The creative research methodologies that VOLPOWER applies were designed to assist volunteers to document their volunteering journeys. The wider significance and concept of the exhibition is the process of learning, and practical skills developments of the young people who engaged with VOLPOWER. Throughout the project our VOLPOWER volunteers engaged with various training workshops and activities, designed to develop skills in forms of digital storytelling, expressive and cultural arts, as well as life and leadership skills.
As the researcher and curator to lead the VOLPOWER creative exhibition, Dr Maggie Laidlaw developed creative activities that VOLPOWER partners delivered across the seven national VOLPOWER Volhubs. These creative activities included poetry, video, photography and podcasting. However, in Glasgow, volunteers used collage as an additional creative method.
This collection of works complement each other in a way that harness the spheres of community where dialogue takes place and multiplicities of time are experienced. The collection captures the role of arts, culture (and sports) in breaking down language barriers and enabling young people to truly connect with one another. The combination of these methods, in turn, allows the viewer to grasp the significance of the illustrated journeys and experiences of the young people in this project. There is a temporal element to all of these creative activities, witnessed within the aspect of the everyday, but also within the processes of learning, belonging and inclusion.
On our digital exhibition page, you will see how our volunteer’s creative contributions are woven into innovative and creative narratives.