About the Model City project

Throughout October and November 2019, Absolutely Cultured launched Model City, a ground-breaking new project by artist Dan Jones, supported by NHS Hull Clinical Commissioning Group, with an aim to co-create high quality arts and culture with young people from across the city.

Working with children from three primary schools, their thoughts and hopes for the city and its future have been captured by Dan Jones, a BAFTA and Ivor Novello Award winning sound artist. Jones has used the recordings to create a soundscape to showcase their visions.

Young people’s limitless imaginations, unique opinions and voices will be brought to life in this multi-speaker audio piece installed in a pedestrianised area of the city centre. Emanating from all around, the sound will combine the recorded voices of the children with specially designed music which will envelope listeners in a 360-degree experience.

Design collective RESOLVE facilitated workshops with the children involved during the autumn 2019 term, considering how architecture, engineering, technology and arts can impact Hull. These interactive sessions stimulated and captured their observations about our city today and their dreams for the future.

Workshop themes:

1. Taking Care of the City where the children met the everyday heroes working behind the scenes, people whose jobs support the day-to-day running and upkeep of our city, such as Paramedics, Street Sweepers, Sewage Workers and more.
2. Cars & Traffic in the City where they explored the effect of cars and traffic on city centres, designing parklets to reclaim public space and imagining futures with different modes of transport.
3. High Streets where they designed future uses for shops and modes of shopping, and presented their ideas back to shop owners in the city.
4. Healthy Hull where the children met experts in public health to learn how city centre spaces can affect our lives and wellbeing. They then prototyped new spaces for people to interact and connect with one another.
5. Child City where they devised master plans for a future where children rule the roost and adults go to school, using what they’ve learnt to design a city that caters explicitly for children.

Model City by Dan Jones, commissioned and produced by Absolutely Cultured.  Engagement delivered by RESOLVE Collective, with content created by the children of Hull. The project receives funding from NHS Hull Clinical Commissioning Group.

Dr Dan Roper, NHS Hull Clinical Commissioning Group Chair said: “We as a CCG think it is of upmost importance that children and young people are encouraged to be creative, experience arts and culture and learn about people working in a wide variety of job roles and living a wide variety of lives. It develops their appreciation and understanding of the world they live in and the people who inhabit it. One of our focuses as an organisation is around the next generation, whilst we look to support and educate children and young people around healthy lifestyles, we also want to inspire children and young people throughout their lives, so they can go on to lead healthy and happy lives as adults .”

Model City is a pilot project of Generation Hull, a city-wide initiative that focusses on providing access to high quality arts and culture opportunities for children and young people.

With thanks to Hull Culture and Leisure and Library Services for providing the workshop space.

With thanks to our funding partners: