Culture Detectives

A gala Olympic-style ceremony at the Assembly Theatre in Tunbridge Wells capped several months of work on the Cultural Baton project, in which Greg and artist Sayako Sugawara worked with a Year 4 class at Istead Rise Primary School in Gravesend to explore the meaning and source of ‘culture’. Under the banner of Future Creative, three others Kent schools also participated in the project, which was linked to the selection of a travelling artwork commissioned in support of Kent’s Cultural Olympiad programme.

Our working definition of 'culture'...

‘Culture’ is a complex concept for adults, let alone eight-year-olds, so we decided to give the kids a playful motif in which to explore...thus, all 23 students became Culture Detectives! We focused on asking good questions, and examined all the different components of our world that might constitute culture. In small teams, we spent time capturing the ‘culture’ around Istead Rise using cameras, sound recorders, object gathering, and making shapes with our bodies in the manner of theatrical ‘tableaux’.

Saya working with our Detectives to create individualized badges

Making a tableau of Pocahontas, the famous Native American princess buried at Gravesend

All this hard work was put to the test on 3 December when our Culture Detectives embarked upon a live capture of the ‘culture’ of everyone present, including other students, teachers, parents, councillors, and even British Paralympic Gold Medallist Dan Crates. The findings of our Culture Detectives were presented back to the audience less than an hour after they were captured in the form of a multi-media presentation using iPhoto, iTunes and several inexpensive iPhone applications: one student described it as being like ‘taking the culture temperature of the audience’.

Interviewing audience members about things they find beautiful

A plasticine imprint of an object borrowed from an audience member as part of our live culture capture

The 'opening ceremony' for the Kent Cultural Baton project

We had about 20 minutes to collect, collate and then aesthetically arrange what we’d captured in order to show it at the event, but we managed it. The children were amazingly focused and clever, as most children can be when given the time, space and opportunity.

The Detectives presenting their 'findings' to the crowd at the Assembly Theatre