On Thursday 10 July leading representatives from Manchester City Council, Factory International and Manchester Art Gallery pledged to safeguard a collection curated by 500 primary school children from across the city region to show it again in 100 years time.
The An Inheritance exhibition at Manchester Art Gallery is part of this year’s Manchester International Festival and incorporates objects, advice and knowledge as a gift for the children of Manchester in 2125, and is an invitation to think about the legacy we leave behind and what it means to be a good ancestor.
Leader of Manchester City Council Bev Craig, Creative Director of Factory International Low Kee Hong, Chair of Factory International’s Board of Trustees Moira Sinclair and Content Lead of Manchester Art Gallery Fiona Corridan took part in a special ceremony at Manchester Art Gallery designed by the children.
The ceremony culminated in the signing of an oath, witnessed by the Lord Mayor of Manchester Cllr Carmine Grimshaw and a tortoise named Victor, who will turn 115 in 2125. The signed oath will now also go on display as part of the An Inheritance exhibition.
The oath text reads:
“I solemnly swear to look after this inheritance over the next 100 years.
I understand that I am taking on something serious. This isn’t just a kid’s thing.
I vow to treat the inheritance with respect and love. I promise it will be kept in a precious spot with an even temperature so it does not get too wet or too hot. I promise it will be dusted every week or so. I promise it will be treated like it’s alive.
In my lifetime, I promise to make good choices. I promise not to litter. I promise not to use my phone while driving. I promise to try and make weekends longer so that we can play more football, and I promise to make my tea properly with no cold water.
I promise to leave this world better than I found it. I promise to always allow children to express their ideas as vibrant as they want. I vow to help Manchester keep blooming so that when the children of 2125 receive their inheritance, life will be better than it is today.
This is my pledge to the children of the present, and the children of the future. I will not forget. I promise to keep every big hope and every small secret in this inheritance forever close to my heart.”
We spoke to Minnie and Darcy, both of Millbrook Primary School in Tameside, after the ceremony:
Minnie said: “We were picked to represent our class today because we were really good in Safety Squad. We chose a football as our object because our class loves football, so we thought maybe if they don’t have football in 100 years we could give them one and teach them how to play it so they can have fun like we did; and not be sat on their phones”.
Darcy added: “People should come to see An Inheritance because I feel like it’s useful, because it could help not just the children from the future, but all the adults too, to understand life.
The An Inheritance project has been led by artists Andy Field, Beckie Darlington and Rosabel Tan, who spent over 18 months visiting schools in every borough of Greater Manchester to deliver a series of workshops to Year 5 pupils.
Artists Andy Field and Beckie Darlington said: “It’s been a privilege getting to work with the young people of Greater Manchester over the past 18 months — to talk about the future together and to hear their hopes, their anxieties, and their secret tips on how to get out of homework and how to sneak a device to bed. We’re excited to share the inheritance they have created with everybody.”
Low Kee Hong, Creative Director Factory International and Manchester International Festival said: ““Who better to speak to the future of our city and the world than our young residents? From their work with Rosabel, Andy and Beckie the children have curated a collection that will inspire, provoke contemplation and conversation and remind us how to be good ancestors of future generations.”
Manchester City Council Leader Bev Craig, said: “As we work towards becoming recognised by UNICEF as a Child Friendly City, we’re very clear that the voice of our children and young people in Manchester needs to be heard and listened to, both now and always.
“An Inheritance provides a brilliant and unique opportunity to ensure their voices go on being heard long into the future by children and young people generations from now.
“We promise to do all in our power to safeguard and look after this inspiring and irreplaceable inheritance of young Mancunian and other voices and views, for it to be shown again in 100 years’ time to Manchester’s children of the future, helping shine a light for them on life as a young person in their city at this particular moment in time.”
Fiona Corridan, Content Lead at Manchester Art Gallery said: “The UN Convention of the Rights of the Child states that children have the right to an opinion and for it to be listened to and taken seriously. As a civic art gallery, we strive to explore creative forms of engagement with children and their families. An Inheritance is a perfect example of this. It playfully, yet meaningfully, presents the serious concerns and preoccupations, along with the joys, of Greater Manchester’s youngest residents and challenges us all to think in more radical ways about the legacy we leave for future generations.”
An Inheritance shows at Manchester Art Gallery from 4 July – 2 November, and again in
