Need,Make,Use at the Pitt Rivers Museum

 Need, Make, Use workshop for Secondary & Adult groups- Hannah Eastwood

Today I assisted with a fantastic workshop at the Pitt Rivers Museum called 'Need,Make,Use' alongside education officers Maya & Salma. 104 year 8 students visited in 3 groups throughout the day.

The workshop aimed to get people thinking about how and why humans make the objects they need, what kinds of factors affect an object and how it fulfills its function e.g. by its materials, design, colours, patterns, symbols, decoration.

© Pitt Rivers Museum

It is a workshop about human creativity and ingenuity, how people use the materials they have around them to make objects they need – weapons, tools and clothing, making fire and hunting

Students were asked to select a ‘scenario’ and to link this with an object that they would then design depending on their identity, environment & need. They would then also take a crib sheet with various examples of objects around the museum that would link with their ‘need’.

© Pitt Rivers Museum

I also assisted with the object handling tables, where they would discover objects that related to their topic and would realise how objects have been made with a need or purpose in mind. 

Their exciting task was to explore the museum to find inspiration from the objects on display, and to then design their own object based on their thoughts by linking their scenarios. 

© Pitt Rivers Museum

It was wonderful to be part of their discussions and to help them make their decisions through smart critical thinking about objects. 

The year 8s were brilliant designers and they came up with some excellent imaginative ideas for their objects. 

This was the very first time the workshop was delivered so I also had the opportunity to evaluate and discuss as a group, how we felt the session went. It was a fascinating and rewarding experience to take part and I am interested to see how this project can be re-used and developed for older audiences in the future.