In August 2016 an exciting intergenerational arts project was held at the British Museum in connection with the Department of Anthropology's AHRC 'Narrative Objects' project.
Organised in conjunction with the British Museum’s Community Partnerships Team, this week-long workshop focused on a unique model of the Sakha ysyakh festival carved from mammoth ivory. The model is the earliest known depiction of this annual festival. It was carved in the 1860s and subsequently exhibited at the 1867 Paris Exhibition. Participants included museum volunteers and graduates and current students from the Central Saint Martins art school and, under the guidance of sculptor Robert Worley from the London Sculpture Workshop, they used wax and word art to respond to the model. The Narrative Objects project team is now launching a film documenting the workshop, produced by Chocolate Films.