Takeover Day

What is Takeover Day?

Takeover Day is a national celebration organised by Kids in Museums to promote opportunities for young people in cultural organisations and give them meaningful roles in their institutions.

The Museums Partnership Reading Takeover Day 2o2o

The Museum of English Rural Life with our strategic partner Reading Museum have been working with Kala the Arts, a leading dance organisation that specialises in the Odissi South Asian dance as part of an ambitious schools and community project in Reading, the results of which we are delighted to be sharing virtually for this year’s Takeover Day on Friday, 20th November. As part of this project here at The MERL we have been exploring the links between Diwali, harvest and light through our collections and created a number of learning resources.

As part of the project three local schools participated in online workshops exploring a series of dances relating to the story of Diwali. Two of the schools who were involved in the project (Geoffrey Field Primary School and Reading Girls School) have made videos of what they learnt and we will be sharing these as part of Takeover Day 2020. You can read more about the project here.

If you would like to experience this project in a little more depth why not watch a recording of our special MERL Late event GLOW, held live on Youtube as part of the Being Human Festival on Thursday 19th November. This event is an exploration of linked themes of light and darkness, harvest and festivals, community and celebration. The programme offers a fantastic opportunity for all to enjoy Diwali cultural heritage brought to you by Reading’s Kala the Arts, combined with virtual experiences and talks from the University of Reading and beyond, hosted by Dr Ollie Douglas (Curator of MERL Collections) and Anna Jones (MERL Public Programmes Manager).
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