Exhibition ends on Tuesday - last chance to see!

Last chance to see Fabula's work across three rooms in Hove Museum and The Wish Tree, The Story Cabinet and loads of drawings done in response to the exhibition.

The Wish Tree - our response to your wishes

Many Ways To Tell A Story  - Fabula Collective's exhibition at Hove Museum ends next Tuesday 9th May. We've enjoyed it so much! It's been wonderful to see all the comments in the comments book and we loved the wishes that you put in the wish box - and so we made this tree!

In case you didn't see it - we had a box on the mantlepiece for people to put their wishes in to give their response to the Story Cabinet: our collaborative piece based around fairy tales. The wishes we received ranged from requests for new fairy tales for us to make to personal wishes and wishes for the planet. All wishes have been thought of - some have been incorporated into the actual tree whilst others hang from the branches. Your response to the Wishbox inspired this work and will probably inspire yet further work for us as we may tackle individual fairy tale requests too at a later date - thank you for taking part. 

If you look closely at the tree you may see some feet, perhaps hands  - can you see a face? How many mushrooms can you find? There's still time to see! 

The fun is still continuing until Tuesday - tomorrow you can also catch children's Laureate Chris Riddell at the Museum where he will be doing some live drawing and a book signing.
http://brightonmuseums.org.uk/hove/whats-on/#!an-afternoon-with-chris-riddell

Drawing event. 

This was a huge success and wonderful to see your drawings - thanks to everyone that took part and well done to Lara ( age 6) who won the prize draw at our event last Saturday!

Lara age 6

Many people drew in response to something in the museum - upstairs or downstairs. You can see these drawings until Sunday on display at the museum next to their inspiration

Drawing inspired by Somin Ahn's Three Little Pigs

Drawing inspired by Louise Dennis's Installation

Drawing inspired by Clara Weifu's Grandpa's Fantastic Garden

We also had drawings submitted that were sequential drawings and some where the artist was clearly making up a story of their own. A big thank you to everyone that joined in.

A selection of Drawings 

Workshop last weekend

Here's a selection of photos from last weekends workshop. It was great fun - children made all manner of beautiful creations from natural and recycled materials.  Watch out for more workshops by Fabula Collective in the future!

That mushroom needs some sparkle!

A small room with smartie curtains - who is sleeping in the bed?

A house with a special roof and a tower next door

This three-year-old concentrate to build a tower out of cardboard

A little room with three windows and a mouse to look at when you're in bed.

Fancy mushroom!

This character in her red hat sits on her reclining smartie chair and watches TV with her pet

The artist with her finished room - complete with disco ball

Mushrooms and a tree at the same time! - I wonder where this artist got the idea for this from?

So many ways to make characters

See you again soon!

Children's Event Today! - and What's Growing in Hove Museum?

At Hove Museum

Saturday 29th April 

from 12 - 4.30 pm

See an exhibition of all the fantastic drawings from people who have taken part in our drawing event. 

Win some art materials in the prize draw - children who entered their drawing will have their names drawn out of a hat. It's also not too late to draw and enter on the day!)

Enjoy a treasure hunt  that will take you all over the museum with pictures to match and clues to work out. When you've finished choose an ink stamp to use to decorate your treasure sheet.

Join in an Art and craft workshop making and drawing. Here's just one example of what you could make at the museum today!

Loads of natural and recycled materials to choose from. You can make a tower like this - who would live here?

Something else is going on... we are building something new for you to see on 29th. It's our response to your wishes in the wish box - but what will it become? Here are some visual clues....

Tiles - lots of them, covered in different materials.

Familiar materials, what will they become?

Tall structures developing...

Magical mushrooms! 

A dark forest of mushrooms - makes us want to play with scale and story. What could happen here?

Detail of pattern. Mushrooms lined up have character of their own.

A close up. Big mushroom!

But it grew into more than this - it grew even bigger than this!

Come and see!

One Week Left To Join In!

Our drawing event is on until (and including) next Saturday 29th April.  Come along to Hove Museum and draw, draw, draw! We have made some frames for you to use if you would like. Then children can have their drawing entered into a prize draw to win art materials on April 29th. 

Anyone can enter our Instagram exhibition. Put it on yourself at #fabulacollective or leave your drawings at the museum and we will put them on Instagram for you and also exhibit them in the galleries on our: 

Children's fun day at Hove Museum on 

29th April from 12 - 4.30pm.  

As well as the prize draw there will be a treasure hunt and an art and craft workshops to join in with and Fabula members will be there to meet you all. 

