Drawing a parallel between historical paintings of Bermuda and people’s experiences of life on the island, The Bermuda National Gallery kicked off a series of workshops with a group of nine participants to record their stories for future generations. Using key artworks from the David L. White collection as a springboard for discussion, Ruth Thomas, Bermuda’s first Cultural Officer and a founding member of The Bermuda National Gallery, led the group in a dialogue of shared experiences sparked by the paintings, as a first step towards writing their own autobiographical stories and in so doing documenting Bermuda’s cultural past.

The group will be guided in writing their own stories through their interactions with various artworks in the gallery’s permanent collection. Once complete these will be shared with the community and recorded in the authors’ own voices, to be preserved within the archives of both the National Library and Bermuda College Library as well as the archives of The Bermuda National Gallery.

Sparked by a collaboration with The Bermuda College’s Lifelong Learners Digital Storytelling programme, and sponsored by the Dept of Community and Cultural Affairs, the initiative aims to encourage people to bring their own experiences to the artworks within The Bermuda National Gallery, whilst enriching the patchwork of Bermuda’s rich cultural history.

Further workshops will be held on the 19th and 26th November with Dr Edwin Smith, Chair of The Arts Faculty at the Bermuda College, and Robert Horton, retired senior civil servant and former teacher of English at Berkeley Institute.

The Art & Value of Your Stories programme runs from the 5th November through to the 26th November at The Bermuda National Gallery

For further information please contact Dany Pen, The Bermuda National Gallery’s education officer at education@bng.bm or on 295 9428

• Press release from Bermuda National Gallery