Drawing Down the Moon
The cow has jumped over the moon too many times to count, in more homes than it is possible to imagine. It will do so again tonight, over and again.
The moon is everywhere, all the time in every culture and throughout human history.
This is a story about objects in glass cases, the moon in the night sky and some families who ate and shared and listened and made and learned together.
Being followed by a moon shadow might help you find the clouds' silver linings.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hr0rDW5j1KU
You don't have to wait until darkness falls to see the Moon. It's always there - in a haunting song, a pale crescent in a blue sky, celebrated in the streets somewhere in the world or safe in a glass case in the Victoria and Albert Museum.
A real moon shadow, viewed from space.
http://www.space.com/21082-solar-eclipse-moon-shadow-earth.html
Turn off the lights and see the moon more clearly.
http://www.theworldfestival.net/hoi-an-lantern-festival.html
Things to look for on a Friday Night Late session - or on a Sunday afternoon.
http://collections.vam.ac.uk/search/?q=moon&offset=0
In the Sculpture Gallery, Room 22, visitors walk past a sculpture of a woman with a broken weapon in her hand. What is it ? and what is her connection with the Moon ?
http://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O67429/diana-statue-nollekens-joseph/
The Moon was not yet visible in the skies above South Kensington when families gathered on the Third Floor of the Victoria and Albert Museum. Some had set off early, several had travelled for miles and all were welcomed by Sarah Campbell and Karly Allen.
Karly spoke of Apollo and Diana, of the Virgin Mary, of Shiva, of Chandra and of Avalokitesvara. She showed how to look, to ask, to draw and to make; and by the end of the afternoon - as the skies darkened - everyone had made a beautiful lantern to light the way home.
In Roman mythology Diana was a daughter, a sister and a goddess. To the Greeks she was known as Artemis.
What else is there to learn about her ?
http://rome.mrdonn.org/romangods/diana.html
http://greece.mrdonn.org/greekgods/artemis.html
At the end of the afternoon everyone was asked about the afternoon. Liam said it was "really fantastic" and Rebecca said,"Well, it was good but short. It needs to be LONGER."
The next day Karly wrote,"What a fabulous group of people we had yesterday - I really enjoyed the afternoon and couldn't stop thinking about it afterwards." Sarah thanked her for creating "such a spell-binding experience ... It was such a lovely afternoon."
There's so much more to say about Drawing Down the Moon ...
So who could resist meeting again ? And again ? Because there is indeed so much more to say. And to see, and to learn, and to make, and to talk about.
The Drawing Down the Moon group met twice more at the V&A, in January and in March.
We drew with silver (and the drawings will look different by now even if nobody has touched them since they were made). We made story-scrolls on the floor, moving from one gallery to another to find mountains and rivers and moons and suns and monsters. We found exhibits in the Museum and ideas in our memories and imaginations.
Sarah Campbell's blog - and others she writes - adds an insight into the connections between the project and the Museum's wider work.
http://www.vam.ac.uk/blog/news-learning-department/drawing-down-the-moon
Drawing Down the Moon brought thirty people into the V&A who would not otherwise have visited. More than that, it allowed participants to learn together and to share the enjoyment of making. Sarah Campbell, now Head of Learning Programmes at the museum, wrote a blog to record it from her point of view.
The next phase will be ... another story perhaps.