Institute of Imagination

Het Institute of Imagination is een liefdadigheidsinstelling die ruimte creëert voor de groei van de verbeelding. The iOi is interested in imagination in its broadest sense – not just as a synonym for creativity but as the starting point for every human endeavour. The aim is to enable children to unlock and apply their imagination by encouraging them to be curious, to explore, to experiment, to test and to make.

The iOi runs events for children, families, schools, adults and educators from its events space, the Imagination Lab in London. Rather than creating what we think children might be inspired by, the iOi listens to and co-creates its content with children. Activities to date have included designing and 3D printing future schools and homes; exploring conduction using bananas and play dough; understanding the brain through jewellery making; understanding and creating circuitry through building an art installation; and a collaborative children’s’ artwork cardboard city.

The Lerak Foundation supported the pilot of a Cultural Residency Programme, the first in a series of residencies at the Institute of Imagination connecting the visitors with cutting edge content and leaders in the field. Combining working with wire and other craft materials, coding motors and LEDs, and imaginative thinking around concepts of metropolises and architectural structures, the artists in the pilot facilitated the design and creation of a future city and its citizens. The collective worked with the iOi team in the Imagination Lab from May to July 2018, collaborating to produce a number of workshops to integrate the creation of their proposed piece into the iOi’s programming, taking part in events for school groups, families, children with Special Educational Needs (SEN) and the local Lambeth Community.

‘Working with such skilled artists was a fantastic experience and we hope to work together again in the future. As well as challenging us to collaborate with people and organisations in different fields as part of our programming, the residency successfully challenged us as an organisation to facilitate the creation of original work. The success of this pilot has also empowered us to leverage additional funding for the next residency. This is fantastic news for the iOi as it will also allow us to grow these relationships, paving the way to leveraging future support for the iOi Campus. Thank you for all your support.’