Dark Heritage
DARK HERITAGE brings home the horrors of the 18th century slavery in a touring installation to mark the 2007 Bicentenary Of The Abolition Of The Slave Trade in the UK.
A full and detailed website about Dark Heritage is now available at www.beearts.org.uk/darkheritage. The site contains detailed tour dates and locations over 2007 and an online booking system for performances and workshops as well as press information.
The Heritage Lottery Fund has awarded a grant to Bee Arts CIC for Dark Heritage; comprising The DARK, a sonic installation, and specially created educational activities. HLF’s contribution will enable the creation, distribution and delivery of these participatory educational activities. Arts Council England is funding the Dark Heritage tour to six locations in the UK between May and December 2007 (see tour schedule below).
About Dark Heritage
Carole Souter, Director of the Heritage Lottery Fund, said:
"Dark Heritage is a truly innovative and imaginative project which will
help people of all ages to learn about the slave trade and its
abolition in a sensitive and practical way. Bee Art's installation is
the 100th bicentenary project that the Heritage Lottery Fund has
supported and we were particularly impressed with its strong
educational strand and desire to bring out many of the hidden histories
of those who were involved in the abolition movement."
The DARK Installation
When you enter The DARK you enter a pitch black space where a powerful and dramatic three dimensional soundscape immerses you in a story set in the dark days of the 18th century when British ships and British finance controlled the global slave trade. In The DARK your eyes are no use to you - instead, you will need to rely on your ears, your imagination and your courage to find your way through the narrative. The resulting experience is a stimulating mixture of the exciting, the challenging and the scary, and an encounter with our heritage that dramatically illuminates a particularly harrowing aspect of the slave trade.
Educational Activities
Dark Heritage Educational Activities The educational materials and activities for Dark heritage are being created by Bee Arts CIC with ail Molloy and Maria Oshodi in association with the children and staff of Kingswood Primary School in Lambeth, in London. Kingswood was awarded a Gold Arts Mark by Arts Council England in 2006 and is in the top 10% of primary schools in the UK for Added Value according to an OFSTED report in 2006.
The Dark Heritage experience will be open to the general public, to school groups and community groups, offering a number of activities that have been specially created to enable visitors to immerse themselves in the dark days of the 18th century slave trade and learn more about lives of the real people who worked to abolish slavery.
Dark Heritage activities will be available to the public free of charge.
Tour Schedule 2007
10 April to 04
May: Kingswood School, Lambeth, London
Creating the educational activities in collaboration with the staff and
pupils
15 May to 17 Jun: London, The Old Royal
Naval
College, Greenwich
16 Jul to 10 Aug: Ipswich, St. Nicholas Centre
04 Sep to 28 Sep: Gloucester
04 Oct to 29 Oct: Birmingham, venue tbc
04 Nov to 29Nov: Norwich, venue tbc
04 Dec to 29 Dec: Bolton, Claremont Hall
The Team
Dark Heritage was created by Terry Braun and Gabi Braun of Bee Arts CIC.
The DARK was conceived and produced by Terry Braun & Gabi Braun in collaboration with the writer Maria Oshodi and composer Rob Godman. The DARK was created by Braunarts for Culture Online and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport © 2004.
Dark History
The DARK was one of Braunarts’ most successful cultural projects, mixing interactive dramatic narrative with digital media. During 2004/2005 the installation toured museums and galleries in London, Sheffield, Birmingham and Liverpool.
The Dark Heritage tour will be the first time that The DARK will be offered to the public supported by specially produced creative educational activities.
