Earlier this month, Eureka!, the museum for children in Halifax, launched an interactive music gallery called SoundSpace, writes Katy Conway. The new gallery utilises interactive technology designed especially for children aged three to twelve, who can explore the science behind sound, music and performance, inspiring them to unlock their creativity and realise their futures ? will they become producers, technicians, engineers or musicians?
SoundSpace is a collaboration between sound artist Thor McIntyre-Burnie and Dutch exhibition designers Northern Light CoDesign. The gallery covers approximately 500m2 with a series of 21st century hands-on exhibits representing the cutting edge of children?s exhibition design.
Groups of children will be able to embark upon a journey of discovery to help a young visiting alien from a faraway planet explore music and learn about the key elements that make up music. The children will help Orby the Alien find out what role music plays in performance and how it is controlled, and then look at the role that music can play in society, as well as how music can make us feel and can influence our emotions.
Children will be able to join Orby to discover the physics of sound by seeing and feeling vibrations and creating their very own musical sequences. They can then perform live on stage, mix and sample sounds on virtual DJ decks, tour the world in a musical spaceship and experiment with sound and lighting in a futuristic studio. Throughout the experience, SoundSpace aims to enhance the understanding of science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) by exploring the unique relationships that exist between music and creativity, science, technology and the arts in a fun and accessible way.
SoundSpace is the realisation of one of the key elements in the region-wide Creative Minds project, of which Eureka! is a partner. The partnership was formed in 2003 between the museum, Yorkshire Forward and the Yorkshire Museums, Libraries and Archives Council. The project is aimed at bringing the challenging subjects of STEM closer to children. SoundSpace has been developed as a result of this collaborative project alongside a travelling exhibition called ?Explore the Eureka! Moment?, which is currently touring museums, libraries and archives throughout the region.
NESTA (the National Endowment for Science, Technology & the Arts), the organisation that invests in UK creativity and innovation, is also supporting SoundSpace through a £117,000 award from its Learning Programme. This will help to develop the sensory soundscape elements of the gallery, enabling Eureka! to be as innovative as possible in harnessing emerging technologies.
Katy Conway is Marketing Officer of Eureka! t: 01422 398469; e: katy.conway@eureka.org.uk; w: http://www.eureka.org.uk