Takeover Day, the annual mini-festival of children taking control in museums and galleries, has once again proved imaginative and entertaining
Young visitors have been helping out behind the tills at Eureka in Halifax© Eureka!
Children picked their top three artists in the hotly-contested Bradford Open 13, at the city’s Cartwright Hall, debated citizenship at Liverpool’s International Slavery Museum and even taught their local mayor a thing or two about pottery at Peterborough Museum.
Damien Dibben, the bestselling author who is the Patron of organisers Kids in Museums, headed for London’s Wallace Collection in his talismanic role as Takeover Day Ambassador.
At Eureka, the Halifax museum which became the country’s first museum exclusively for children in 1992, the gift shops and visitor entry stamps were kept in check by cherubic teams.
“I really believe, if you put young people in charge, all sorts of incredible things happen,” said Dibben.
“Museums must remember that one day is never enough. Takeover Day is only the first day of putting young people permanently at the heart of a museum.”
Alan Davey, of Arts Council England, which backs the initiative, praised the perceptiveness of the participants.
“What I find most inspiring about Takeover Day is that children and young people really do see the world differently to others,” he said.
“Giving them control for a day can make a museum really come alive in a completely different way. This is why we continue to support Takeover Day, and continue to value the work that Kids in Museums do.”
The campaign's hashtag, #TakeoverDay, trended on Twitter as schools and venues tweeted about their Friday fun.
Follow @TakeoverDay on Twitter.
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Around 1,500 visitors are thought to have brightened up 85 venues last year© Eureka!
The initiative is run by the charity Kids in Museums in partnership with the Children's Commissioner© Eureka!
Local journalists interviewed teachers and pupils at Eureka© Eureka!
