World of Interiors: The not-so-far east project 

In September 2009, 15 young people from Cardinal Newman Catholic School in Hove took up a challenge to create an exhibition at Brighton Museum & Art Gallery that took a fresh look at the Royal Pavilion. Armed with open minds and enthusiasm, they began by visiting and exploring the Royal Pavilion.  They met curators to find out about the Chinese-style interiors and how the palace is a great example of chinoiserie – a European style that copied and adapted Chinese designs and motifs.

To put the Royal Pavilion in context, the young people visited the British Museum and talked to staff who are experts in Chinese history.  They also looked round Chinatown in London and had lunch in a dim sum restaurant.

After all this research, the group created artworks to express their thoughts and feelings about the Royal Pavilion.  They talked through possibilities with museum designers and curators, and identified other professionals they wanted to work with – photographers, film-makers and artists.  They also collaborated with a graphic designer and the museum marketing team to produce gallery materials, publicity and an exhibition style.

The artwork the young people created included:

• a personal video tour of the Royal Pavilion: ‘We wanna show folks what we think makes the Pavilion so funky, special, fresh, cool.’
• a transformed iconic image of the palace printed onto souvenir clocks: ‘When the Pavilion was made, people who had not visited China got some of the elements in the decoration wrong. Our idea was to exaggerate and embellish these misconceptions.’
• contemporary photography inspired by historical Chinese paintings that echoed the mix of styles that shaped the interior design of the Royal Pavilion.
• an audio compilation of personal interviews with visitors: ‘What does the Royal Pavilion mean to you?’

What the young people said about the project and the resulting exhibition:

‘I like the fact that we helped to put the whole exhibition together.  It’s good and I’m proud to do it.’

‘When you look at the things you made, you can actually feel that’s something.’

‘Before the Royal Pavilion was just a place, now I feel part of it.’

‘People understand that we’re young people and they may be amazed at our work…it’s a different interpretation, what we thought about it.’

‘It might make more young people want to see the Pavilion.’

World of Interiors: The not-so-far east project was supported and developed as part of the British Museum’s People & Place Initiative.  Find out more on the People & Place website.

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