Co-designing an exhibition with children - can it possibly be child's play?

Tanya Schubert-McArthur, Learning Facilitator, National Library & Emily Loughnan, Owner, Clicksuite.

The National Library co-designed an exhibition with intermediate-aged students from Wellington schools to encourage an underrepresented audience to engage with the library.

The students were taught how to curate an exhibition and tell their stories through objects. The resulting multimedia exhibit, which included interactive touch screens and hanging profile cards with student stories, was a success, engaging not only children but visitors of all ages.

The use of Curio software allowed for an agile approach to creating and managing interactive exhibits. The speakers noted the positive impact on the community and the potential for the co-designing exhibition concept to be replicated in other communities.

When asked about their impressions of the children, the Tanya and Emily talked about their frankness, openness, and tech savviness. They stated that, given the chance to do it again, they would involve children even more and give them more control over the exhibition space.

This is an AI generated summary. There may be inaccuracies

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