CBL | Education | Intercultural Schools Projects 2004 to date

Intercultural projects for schools 2004-2011

The Library has run a number of pilot projects with schools ranging from story telling to the creation of works in response to the collection.

Projects in Primary Schools
2011 Storytelling, Music and Art Celebrating Heroes and Kings of the Shahnama exhibition. The Library invited storyteller Xanthe Gresham, musician Arash Moradi and artist Roxana Manouchehri to work with students from Educate Together Schools and explore the wonders of the famous Book of Kings from Iran. This epic national poem celebrated its 1000th birthday in 2011. The poem tells the tales of kings and heroes slaying fire-breathing dragons and monstrous beasts, foolish kings attempting to fly, wizards magically conjuring up snowstorms to defeat the opposing army, and of Alexander the Great's failed attempt to find the Fountain of Youth.
The project has been documented on DVD and will be made available on our website in due course.
In partnership with The British Council.
Special thanks to Educate Together for their support.

As a follow-up to the project a teacher training session invited the aforementioned artists and educators to explore themes found in the project as well as explore how the Chester Beatty Library collections can be accessed for teaching in the classroom. Funded by the Heritage Council of Ireland.

2008 Tell Your Story. The Library and Draiocht Arts Centre, Blanchardstown ran a series of storytelling, drama, music and visual arts workshops for children from diverse communities living in Dublin 15. This project also acknowledged 2008 as the EU Year of Intercultural Dialogue.

Excerpts can be viewed/heard online:

2006 The Silk Worm Travels. The Ark, A Cultural Centre for Children and Chester Beatty Library presented a DVD on The Silk Worm Travels - a series of workshops for children at primary and post-primary level, inspired by the Chester Beatty Library collection and conducted at The Ark. www.ark.ie

Launch the video
2005 Stories from the Silk Road with 3 local Dublin Schools. Stories: The Silk Worm by The North Dublin Muslim NS, The Tiger Boy by Griffith Barracks Multi-Denominational School, The Odd and Lonely Donkey by The Muslim NS, Clonskeagh. The Chester Beatty Library in association with The Digital Hub, www.thedigitalhub.ie
2004 The Chester Beatty Library Stories from the Silk Road Audio CD. Sponsored by the Calouste Gulbenkian and Paul Hamlyn Foundations. Storytellers: Shahrazad (Johanna Varghese), Marco Polo (Louis Lovett), King Mansa Musa (Lugard Ogwokhademhe), Lady Murusaki Shikubu (Clare Barman), Ibn Battuta (Sami Moukaddem), Alexander the Great (Louis Lovett).
Listen to Sami-Moukaddem:

Projects in Secondary Schools
2007 Exploring Different Faiths The Education Programme at the Chester Beatty Library is in the process of widening its range of educational activities offered to our visitors. We developed a Young Community Curators project working with the Transition Year Support Team based in Blackrock Education Centre.

Chester Beatty Library presents a DVD record of the Exploring Different Faiths project; a series of workshops carried out in four Dublin-based secondary schools. Students, with the help of facilitators, explored the Sacred Traditions Gallery in the Library before undertaking themes based on their findings in their own schools. The results of this secular project were displayed in the Chester Beatty Library in June 2007.

Schools: Warrenmount Presentation Secondary School and St Paul’s CBS North Brunswick Street Secondary School. Artists: Thomas O’ Connor & John Mahon. Pathways Facilitators: Fiona Masterson

St Thomas’ Community College, Bray. Artists: Daphne Petroholis & Johanna Varghese. Teachers: Anne Weafer & Emma Tierney

St Michael’s Holy Faith Secondary School, Finglas. Artists: Clare Barman & Triona Langan. Teachers: Linda Keegan & Adrienne Webb

Special thanks to the schools, teachers, facilitators, Pathways through Education and the Department of Arts, Sport and Tourism.