East Durham Creates has joined forces with Durham University on an innovative project which connects a former mining village in East Durham to thousands of years of history in the university’s collection.

In 2020, local arts engagement project East Durham Creates and Durham University launched a new project called Street Gallery. The project took place in Dawdon and encouraged local people to curate their own exhibition and turn the windows of their home into an art gallery that could be viewed from the street. It included artwork by local artists and from the university’s own collections.

Thanks to support from the Museums Association Digital Innovations and Engagement fund, the university’s culture team has returned to East Durham to work together with East Durham Creates and the local cultural hub in Blackhall Community Centre to design a project that brings the university’s museum collections to the streets of Blackhall.

Street Museum will engage the community of Blackhall to connect to thousands of years of history, curating a walking trail around the village that will include 3D printed replicas of objects being printed and showcased in the windows of local homes and businesses, as well as the library and community centre. The community will decide what bit of history to bring to life in their community and, over the next six months, work together with the university to design this street-based exhibition.

The project launched with a ‘Hands on History’ day at Blackhall Community Centre on Thursday 28 October, where more than 70 residents of all ages explored different periods of history, handled real objects from the collection and helped to shape where the project goes next.

Projects such as these are key to County Durham’s bid to be UK City of Culture 2025, as they help engage communities across the county in creativity and the arts.

Jess Hunt, project lead for East Durham Creates, said: “This is an amazing opportunity for people in East Durham to connect with the fantastic collections of the university right on their doorsteps and bring something to their communities which is normally only seen in museums and cities.”

Alison Paterson, manager of Blackhall Community Centre said: “We’ve worked together with East Durham Creates for many years now to develop our centre as a place where culture happens and it’s fantastic to be making this new relationship with Durham University. We are definitely going for Blackhall getting the ‘Village of Culture’ title.”

Alison added. “This project is all about connecting our community with the culture that’s out there in the wider county and having them shape it and experience it in a way that is really relevant to them!”

Ged Matthews, cultural engagement manager for Durham University, said: “We are really committed to doing more in the wider county with communities who might not always have the opportunity to access or engage with our fantastic collections or us as a university. This is just the first of many really innovative projects we intend to run with communities like Blackhall.”

County Durham’s expression of interest to be UK City of Culture 2025 was submitted by Durham County Council, with principal partner Durham University, on behalf of Culture Durham. In October, the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport announced County Durham was one of just eight locations to be longlisted for the prestigious title.