Beach Plastic Challenge launched for schools
Primary schools around Scotland’s coast are invited to take part in V&A Dundee’s next major exhibition, Plastic: Remaking Our World, by collecting plastic waste from their nearest beach.
School pupils have the opportunity to clean up plastic from their beach that could then be featured in the exhibition or the museum’s learning programme. The project aims to help pupils learn about issues surrounding marine plastics and litter, as well as exploring how museum exhibitions are curated.
The Beach Plastic Challenge runs until Friday 2 September. Primary schools can find out more by visiting https://www.vam.ac.uk/dundee/info/beach-plastic-challenge
Plastic: Remaking Our World runs at V&A Dundee from 29 October 2022 to 5 February 2023 after the current major exhibition Michael Clark: Cosmic Dancer which runs until 4 September 2022.
Joanna Mawdsley, Head of Learning at V&A Dundee, said: “Plastic waste is a massive global issue which our next major exhibition will explore, looking at its history and the many positive ways designers are trying to address the problem today.
“We want to give school pupils around Scotland’s coasts the opportunity to be part of the exhibition while also cleaning up the natural environment near where they live.
“Classes, eco groups or even whole schools can take part in collecting plastic waste of different sizes, to learn how pollution can be closely linked to local industries such as fishing, and to have the opportunity for their school to be represented in a major exhibition at V&A Dundee.”
The exhibition Plastic: Remaking Our Worldwill chart the changing fortunes of a material with a more than 170-year history, encouraging visitors to think afresh about the promise and challenges of this extraordinary material.
The exhibition will ask the question ‘How did we get here?’ beginning with the innovation of a material that now has global dominance. It will present the story of plastic from invention to ubiquity, from the history of what was once considered a magical material to the challenge of plastic pollution today as one of the world’s most urgent issues. The exhibition will feature prototypes, new technologies, and cutting-edge materials as designers grapple with a material that has changed our world.
The exhibition will feature product design, graphics, architecture and fashion from the collections of the V&A and Vitra Design Museum, as well as collections all over the world. This is the first exhibition co-produced by V&A Dundee, the Vitra Design Museum and MAAT, with consultant curators from V&A South Kensington.
