Hands On: All the World’s a Stage
As a student at the University of Birmingham, students are encouraged to go out into the real world and put what they have learnt into practice. As a student on the MA programme in Art History and Curating, I came across opportunities I could never have imagined.
I worked as a volunteer for the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust, assisting visitors at the house where William Shakespeare was born and grew up, and explaining the cultural significance of the site to people from all over the world. It was particularly rewarding to meet people who spoke my own language and to be able to explain everything to them in it. I realised that my Spanish was not a weakness, but a strength. I also discovered how a love of knowledge can bring together a huge group of volunteers from very different backgrounds, all willing to go the extra mile every day to offer visitors a memorable experience.
Similarly, over the summer I collaborated with Nook Gallery, a contemporary art gallery in Birmingham, on an exhibition to mark its third anniversary, the central theme of which revolved around how we think about nature. In this exhibition, not only was I able to put into practice what I had learnt about writing curatorial texts and engaging with different audiences, but I also got stuck in to help set up the exhibition. Both experiences have enabled me to meet people from different cultural backgrounds and to gain a much better understanding of the place I now call home.
Both experiences made me realise that working with diverse audiences requires us to be more understanding, open-minded and inclusive. I also discovered that my language and my own cultural background were not obstacles I had to overcome, but rather tools I could contribute.
- Fernanda Lorena
