,
contemporary and cross-cultural music and art, community identity
and responsibility in a global context. In each 2 hour session the
participants were introduced to specific instruments in the music group,
the music being a mixture of instrumental improvisation and songs.
Co-led by Galen and the musicians, the participants then partook in a
series of activities that allow them to make visual representations of
the sounds and words. The whole group then painted their own
contributions to a joint canvas that became the sails of a ship (in the
style of Julian Sinzogan) that we named the SS Wilberforce after
abolitionist William Wilberforce.
On 23rd October 236 people - including 43 children - from a wide range of backgrounds and age groups
visited the Music & Art Tea Party drop in day. Many of the St Albans children visited the gallery with their
parents to look at the work that they had helped create and to participate further in events that day. As
well as tourists who were attending the Bloomsbury Festival, many of the other adult visitors were from
the local community. A concert of Mosi Conde and his dynamic band Kora Kaira Afrika! on Sunday
October 24th had the audience of over 100 members literally on their feet dancing in the church - a
wonderful sight!
We are indebted to the John Lyons Charity for their
generous assistance in supporting this project.
__________________________________________________________________
CD ROM
St George’s has produced a CD Rom (£5) covering 1,000 yrs of Bloomsbury history with ideas for
discussions and lesson plans. Suitable for KS2 +
Please contact us if you would like to purchase any copies (see Contact page).
__________________________________________________________________
HAWKSMOOR ONLINE!
St George’s Bloomsbury’s summer 2007 Education Project, Hawksmoor Online!, was inspired by the
creation of Hawksmoor & Bloomsbury (our multimedia exhibition located in the undercroft beneath the
church) and St George’s website. The aim of Hawksmoor Online! was to explore how work in ICT and Art
& Design could support students’ work in History and English.
During June 2007, teachers and students from three local primary schools (Sir Christopher Hatton
School, Gospel Oak School & St George in the Matyr School) worked with local web/graphic designers and
St George’s education team to explore the history of the church and of their local area before creating their
own web pages for the St George’s Bloomsbury website of that time.
St George’s Bloomsbury is very grateful to the following organisations for their support of Hawksmoor
Online!:
The Foundling Museum
Historia Archaeology
Trevor Wilson Design Ltd
UCL Museums & Collections