Research News Last updated 12 December
Birmingham City University (BCU) is working with Manchester Metropolitan University (MMU), Manchester Art Gallery and Sure Start to produce a new exhibition for very young children.
Things of the Least is a three-year research project exploring the ways that exhibition-making and visiting can be transformed by babies’ and toddlers’ interactions with space and materials.
A recent report by the Arts Council found that only 18% of 0-2 year-olds in the UK have visited a gallery or art exhibition in the last year, compared to 32% of 8-10 year-olds.
The report also found that parents faced barriers such as cost, time, relevance and a lack of child-friendly environments.
Working closely with families who don’t typically visit museums or galleries, the project aims to create a free, inclusive exhibition.
Researchers began by exploring Manchester City Galleries' Mary Greg collection, a historic assortment of toys and household objects, and transformed selected artefacts into a ‘play kit’.
This kit was then taken to Sure Start Play and Stay sessions in Manchester to observe how babies and toddlers engaged with the objects.
“The process of making Things of the Least is research in every single pore, at every stage,” said Becky Shaw, Professor in Fine Art Practice at BCU, lead artist and co-investigator.
“The research doesn’t lie only in books read or papers written, or even babies watched, it lies in every practical stage.
“We’re making an exhibition about historic artefacts, but at the same time exploring how children and adults might interact with them.
“We also want to enable new visitors to experience the artefacts, while also exploring what it is like to be a visitor who sees the exhibition in motion as adults and children interact with it. There's a lot going on!”
The exhibition includes three purpose-built structures which allow children to hide, scatter and gather.
Rachel Holmes, Manchester Met’s Professor of Cultural Studies of Childhood, said: “This project enabled us to reexamine conventional assumptions about very young children.
“Our observations of the way the youngest children interact has informed the art that has been created.
“They have shaped the gallery space to enable the exploration of how bodies might take particular forms when engaging with the material and sensuous world around them – crouching, crawling, squeezing through, gathering and scattering.”
It’s hoped the exhibition will encourage more families to visit galleries and museums with babies and toddlers, whilst creating research to improve experiences and learn from the youngest in our society.
Things of the Least is running at Manchester Art Gallery until November 2026.
Photo credit: Chiara Ludolini