Commissioned by Milton Keynes City Council, Archive-opia brings audiences together for a series of FREE taster activities inspired by the fascinating archive collections of Buckinghamshire County Archive, MK City Discovery Centre and The Living Archive MK. Led by Architect and Archivist in Residence Alison Davies, in collaboration with Milton Keynes based creative agency Pooleyville, the programme features contributions from architects, invited specialists, archive partners and local communities with the overall aim of raising the profile of this internationally significant material and informing the plan for a new City Archive for Milton Keynes.
Talking a playful, informal approach, and including the launch of the new and amazing WikiPavilion, Archive-opia will share both known and little known aspects of MK’s local heritage whilst opening up a conversation around how Milton Keynes continues to develop its archive collections and how we capture the important community stories of a growing city.
WikiPavilion is a new pop-up structure designed to support the Archive-opia project. It will relocate to different locations in the city, as a venue for exhibitions and events. It is also a prototype of the WikiHouse Skylark system: an ingenious and low-cost construction method, laser-cut from standard sheets of plywood and slotted together without mechanical fixings. As its name implies, the WikiHouse system is also 'open-source', designed to democratise housing design.
WikiPavilion will appear in different locations across Milton Keynes during the month of October, including Kents Hill on 14th and 15th, Middleton Hall from 18th to 22nd, and MK Central Library from 26th to 30th.
Shane Downer, Fiona Boundy, Jenni Ferrans and Kents Hill & Monkston PC, Sophie Lloyd, Mel Jeavons, Roger Kitchen, Rachel Fleet, Simon Beckett, Catherine McIntyre, Noel James, Christopher Low, Callum Walker, Elizabeth Howard, Nana Oguntola, Steve Cousins, Susie Cousins, Vanessa Cook, David Richardson, Meggi Sparkes-Richardson, Michelle Herriman, Jason Men, Leticia Zhan, Richard Woods, Rosa Wilde, Gemmie Poolsiri, Toby Mower, Simone Rots, Michelle Provoost, Stefanie Korell, Poul Mulder, Anouar Kassim, Will Cousins, Victoria Mitchell, Jonny Hill, Kirstie North, Lee Farmer, Richard Harrison, Mark Henman, Amanda Blackwell-Brooks, John Best and all at Arts Central, Ian Talbot, Beverley Lumsdon, The Centre MK, and all at MK Wanderers FC.