sensory project with THE Monday Night Club and food artist Kaye Winwood.

The Museum of Royal Worcester is pleased to have commissioned food artist Kaye Winwood to create innovative multi-sensory art experiences, exploring Worcester porcelain’s food and drink stories, in collaboration with The Monday Night Club. This is all thanks to a generous Association of Independent Museums funding award, supported by the National Lottery Heritage Fund and National Lottery players across the UK.

The Museum will be working closely with Birmingham-based food artist Kaye Winwood and charity The Monday Night Club, who arrange social opportunities, and encourage healthy lifestyles, for people with learning disabilities and autistic people. This unique art project will explore the food and drink stories behind Worcester porcelain through exciting multi-sensory experiences. Smells, sound, touch, and taste will be considered, as well as what different objects were used for, what they contained, and who used them.

Taste, Touch, Smell! will feature six collaborative workshops, a field trip, multi-sensory galleries, digital website creations, a fantastic celebration event, and much more. This will bring the Museum’s collection to a wider audience who often face barriers to participation. And it will welcome neuro-divergent people to engage with the collection in a more meaningful way, bringing the beauty of Royal Worcester to life through new learning and wellbeing experiences for everyone.

Kaye Winwood will be inspiring minds using 3D printing, mould-making, clay and firing, and even sound recordings to supplement the exhibitions. This collaborative community-focused project adopts a playful approach to art and heritage appreciation to stimulate the imagination and increase awareness of how art can be experienced through all the senses.

Sensory Food Artist, Honorary Research Associate at the University of Birmingham, and founder of GULP, Kaye Winwood said:

“I am so excited to begin this commission with MoRW and The Monday Night Club. We will be exploring the collection to create a series of sensory responses which will reconsider the ways in which we experience porcelain. We will co-produce some fun ways of connecting people with the collection using taste, sight, sound, touch and smell.”

CEO of The Monday Night Club, Helen Gill said:

“Our charity provides social opportunities for adults with learning disabilities and / or autism, to prevent isolation, improve physical and mental health and promote healthy lifestyles. We believe that staying connected, keeping active, finding friendship, being creative and being recognised are all part of a happy and healthy life. Taking part in this exciting project will break down barriers for The Monday Night Club members to get involved and experience local heritage in imaginative ways, and also increase understanding of the heritage of the site where we meet each week at The Royal Porcelain Works, and the City of Worcester. We love to encourage creativity, and involvement and recognition in the wider community.”

Museum of Royal Worcester Director, Sophie Heath said:

“We are thrilled to be teaming up with The Monday Night Club and the brilliant Kaye Winwood. This unique and exciting project will blend Worcester porcelain’s heritage with innovative creative flair to create a sensory experience that I believe will be quite unlike anything we have seen before. Worcester porcelain is about so much more than beautiful designs, it’s also about the stories behind these objects, contrasting the experiences of previous generations with our own experiences today. This project will bring Worcester heritage to new audiences and enthrall our current visitors. We can’t wait to wow people with this new collaborative project.”

‘Taste, Touch, Smell!’ is one of 15 projects made possible with a grant from the Association of Independent Museums and The National Lottery Heritage Fund. Thanks to National Lottery players across the UK, we are able to connect our local communities and wider audiences with Worcester’s unique and fascinating heritage.