Here are some of the great drawings we have had so far - to see more go to Instagram and search for #fabulacollective

Drawings by Layla, Andy, Eric, Billy, Gelareh and Catherine

Fabulous write up in The Argus!

Thanks to Edwin Gilson for this fabulous write up about our drawing event in The Argus on Friday - did you see it? It's great to have the support of The Argus and we hope that as many local people as possible will now be able to take part in our drawing event - and enter an online exhibition and prize draw. Then come to our children's fun day on April 29th with loads of fun activities planned. Then after that see Children's Laureate Chris Riddell at the museum on May 6th for more creative fun. There's lots going on at Hove Museum  - come and join in!  

For more information about these Fabula events please go to fabulacollective.com 

Information about Chris Riddells event can be found at:

http://brightonmuseums.org.uk/hove/whats-on/#!an-afternoon-with-chris-riddell

Fabulous drawings shown are by Catherine, Gelareh and Eric - all inspired by exhibits at Hove Museum

How To Join In The Story!

All about our drawing event

Illustration by Clara WeiFu

The short story: 

• First come to the museum during opening hours in April.

• Choose a frame - Fabula have drawn some for you to use if you like. 

• Choose something to draw in any of the galleries.

• Draw it.

• Photograph it and post it on Instagram with #fabulacollective 

• Or email to us at fabulacollective@gmail.com and we will post it for you.

• Leave it at the desk if you want it to be in the prize draw and pop up exhibition on Fabula Fun Day, 29th April at Hove Museum.*

Visual instructions by Clara Weifu

*Please leave drawings in the museum by the 23rd April for them to be included in the pop up exhibition at the museum. The prize draw is for children only.

The long story:

There is no right way to do this but here are some thoughts we had that may help you. 

Our exhibition is all about different ways to tell stories and it's being shown in a museum containing objects that have stories to tell. 

Please draw anything that inspires you!

• Drawing and looking closely can create a special way to remember your experience. 

• Perhaps you will wonder about this object or art work - how was made, what has happened to it, what does it remind you of? 

• This could help your imagination while you draw. 

• You could draw one object or several on one page. 

• Maybe it will be purely a drawing from observation or perhaps it will join with your imagination as well. 

• You don't have to be a great artist either - anyone can have a go and join in. 

We like the idea of each drawing having the potential to inspire a new story and we are hoping for an eclectic mix of images from people of all ages. We think the Instagram exhibition will make a brilliant online story of it's own!

Happy drawing and story making!

Be part of the story - come and draw at Hove Museum!

Drawing in the museum and then a children's event and prize draw!

Museums are full of objects that make you think of stories and that makes them great places to draw and let your imagination wander. As part of our current exhibition - Many Ways To Tell A Story - we are holding a drawing event throughout April hosted by Hove Museum.  

Children's Laureate Chris Riddell, (who made us a hand drawn poster to publicise our show) spoke to us about how drawing can help to make objects and experiences memorable. We agree - we want to help children connect with the things that they see on display in any of the galleries. We want everyone to come and draw in the museum! 

Fabula love stories and we see this as an opportunity to make a big story online and that perhaps each individual drawing could be the inspiration for a story of its own. You don't have to be a great artist to take part and anyone can join in - it's not just for the kids!

How to join in

During museum opening hours in April have a good look around Hove Museum and find something to draw in one of the galleries. It could be something in our exhibition or something in the museum collections upstairs. 

Illustration by Clara WeiFu

Frame your work

We have made some decorative frames for you to use if you would like to. There are seven frames to choose from at the museum or you could draw your own. Or just use plain paper.

Then look, draw and imagine - however you want to join in. 

Be in an exhibition!

Online exhibition: After you have done your drawing post it on Instagram #fabulacollective or email your drawing to us at fabulacollective@gmail.com so that it can become part of an online exhibition.
Museum exhibition: If you'd like your drawing to be exhibited in the museum as well then leave it at the front desk.

Full details are available at the museum.

Come to an event

To celebrate everyones' drawings and the end of the exhibition come to:

Fabula Fun Day on 29th April from 12.00 - 4.30pm at Hove Museum.

Come and see your drawing exhibited in the museum, take part in a treasure trail, a prize draw, an arty-crafty workshop and have a chance to handle museum objects. 

Prize Draw!
All children who have drawn in the museum can be entered into a prize draw. Names will be pulled out of a hat to win some lovely art materials. Leave your drawing at the main desk to be entered into the prize draw. 

Wish box response

The Story Cabinet team are working hard towards a response to all the wishes we received in the small box near the mantlepiece - the wishbox. So, when you come on April 29th there will be more to see!

