As part of World Week the library team led a group of students on a Culture in the Community tour.  Our aim was to highlight the rich variety of parks, woods, museums and galleries right on our doorstep just waiting to be explored.  On Wednesday we started out at Sydenham Hill Woods where we found an old Victorian folly, an unused railway track and a 150 year old tree.  We then headed for the Horniman Museum where we toured the galleries and then took part in a workshop.   

During the session, which was designed around the Bali exhibition, we were able to handle masks, costumes, shadow puppets and musical instruments.  On Thursday we walked through Dulwich Park to the Dulwich Picture Gallery.  Here we heard about the history of the gallery and talked about some of the wonderful artworks on display. It was interesting to compare the work of Old Masters such as Reubens and Poussin with the more contemporary Twombly – we learned that the former often tells a story, whereas the latter is more about invoking a feeling.

During the two day tour, every student had a specially designed journal in which they could keep a diary and sketch some of what they had seen.   Prizes were awarded to Michael, Karen and Hayleigh for the most complete journal, best sketches and a logo to sum up our event.