�1

The Chatterbox Project 2013

Installation at Village Green Festival, Wildlife Garden, Chalkwell Park

�2

The Chatterbox

Project

A celebration of diversity through the arts,

culture and heritage — providing a shared

opportunity for enjoyment, creativity and

cultural learning.

Reception children waiting to record in the studio

"Introduction "Between May and July 2013, TIME Projects worked in

partnership with the teachers, pupils, parents and carers from

Milton Hall Primary School in Southend-on-Sea on a very

exciting, creative and cultural learning project.

"Our mission

To celebrate the borough’s growing multiethnic, multilingual

communities; championing a creative case for a richer

understanding of the intrinsic value of diversity within an

artistic framework.

"Our goal

To develop and produce a high quality, large-scale public

sound installation using the children’s voices to showcase

the project at METAL Cultures’ 2013 Village Green Festival.

This is a unique festival of music, theatre, comedy and live

arts held annually in Chalkwell Park, Southend.

"""

"Introduction "The festival attracted over 40,000 people, the highest number

of visitors in its history.

"School background

Milton Hall Primary School is located in the densely populated

and ethnically diverse Victoria Ward in Southend-on-Sea,

Essex. The ward lies within the 10 per cent most

disadvantaged in the country, with deprivation being a major

factor. The area has disproportionately poorer health, higher

levels of crime, poorer quality environment and lower skill

levels amongst other face factors that affect the quality of life. (Source: Sustainable Community Strategy 2007 - 2017: Building our future, Southend-on-Sea Borough Council.)

"Over half of the children at Milton Hall do not speak English

as their first language. The primary population during our time

working together with the school stood at thirty-eight unique

mother tongue languages.

�3

�4

0

What we did "We offered the children an opportunity to record a positive

sentence relating to their favourite things about Southend

spoken in their mother tongue and then translated into

English.

"With local sound recordist Stuart Bowditch, fifty-eight

children were selected to participate from all primary year

groups (age 4-11).

Prior to the recording session, the children participated in a

drawing workshop with project artists Elsa James and Sarah

Buckle. The children were introduced to the concept of

making a sound art installation and prepared for their

individual ‘soundbite’ recording.

Sound recordist, Stuart Bowditch in the recording studio with reception

�5Year 4 pupil taking part in the drawing workshop

�6

The thirty-eight ‘soundbite’ recordings

were uploaded onto digital media players

and placed into thirty-eight bird boxes.

We painted the boxes white before

coating them in an iridescent finish to

twinkle and interplay in the sunlight. We

then attached the boxes to selected

trees, shrubs and added stakes in the

Wildlife Garden at Chalkwell Park, to form

a fully mapped-out trail for the visitors.

Artists Elsa James and Sarah Buckle painting the bird boxes

�7 Milton Hall pupils visiting the installation on Village Green: The Next Generation

METAL extended the festival to include

an additional day - Village Green: The

Next Generation, with activities

exclusively performed by and for

Southend school pupils. We were able

to show The Chatterbox Project to

over 3000 pupils from the borough’s

infant, junior and secondary schools.

�8

Special Assembly "Milton Hall head teacher Debbie Priest, asked if we could

come in and talk about the project to the rest of the school

at a special assembly.

"We showed photographs of both the drawing and recording

workshops, as well as a selection of drawings the

participating pupils produced.

"As a very special thank you we awarded each participant

with a TIME Projects certificate and goody bag.

Goody bags awarded to the participating pupils

�9

A few of the pupils’ feedback after the workshops

Milton Hall School teachers’ feedback "SCHOOL TEACHER 1 "How do you think the project went overall? It went very well from conception to public exhibition "Did it meet your expectations? Very much so "Do you think that the project benefited the children that took part? If yes, how? If you can, please could also comment on how the project benefited the children that came to visit the artwork? Those that took part were given a chance to see that their language & culture were of importance and interest to others…and they joined with others to create something worthwhile and tangible. "Those that visited the installation enjoyed listening to the various voices and showed some pride that it was their friends who were speaking and being listened to by one and all. "How would you rate your experience of working with TIME Projects? Excellent / Good / OK / Satisfactory / Poor Excellent "Any other comment? Thanks for choosing to work with us at Milton Hall! It’s great to take part in such a forward thinking project. ""

Milton Hall schoolteachers’ feedback "SCHOOL TEACHER 2 "How do you think the project went overall? Delightful! The children really enjoyed taking part. "Did it meet your expectations? It exceeded our expectations. "Do you think that the project benefited the children that took part? If yes, how? If you can, please could also comment on how the project benefited the children that came to visit the artwork? The children most definitely benefited — both the ones that took part and those that visited once installed — as did all other visitors I imagine. A wonderful opportunity to share the richness of diversity we have in Southend. "How would you rate your experience of working with TIME Projects? Excellent / Good / OK / Satisfactory / Poor Excellent "Any other comment? Please consider us when organising future projects — well done everyone! """"

�10

�11

Visitors listening to the Chatterbox installation at Village Green

�12

A few of the visitors' comments at Village Green

"

�13

Mother Tongues & Dialects

Cze

ch

Ben

gali

Wol

of

Latv

ian

Dut

ch

Swah

ili

Gae

lic

Tam

il

Irani

an (F

arsi

)

Fren

ch

Cam

bodi

an

Polis

h

Punj

abi

Port

ugue

se

Guj

arat

i

Yoru

ba

Igbo

Urd

u

Shon

a

Kurd

ish

Can

tone

se

Som

ali

Italia

n

Hin

di

Taga

log

Rom

a

Arab

ic

Gre

ek

Alba

nian

Twi (

Akan

)

Gha

naia

n

Mal

ayal

am

Man

darin

Nep

ali

Kam

ampa

ngan

Thai

Engl

ish

"The Chatterbox Project was supported by the National

Lottery through Arts Council England.

"A huge thank you to the children that took part from Milton

Hall Primary School, the parents and carers that assisted with

their mother tongue languages, Stuart Bowditch, METAL

Culture, Lynn Jones, Keith Baxter, Keshet Buckle, Marilyn

Whitaker, Adam Cutler, Yolanta Joynson, Damien Robinson

and the grounds maintenance staff at Chalkwell Park for

Southend Borough Council.

"Listen to The Chatterbox Project on the TIME Projects

website or https://soundcloud.com/time-projects

"www.timeprojects.org.uk

info@timeprojects.org.uk

Tel + 44 (0) 7595 971053

"""Written and designed by Elsa James

All images © TIME Projects

"TIME Projects is a small community-focused arts

organisation based in Southend-on-Sea. We deliver

ambitious, location-specific, participatory art projects, events

and interventions.

"Our work aims to draw people together by exploring social

and political issues such as class, social exclusion, equality,

intergeneration, cultural diversity and difference; and also to

encourage engagement with contemporary art and culture to

create a social impact.

"In collaboration with a range of artists, visionaries and people

with great ideas, we create moments and artworks, which are

thought-provoking and inspiring, enabling participants to

become co-creators of their cultures and to help increase

civic pride.

"""

"""