The Inter Action Collection
This Living Archive collection is actually a collection of collections – there is a huge amount of archive material held by Living Archive MK, but only samples are published here in the online catalog.
Community arts charity Inter-Action MK has been bringing arts to life in Milton Keynes since 1975. They use the arts to bring joy and purpose to all communities and especially to improve the life chances of people with support needs or disabilities or in challenging or vulnerable circumstances. Their innovative programme of inclusive arts successfully brings people of all backgrounds together in shared creative activity. Their programme helps participants to develop creative, personal and social skills.
Inter-Action MK was established as an offshoot of London-based Inter-Action by Carolyn Gorney and George King who began working in Milton Keynes in November 1975. They were under contract from the Milton Keynes Development Corporation to run a programme for young people which included theatre, film, video and arts and crafts activities. It was based at The Old Rectory in Woughton-on-the-Green, and the Rectory was often used for residential projects and served as a base for training courses for adults, a gardening club for pensioners and disabled people, and a variety of activities on housing estates around the city. Inter-Action also worked in co-operation with other agencies such as Social Services, schools, Duke of Edinburgh award schemes, assessment centres and youth clubs.
Records in this Collection
Documents and pictures from the early days of Inter Action in Milton Keynes – 1975 to 1978. Carry Gorney and George King were the original leaders.
Many events and workshops were organised with the Bucks Association for the Blind during the period 2002 to 2006. Examples of those activities shown here are flower painting, willow weaving, sound-based art, chess pieces, stone carving, mosaics, samba drumming, and totem pole. There are a further 2400 pictures in the main Archive – these 23 ...
A performance of the story of Beauty and the Beast, performed outdoors on the field behind Woughton Campus in 1981 with costumes and a set created especially for the event. It told the story of Beauty (played by Tracy Walters) and the Beast (Tom Thompson) with spectacular fire and firework effects accompanied by a musical ...
This was one of Inter-Action’s school projects that helped bring pupils’ learning alive. Four schools were involved during 1990, with two of them learning about the Romans and the other two about the Celts. The pupils were introduced to the project with a visit to the Roman villa site at Bancroft. Over a number of ...
Annual events in 2002-2005. A spectacular evening of comedy, music and dance celebrating International Day of Disabled People. There are a further 480 pictures in the main Archive – these 11 photographs are just a sample!
Annual events that took place in 2001-2004. These summer events included parades through Central Milton Keynes. There are a further 400 pictures in the main Archive – these 11 photographs are just a sample!
A six-day project in the summer of 1984 for school children, based around the legend of the Densala tribe. They were told about a previous vicar who lived at the Old Rectory who was a keen archaeologist. They listened to a recording of this vicar on an old reel-to-reel tape recorder. He said that he’d ...
An event that included costumes, a parade and a circus performance. The Fullers Slade Childrens Centre were involved, and the performances took place in Stony Stratford in 1986.
This was a project undertaken by Carry Gorney and George King with a class at White Spires School in the late 1970s. George played the part of an explorer who had returned from his travels with a huge egg. While he is recounting his adventures to the children there is a knock from inside the ...
A week-long festival in May 1990 involving the people of Fishermead in making costumes and banners, and then parading around the area.
The Groovy Gecko was a nightclub for (and run by) disabled people. It was set up in 2006 after much research on other similar clubs in the UK, and with a lot of training for the crew members. There are a further 2300 pictures in the main Living Archive – these 30 photographs are just ...
The Gigante project was initiated by Inter-Action MK in March 1995. Gigantes are traditional Catalonian processional figures – usually 12 feet high, and used for a wide variety of community festivals and fiestas. The project took place on 6 estates local to Inter-Action. Schools and community groups took part in the building of 7 Gigante. ...
This project took place in February and March of 2010 and involved young volunteers working with the artist Nathan Hughes to create a series of installations using light at the Old Rectory. Workshops were run from mid February and the installations were shown to the public on 23rd, 24th and 27th March. There are a ...
The main objectives of this project were to produce a photographic exhibition titled ‘Images of Disability’ by July 1996, to launch this exhibition at MK Disability Arts Festival in July 1996, and to tour the exhibition to 6 venues nationally by December 1998.
Artist and photographer Ross Boyd worked with a group of 14 disabled people ...
The idea of this 2008 project was to create numerous artworks in various forms using only Trash as raw material. The forms included a wall of glass bottles, items made of denim from old jeans, a rave marquee, a full-size car sculpture, and sculptures of trash people.
There are a further 493 pictures in the main ...
As part of Wolverton’s 150th anniversary celebrations in 1988, Inter-Action organised lantern-making workshops with residents in Wolverton and New Bradwell creating their own tissue and withy lanterns lit by candles that were paraded to Wolverton Park. These lantern festivals became regular events, and Inter-Action continued to organise them, later on at the Old Rectory. There ...
Following on from the successful shows in 1978-79 organised by Welfare State International, Inter-Action organised November 5th shows in 1981, 1982 and 1983. Each show involved burning a model of Parliament, effigies of Guy Fawkes and current politicians, and fireworks. One year the show had to be moved as it was discovered to be on ...
Inter-Action worked with Welfare State International to create this November 1979 show involving a model of Parliament which unusually was mounted on wheels.
A collection of Publicity and Programme documents from 1977 through to 2011. There are a further 257 images in the main Living Archive – these 18 images are just a sample!
Shed MK was a new theatre group, established in January 2003. It provided an opportunity for 7-11 year olds from both mainstream and special schools to enjoy the Performing Arts. It was free for the first term and £1 a week from then on. Shed MK met initially on Tuesday evenings from 5:30 -7:00pm at ...
A summer 1981 fireshow which involved young people on an MSC play scheme in making the various costumes and structures. Photos by Alex Levac. There are a further 50 images in the main Living Archive – these 11 images are just a sample!
Sweet Sixteen was a summer 1977 playscheme on the Beanhill estate, led by Carry Gorney and Geoge King, where each week children in different streets interviewed older residents about their memories of being 16 years old. They made newsletters and other artworks, and a weekly meeting of older residents discussing their memories was broadcast on ...
A summer playscheme in 1978 where the story was that the members of the Trica Tribe who worshipped the god Triceratops (the dinosaur sculpture on the premises) had lost their Sacred Tooth of Power and needed to recruit new members (the young children) to impress the god and have their Sacred Tooth of Power returned. ...
The Way Ahead was a groundbreaking collaborative fine art project which was devised to be newsworthy at a timely moment for equality law – 2004.
Disabled artist Caroline Cardus supported disabled people to speak out about their everyday experiences of access and integration. Using the familiar format of the UK’s road signs, “The Way Ahead” presents ...
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