• Block2Block
  • Block2Block
  • Block2Block
  • Block2Block

Hampshire’s latest museum opened on Saturday 14 July as the Block2Block: New Milton’s Museum in Minecraft was launched at a Celebration Day at Forest Arts Centre.

Over 100 visitors enjoyed live music and drama performances, an exhibition and screenings of the short films produced by the young people. The highlight was exploring the completed digital world of New Milton and discovering the stories, music, images and interviews within the Minecraft museum.

The Block2Block project received funding from Heritage Lottery Fund and brought together a group of young digital leaders from Arnewood School, young musicians from Coda Music Trust, a group of Young Carers, EPIC drama and a group from the skate park by Hampshire Cultural Trust to design and build a museum of New Milton in Minecraft and reflecting local history from WW2 to the present day. Young people recorded interviews with older residents and created original music and films to insert into the digital landscape. Click here to see a video that flies through the town of New Milton in Minecraft: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zQj2fXWQ9gI

The New Milton in Minecraft’s imaginative approach attracted attention from Microsoft, the owners of Minecraft, who invited the Arnewood School digital leaders to the Microsoft UK Headquarters to present the project. Nicola Meek, from Microsoft Education was present at the July launch day. She was enthusiastic about their achievement, "It’s a fabulous example in excellence of community development and bringing together so much! Well, well, well done!"

The film screenings at the Celebration Day also included the premiere showing of the BBC feature about the Minecraft museum ahead of its broadcast on on BBC South Today. Click on the link to see this feature: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B921n29BWGY

Local people were enthused by the young peoples’ achievement. One mother of an Arnewood student said, "This has been amazing! My son has had a wonderful experience and has enlarged his learning. Thank you from a proud mother."  Another visitor commented, "This has been a refreshing experience to see something so creative and different. Young people receive so much negative publicity; it's great to celebrate something so positive."



Hampshire based Minecraft Youtuber
Mumbo Jumbo was present at the Celebration Day to hand out certificates to the participants. Asked about the Block2Block project, he said,

"It was an absolute pleasure to have attended. It’s amazing to think from my point of view how the things I grew up with taking me away from education are now being used to enhance and further education. I’m blown away by the stuff the kids had done in minecraft and also the videography and photography elements were fantastic as well."

The Block2Block: New Milton’s museum in Minecraft creates a new and innovative way to present history for today’s online generation. The hope is that it provides a lasting legacy for the town and the opportunity to add more to the collection in years to come.

Check out the webpage for further details: https://www.forest-arts.co.uk/block2block-new-milton-minecraft

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