Belfast Collage Toolkit

The Belfast Collage Toolkit, based on the artwork of artist Jan McCullough, introduces children to the art of collage-making and encourages their creativity through a hands-on workshop. Using images of Belfast sourced from a historic photographic archive made by photographer Albert E. McAlpine, it invites children to participate in a world-building experience through which they can imagine their own high street, shops, stories and cities.

Each kit provides teachers with an invitation and a set of instructions to help primary school-aged children engage with the core themes of McCullough’s work and research in a playful and inventive way. 

The randomised type treatment was inspired by the multitude of letterforms found in the mostly hand-painted shopfront signage found in the photos; mismatched letter are in turn collaged together in the spirit of the project. Kits were designed and built in a modular fashion; A4 boxes filled with A4, A5 and DL sized elements, and a small loop-bound booklet with hand-cut cover was produced to accompany the kit and succinctly guide the teacher through the process of leading the collage-making activity with their class.

This project was kindly supported by Lottery funding through the Arts Council of Northern Ireland and Belfast City Council.