The ORNC is seeking a professional Writer Educator with experience working with young people to design & deliver a (poetry or prose) writing workshop in which local young people respond creatively to the content of our exhibition about six Black pensioners linked to the Greenwich Hospital for naval veterans.
In keeping with the nature of this project, we are particularly inviting applications from individuals of Caribbean and/or African descent to develop and deliver these workshops.
Open Until:
Posted: 05/04/2021
The Old Royal Naval College (ORNC) is the
iconic double-domed riverside centrepiece of the Maritime Greenwich World
Heritage Site.
Once known as
the Greenwich Hospital for Seamen, the site housed up to 2,700 sailors at a
time! Worn out from a life at sea, injured and elderly mariners retired here.
Some were of African and Caribbean origin, occasionally via slavery in the
Americas.
What kinds of
experiences did they have as sailors, as Black men in the ranks of the
British Navy, and as transplants to this part of London?
What would it
have been like to live in this place (so grand and yet quite crammed)? What is
the legacy of those who lived and died here? We only know so much — and we can
use information plus our own knowledge to imagine, to make stories and poems which acknowledge and celebrate.
Research & Development (4 days paid) will be necessary to
familiarise yourself with the themes and topics covered in our recent exhibition, Black Greenwich Pensioners. The exhibition was co-curated by Black History and Maritime History
expert S. I. Martin, author of Incomparable Words and Britain and the Slave Trade. This exhibition is now closed; its content
will be provided in digital (written and photographic) form. Facilitator will
decide how best to reveal and communicate this content to participants.
Other prevalent
themes around our site are also ripe for exploration — empire, trade, naval power, charity, science, maths,
religious politics, monarchy…
This program was
severely delayed due to the outbreak Covid-19, so our timetable is quite tight:
Applications are due 18 May; interviews from 21 May, Facilitator appointed 4
June, workshops due to launch from 21st June!
Please have a look
at our website, particularly pages which refer to the Black Greenwich Pensioners exhibition.
https://ornc.org/our-story/today/discover/bgp-online/
Do you feel
inspired by these topics, and could you inspire others to engage with them? Can
you deftly galvanize creativity, support literacy, and kindle interest in local
cultural heritage, with young people (of all backgrounds)?
Once
the workshops are created and trialed, the sessions can be repeated with other
schools and community groups, so there is great prospect of continued earning
with a day rate applied to each subsequent delivery of the workshop.
For
a full brief and application instructions, please email Kori Hutchinson, ORNC Community Outreach
Manager, here: khutchinson@ornc.org
Please note: We
take Safeguarding very seriously. Facilitator must have or acquire an enhanced
Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check (with a check on lists) issued
within the last 2 years.
