The Way I See It: The pandemic through the eyes of children and young people

16 Oct 2020 03:03 PM

We’ve worked with Google Arts & Culture to present The Way I See It, a new online exhibition created by children and young people during lockdown.

The collection, submitted by young people aged 2-28 years old, will take its place alongside the great artists and galleries of the world on the Google Art & Culture platform.

Each of the 221 pieces offers a glimpse into how the pandemic has changed the lives of young people across the country; from the stress of being confined to our homes to the comedy of family group chats. 

Spanning different artforms and disciplines, the work gives us a taste of what life is like for young people under lockdown in 2020. It includes paintings, film, photography, music, animation, poetry, dance and even an original multi-character opera.

Spots and Stripes © Louis, English National Opera

To create this spectacular exhibition, we worked alongside Google Arts & Culture and five partner organisations across England: BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art, Company Three, Dancefest, English National Opera and Heart n Soul.

The collection is available to view now on the Google Arts & Culture platform.

View the collection

Darren Henley, CEO, Arts Council England, recently said:

“The quality, inventiveness and imagination of this work leaves me utterly convinced that our next generation of creative talent will build on the UK's long tradition of innovation and creativity. These young people are learning that the creative process is all about collaboration. It’s thanks to our government funding that we’ve been able to launch this partnership so quickly and thanks to Google Arts & Culture that our young people’s voices are being heard by a vast global audience.”

Amit Sood, Director, Google Arts & Culture, recently said:

"We are proud to have partnered with Arts Council England on this special initiative, which encouraged young people across the UK to express themselves during this tumultuous time through the creative arts. The results of the summer project are very moving, and I hope this inspires other young people to pursue artistic outlets."