The Reimagine, Remake, Replay project will enable young people to enhance museum collections by making and curating their own exhibitions, taking over museum and gallery spaces and re-interpreting existing exhibits.

Four thousand young people aged 16-25 from across Northern Ireland will be involved in the new four-year project. Seven museums and galleries will open up their collections of fine and applied arts, furniture, costume and textiles, maritime and industrial heritage and archaeology and archives for the young people to explore. The young people will pick up a host of new skills to help reimagine these collections and create new interpretive materials that incorporate new, modern technologies into the displays. 

Activities and training will be provided to allow them to write, cast and direct their own films, develop interactive events and exhibitions, create apps and games, and use 3D scanners and printers and virtual reality and 3D filmmaking technology.

The project will be delivered by the Nerve Centre, a leading creative media arts centre, in partnership with National Museums Northern Ireland, Northern Ireland Screen and Northern Ireland Museums Council.

Funding for the project was awarded by the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) through its Kick the Dust programme. Announcing the award, Head of HLF Northern Ireland, Paul Mullan, said: “Thanks to National Lottery players, this ambitious project will give young people the skills they need to create imaginative, engaging content that gives new perspective and relevance to our heritage.

“The fantastic network of partner museums and galleries will provide unique access to their collections, giving a real ‘hands-on’ opportunity for the young people and helping them to connect to their heritage in meaningful ways. We are looking forward to seeing how they respond to the collections, what is of importance and value to them, and how they use these to reflect their own identity and sense of the past while still connecting to our collective heritage.”

Welcoming news of the award, David Lewis, Director of Digital Content and Communications at the Nerve Centre, said: “The Nerve Centre and our partners are delighted with this significant level of investment from the Heritage Lottery Fund. Reimagine, Remake, Replay is an ambitious, regional project that will create exciting opportunities for young people to engage with heritage in ways that are relevant to their lives and aspirations.

“Young people will have unique access to the fantastic collections of the Ulster Museum, a range of local museums and Northern Ireland Screen’s Digital Film Archive through the project. We’re excited to work with the partners to bring this project to life and to bring a creative approach to exploring their collections.”

Notes to Editors

About Kick the Dust

Kick the Dust was named by young people, because they wanted to stir up heritage. It is a £10million pilot grant programme, through which HLF aims to transform how heritage organisations engage with young people.

Grants of between £500,000 and £1m are awarded to projects where heritage and youth organisations collaborate to create opportunities for 11-25 year olds.

Through this pilot programme, HLF aims to increase the scale and ambition of heritage organisations’ work with young people, and show what this age group has to offer heritage.

Follow Kick the Dust and our young Heritage Ambassadors on social media using #KicktheDust and #DustKickers.

About HLF

Thanks to National Lottery players, we invest money to help people across the UK explore, enjoy and protect the heritage they care about - from the archaeology under our feet to the historic parks and buildings we love, from precious memories and collections to rare wildlife.

Follow us on Twitter @HLFNI, Facebook and Instagram and use #HLFsupported.

About Nerve Centre

The Nerve Centre offers a wide-ranging programme of arts and cultural activity, cutting edge projects, creative learning centres, training opportunities, and state-of-the-art production facilities.

Each year, the Nerve Centre engages directly with more than 20,000 young people through its Creative Learning Centres, vocational training courses and a wide variety of digital and creative projects; welcomes audiences of more than 100,000 to its music, visual arts and film programmes; creates award-winning educational resources for initiatives like Creative  Centenaries; and generates online audiences in the millions to its portfolio of digital platforms, which includes Culture NI (www.culturenorthernireland.org).

In 2012, the Nerve Centre set up one of the first FabLabs in Ireland, a digital fabrication space in which users can use advanced digital manufacturing technologies to make ‘almost anything’.

Further information

Please contact Julie Halliday at HLF Northern Ireland.

• Mobile: 07733 100674
• Email: julieh@hlf.org.uk