Diggin' the Gallery

Diggin' the Gallery uses concepts from the video game Minecraft to engage young people with autism and associated conditions as part of the Diggin’ the Gallery event, which took place on Friday 27 November 2015 at Tate Britain.

Diggin' the Gallery was organised by Tate London Schools and Teachers team working with artist Ben Connors and the organisation Daytrippers. Borrowing concepts from the video game Minecraft, Diggin’ the Gallery was a free and inclusive pop-up event for an invited audience of 100 young people with autism and associated conditions as well as their teachers, parents and carers, providing a range of activities to encourage participation.

On arrival, young people were invited to follow a map of the gallery inspired by Ethan, a Daytrippers Young Ambassador, and his first-time experience of being at Tate Britain.

Spoken word artist Dean Atta encouraged participants to collect words relating to artworks in the collection which were then brought back to a central crafting space in the gallery’s North Duveens to create pyramid poems. These were then performed on Dean’s pyramid stage.

Groups worked with designer Katie Gaudion to hunt for textures, smells and sounds in the gallery, using these to make their own ‘sensory thingys’, props to help them engage with the artworks on display.

Artist Ifeoma Orjiekwe prompted the young people to find different patterns in the collection to make large collages that were exhibited in her Agozie Studio in the crafting space.

The event closed with musician Rob Grundel taking to the Pyramid stage to perform the song ‘Diggin’ the Gallery’ written by artist Robyn Stewart as a celebration of the day and everyone’s creativity.

The Schools and Teachers programme at Tate Britain and Tate Modern aims to support teachers and students in gaining a deeper enjoyment and understanding of art through working with practicing artists and the Tate collection.

This event is the beginning of a two year project by Tate London Schools and Teachers team to broaden our understanding of and engagement with a pan-disability audience of young people and their teachers and carers.

• Find out about upcoming Schools and Teachers events
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