Culture Club (2023)

Culture Club is a year long project in collaboration with Thackray Museum of Medicine as part of Leeds 2023's Hidden Stories program. It is a weekly youth club for 16-21 year olds from Harehills, Burmantofts and the surrounding East Leeds areas, taking place at Thackray Museum of Medicine. Culture Club uses digital media to explore and unlock the hidden stories of medicine with wider aims of: - lowering barriers to access to arts and culture - providing a third space outside of home and school - introducing different roles in the arts and heritage sectors and potential pathways into these careers - improving confidence, communication and team working skills - lowering isolation - increasing employability With free refreshments and bus tickets at each session, we have a core group of 10 young people who attend regularly. We launched the project in February 2023 with 2 days of taster sessions working with local gardener and herbalist Matilya Njau. The workshops used the museum's apothecary as a starting point to explore the medicinal properties of different commonly found herbs and invited participants to create their own tea blends. Alongside weekly sessions, we have quarterly celebration events (called Culture Club lates), with free refreshments and music that are co-produced by Culture Club members. The lates are for community members as well as friends and family of Culture Club members to come to the museum, explore the galleries and see work that members have created. All linked to unlocking the hidden stories of medicines, we've had workshops and talks looking at creating your own tea blends, Grillz and the history of dental decor and the history of waist beads. Fundraising - Martha Adebambo, Jamie Taylor and myself Project Management - Martha Adebambo, Jamie Taylor, Baile Ali and myself Marketing - Chapter81 and Sable Graphic Design - Leon Davis Culture Club is supported by Leeds 2023.