A group of talented young people have made their virtual mark at the National Museum of Scotland. The group had taken part in a four week long programme called Gallery 37 over the summer which was run by community arts charity Impact Arts. The young people explored their ideas of heritage and identity alongside 8 leading artists. In response to the exhibition, they created a multi-arts performance which was performed for the public at a celebration event in the Gallery also attended by Tommy Sheppard MP.
To ensure the programme has a lasting legacy, the young people were involved in the creation of an augmented reality (AR) trail. Visitors to the museum will be encouraged to download an app that allows them to scan 4 pieces of artwork in the ‘Scotland: A Changing Nation’ gallery which will take them to a video of young people singing and performing with a special animation.
Lisa Edwards, Programme Manager, Impact Arts explained: “Augmented reality is a method of overlaying digital content in a physical space and as our young people had drawn inspiration from the Scotland: A Changing Nation exhibit we chose this as the base for our Gallery 37 AR experience.
“Young people identified one item that they drew some form of inspiration from and we used these items as the triggers for our AR experience. Throughout the program we captured video and photographs and using our AR trail this content can be viewed both online and within the actual space that inspired the work.
“We’re delighted that a number of young people who attended G37 are continuing to work with Impact Arts and National Museums Scotland on Monday afternoons until the end of November in partnership with the national museum, working on a heritage based visual arts project.”
Visitors can download the app and pick up a booklet at the Museum’s reception to experience the Gallery 37 Augmented Reality Trail for themselves. Stephen Allen, Head of Learning and Programmes at National Museums Scotland, said:
“We’re delighted to continue our successful partnership with Impact Arts, working with young people to engage with our collections and to develop their own creative responses to the stories that they represent.”
Lucy Casot, Head of HLF Scotland, said: “We are enthusiastic about giving young people the chance to learn about heritage. Thanks to National Lottery players our Young Roots programme helps them to bring fresh ideas and energy to the task. The Gallery 37 Edinburgh project is an excellent example of how they can get involved, take decisions, develop new skills and interests, connect with their communities and have fun.”
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