Thank you to everyone who put their wishes in the wishbox.

One of three cabinets that make up The Story Cabinet. This is our collaborative piece all about Fairy tales.

Fabula Workshops at Hove Museum

The next workshop "Toy Stories"at Hove museum will be at 10.30 on Saturday 28th January. 

This is a creative workshop for children aged 7+ based on making story books inspired by characters in the toy collection and throughout the museum. Further details from:

http://brightonmuseums.org.uk/hove/whats-on/#!toy-stories or at the end of this post.

Read about our previous two creative workshops to get an idea of what to expect!....

Crackers!

Before Christmas families enjoyed this story-themed workshop at Hove Museum. Everyone had seen our exhibition Many Ways To Tell A Story beforehand (still on until May 9th at Hove Museum) and they were ready for some of their own story making.  Grown ups joined in and it was a lively family session!

The tables were laden with making materials, wrapping papers, foil, sequins, glitter, ribbons and glue as well as an abundance of recycled toilet rolls! Time to make some Christmas crackers!

Families in the process of making and two children show their crackers off proudly

Fabula member Juliette Rajak kicked off the proceedings by explaining how these were going to be different from normal Christmas crackers - how the children could use small toy animals, worry dolls, pom poms and their imaginations for inspiration to help them come up with stories to put inside.

Some children did lots of writing while others mainly made images. You could almost see the brain activity as the children started thinking about how they were going to tackle it - and it was tackled in as many different ways as there were children in the room. Some told touching tales about animals inspired by the worry dolls. There were stories that were based on fairy tales - perhaps inspired by the exhibition. There was a three-dimensional story with a secret part, a comic strip with no words, a miniature book made to go into the cracker - and more.  The whole room was sparkling with children's ideas (and glitter)!

One child carefully writes her story

The story, written and illustrated

Then we explained how to make the crackers themselves - placing the cracker snap inside, wrapping, twisting, a little bit of ribbon and hey presto!

Each cracker was individually crafted and unique and decorated both inside and out.  The children seemed very pleased with what they had made and some crackers were taken from the workshop very carefully wrapped up - we suspected they were going to be special Christmas presents.

Wrapping up the story to hide it in the cracker

This workshop certainly got us in the Christmas mood - we hope you all had a happy Christmas!

Story Houses

If you've already been to our exhibition then you'll know about The Story Cabinet - our collaborative piece made predominantly from cardboard and based around fairy tales. Likewise this workshop was inspired by fairy tales and makes use of lots of cardboard!

A house is a great place to stage a story: many fairy tales feature a house in the woods. The house could be friendly, a place of safety, mysterious, dangerous or magical. It might be different on the inside - not what it seems from the outside. Houses are also the place where our real life stories take place and children play with miniature versions - dolls houses and wendy houses.

A snowy house with smoke coming out of the chimney and a bit of magic sparkle on the roof

The children didn't need much encouragement to stage their own stories. Using pens, papers, fabrics, glue and their imaginations they set to work.

The concentration was evident as they got involved in the details of their individual creations. Their grown-ups joined in and offered assistance - at times seeming that they wanted to make their own house too! But the children had very definite ideas about what should be included and what should not. This child (above and below) spent ages on the details getting it just right

A very detailed house with individual bricks drawn and decorated with coloured fabrics

This child (below) focussed on who lived in the house. A funny story emerged around a penguin in the shower, a frog eating flies and a female super hero!

Inside the house live the penguin and the frog...

...and the super hero (girl)

And then the outside was collaged and drawn to make a flower garden.

A sleeping bird peeps out of the door - making it four occupants of this house

The inside is hidden (but you can peep through the window) and the roof is put on. 

There was lovely relaxed atmosphere as everyone got into their creative zone. We all worked right up to the end of the session - there's never enough time when your ideas start flowing!

Then, just before we said goodbye, we lit the houses up with candles (battery operated!) and turned the lights off

The house looked magical when they were all lit up

The next workshop "Toy Stories"at the museum will be at 10.30 on Saturday 28th January - we hope you can come! 

This is a creative workshop for children aged 7+ based on making story books inspired by characters in the toy collection and throughout the museum. It  will be facilitated by Fabula members Juliette Rajak and Louise Dennis. Further details from:

http://brightonmuseums.org.uk/hove/whats-on/#!toy-stories 

Admission
You can buy tickets by telephoning the Events Booking line on 03000 290902 (Mon-Fri) or in person at any of our venues. You can also email visitor.services@brighton-hove.gov.uk if you have any queries. A £1.50 booking fee may apply to some events. Tickets cannot be reserved without payment.

