New exhibition "Fabrics of Identity"

The Digital Museum of Learning has launched its latest exhibition, ‘Fabrics of Identity’ which celebrates the diversity of fabrics in the classroom and beyond.

This exhibition launches with 10 stories on cross-cultural identity and diversity for students around the world to discover. Each one showcases how fabrics and textiles tell the personal experiences of young people from their early school years right up to adulthood, with more stories to follow.

The exhibition rolls out as a new school year begins for many children around the world. Teachers can use the exhibition’s stories and resources to guide lessons for students from ages 7 to 12 with the free teacher zone acting as a tool for creating interactive learning journeys. It provides teachers with the option to customize tasks and exercises for students, including guidance, quizzes and worksheets. The fun and insightful learning journeys are designed to spark children’s curiosity and aid their understanding of how clothing has been a form of expression for centuries.

Daniela Lozza, Program Manager of the Digital Museum of Learning, commented on the launch: “This new exhibition comes at a time when teachers are looking for new creative and playful ways to engage their students around cultural diversity and identity. Clothing is a powerful way of telling stories from the past. We’re really proud of the collaboration with other museums, academics, and authors to bring these artifacts and stories to schools through our digital exhibitions!”

In our globalized, digitized, and inter-connected world, many schools and teachers are grappling with how to best teach students about cultural diversity. A study conducted by the University of Potsdam in Germany shows that teachers and schools are increasingly on the lookout for new ways to encourage their students to be curious about other cultures. One of the stories in the ‘Fabrics of Identity’ exhibition—Clothing and Cultural Diversity—features garments that tell unique stories about traditions, school life, and personal style. Exercises and tasks as part of this story aim to teach students about the diverse range of customs attached to different religions with the aim of celebrating and understanding diversity in our multi-cultural societies.

The exhibition also responds to the challenges children (and adults) face in understanding and contextualizing edited images. In the ‘Spot the fakes: real beauty and fake images’ story, teachers can delve into the varied history and complex origins of beauty standards, highlighting how images and works of art have influenced people’s ideas about beauty throughout history. The story educates children on media literacy and the impact of AI and Photoshop on body images, critical knowledge that several studies have revealed—including the reality that 1 in 4 girls photoshop images of themselves.

Preserving the memories of previous generations

This new exhibition also aims to immortalize experiences and memories from moments of historical significance. Several of the exhibition’s stories have been created to help students understand how previous generations of young people from across the globe grew up in difficult circumstances and were influenced by the world around them.

The Digital Museum of Learning collaborates globally with experts to spark wonder and curiosity in learners of all ages. Numerous learning artifacts from various museums around the world have been digitized in detail.

Collaborating partner museums, organizations, and authors have provided the fascinating artworks and stories at the heart of the interactive ‘Fabrics of Identity’ exhibition. Thanks to the museum of the Kinderdorf Pestalozzi in Trogen, Switzerland, ‘Memories of dolls and teddy bears’ has been brought to life to tell the story of refugee children and the universality of toys as a form of safety for children. Children’s book author, Natasha Tarpley, and former teacher, Marlene Tarpley, co-authored the ‘Colors of School Life’ story, which explores the transatlantic slave trade and pivotal moments in the African-American community’s fight to access education. Several museums of education, such as the MUNAÉ Musée National de l’Éducation and the Schulmuseum Bern, as well as experts like the European design anthropologist Dr. Aude Le Guennec, have contributed to the new exhibition.

Donika Dimovska, Chief Knowledge Officer of the Jacobs Foundation, said: “The Digital Museum of Learning is an interactive, globally relevant initiative that helps to broaden understanding of the history and future of learning for teachers, students, and lifelong learners. With these digital exhibitions, we hope people around the world can experience stories that inspire them to discover cultures and customs far beyond their immediate reach. A new school year brings a new chapter in many students’ learning journeys, and the Digital Museum of Learning is well-positioned to empower children and their educators to engage in meaningful cultural learning activities.”

The Digital Museum of Learning is an initiative of the Swiss-based Jacobs Foundation and has been running digital exhibitions for young people since 2023. Children learn in a multitude of ways and the foundation supports the online museum with the goal of bringing the museum experience to classrooms around the world.

The exhibition is free to access for teachers and families to experience. For further information about the new exhibition, please visit www.museumoflearning.org/exhibitions.