Engaging with the Oriental Museum



We are currently conducting innovative activities at Durham University’s Oriental Museum in collaboration with Learning Co-ordinator Charlotte Spink; integrating creative health approaches with the museum's rich South Asian collections. Bringing together participants with ageing minds, we use the museum’s artefacts to design multi-sensory activities that stimulate movement, memory, and conversation. Activities such as photography, dance, storytelling, tactile experiences, and music can foster engagement and collaboration between artists and participants, enriching their creative and sensory experience within the museum setting.


25-26 24-25
Credits





2025 to 2026



As the culmination of the project, we co-created an exhibition that would serve as a celebration of the group’s creative journey - focused on light, shadow and colour. Alongside a variety or artists, the participants engaged in workshops to create the material that featured in the final exhibition.


Co-Creating the exhibition


The final workshop saw participants explore silhouette drawing through playful light-based exercises, before moving on to painting silk fabric; experimenting with vibrant colours and textures. This hands-on session offered a reflective and expressive space, contributing unique and personal pieces to the upcoming exhibition.






Performance & Shadow Drawing





Silk Painting






Colours and Sound with Kartik


As part of the lead-up to the exhibition, musician Kartik Raghunathan collaborated with Elia Tomé in a recording session that blended improvised compositions on violin, piano, and synthesiser. Each piece was inspired by a colour of the rainbow, responding intuitively to the moods and textures of the participants' silk paintings from the fabric workshop. The resulting soundscapes mirrored the vibrancy and emotion of the artwork, creating a rich, multisensory dialogue between music, colour, and community expression.








Launching the Exhibition



The launch of the exhibition was held on the 28 May, in which we were able to celebrates story and memory through colour, silk printing, silhouettes, music and narrative. As part of the event, Sanchita and Jesse performed a 10 minute piece that fed into the themes we were highlighting.


2024 to 2025



Through 2024–25, we ran a vibrant series of creative health sessions in collaboration with the Oriental Museum’s creative health group, animating the museum's spaces through art and storytelling. These sessions brought the collections to life, with activities such as object handling using artefacts from the museum’s South Asian collections, explorations of Chinese culture and traditional artforms, and a Japanese-themed sensory walk through the Botanic Garden or the retelling of Ramayana. Each session offered a unique opportunity for connection, imagination, and wellbeing within a rich cultural setting.


03 June 2024





22 July 2024





7 October 2024





16 December 2024





24 February 2025





7 March 2025





Dancers

Devika Rao
Kali Chandrasegaram
Madhura Godbole
Manuela Benini
Sanchita Mazumdar

 Musicians

Aniruddha Mukherjee
Elia Tomé
Kartik Raghunathan
Jesse Bannister

 Visual Artist

Louise Grassby

 Poet and Librettist

Adam Strickson
Photographers

Balbir Singh
Ching Neun Au-Yeung
Elia Tomé
Gavin Joynt
Minh Nguyen
Morgan Girvin

 Illustrations

Morgan GirvinFind out more:

Durham University
Oriental Museum