£5 per child, members £4 per child, advance booking advisable. 7 years and over. 

Just bring your imagination!

Spooky Tales in The Museum!

You might expect to hear a story being told during our current exhibition Many Ways to Tell A Story at Hove Museum and sure enough...

Before Christmas families came to hear a ghost story read by writer and storyteller Charles Rudkin. He sat on an original Victorian chair placed next to the beautiful fireplace. Wearing a splendid red hat and a black velvet coat he fittingly looked every bit like a character from a Dickens novel.  

The stage was set and the audience were not disappointed as he read one of his stories from a collection entitled 'Hauntings in the Museum'. All three stories are inspired by the Hove Museum's collection and its past and each one is illustrated by Fabula artist, Dagmara Rudkin.  

Hauntings in the Museum by Charles Rudkin, illustrations by Dagmara Rudkin

Charles has an excellent voice for storytelling and really commands the attention of his listeners. He told them a story inspired by the Wizards Attic - about the evil Master Gorger who kidnapped souls of children. As the story unfolded - laughter, gasps and tears of fear came from the audience. Thankfully the Wizard came to the rescue in the end and everybody went home happily!

A double page spread from The Fiend in the Attic

There are two other stories that Charles did not read this time - one is inspired by a famous Amber Cup that can be seen upstairs in the Museum and the other takes inspiration from the history of the family who originally owned the building. 

A double page spread from The Major

Charles and Dagmara are called Scribekin when they work together as artist and writer. This is the second of their fantastic collaborations the first being the animated retelling of 'Henny Penny' illustrated by Dagmara Rudkin and written and narrated by Charles. We are reliably informed that there are more to come  - watch this space!

It is still possible to purchase the zine 'Hauntings in The Museum' from the museum shop. The illustrations above are just a small taster of Dagmara Rudkin's work and to see more come to Hove Museum & Art Gallery where she is currently exhibiting with Fabula Collective until 9th May.  Here you will be able to see her book and the hand-made puppets from the making of her animation - a retelling of the story of Henny Penny. This film is also being screened upstairs at Hove Museum throughout the exhibition.

Family friendly exhibition and events at Hove Museum

Be careful not to stray from the path  - Mr Wolf is waiting for you at the museum!

We hope you will join us at Hove Museum for an exhibition with a story telling theme. The show is on until 9th May 2017.

It feels like Christmas! - but that's not just us getting excited - our visitors have told us that the show has a real 'Christmas' feel to it. There are many interactive exhibits that children (and adults) will enjoy and it is free to the public.

Sixteen Fabula Collective artists and our guest artist Joe Evans have put together a stunning feast for the eyes. Come and see new stories and old ones retold in imaginative and interesting ways - including books, films, narrative textiles and three dimensional installations. Perhaps a visit to a story telling exhibition in Hove Museum (a lovely venue in itself) could be an ideal antidote to the more commercial side of Christmas? Some of the work is inspired directly from Hove Museums permanent collection of toys, games and the history of film in Brighton and Hove that you will also be able to see when you visit.  For your information there is also a cafe at the Museum and it is a short walk from Hove seafront.

Story telling and workshops

STORYTELLING EVENT - 
next Saturday 17th at 11am and again at 1pm come to Hove Museum for ghost stories read by the fireside. The stories, illustrated by Fabula member Dagmara Rudkin and written by Charles Rudkin, were inspired by Hove Museum itself and are suitable for children aged 8 years and over. Charles will be reading one of three stories inspired by the toy collection at Hove Museum and Art Gallery. Come and hear about the evil master Gorger taking over all the toys and imprisoning the Wizard in the Attic. Can he be defeated? 

This story comes from a collection of short stories called 'Hauntings in the Museum'. The other stories are about a ghostly Major and the famous Amber Cup.

Book to ensure a place or drop in at 11am or Ipm.

ART WORKSHOP for children on Saturday 17th at 2.30 - 4pm run by Louise Dennis and Juliette Rajak. Come and make a Christmas decoration with a narrative twist! It is suitable for 5 -10 year olds. Book to ensure a place or drop in at 2.30. 

Image from the previous workshop where children made houses inspired by stories and fairy tales. These looked special and individual in the daylight  - turn the lights off and they looked even more magical!

The next workshop for children aged 7+ is on January 28th at 10.30

For booking and further info please go to http://brightonmuseums.org.uk/hove/whats-on
www.fabulacollective.com for further info about Fabula and individual artists