Open Arts Objects

Open Arts Objects (OAO) is an open access platform which provides over 50 free films to support the teaching of Art History.

Watch this short film outlining the Open Arts Objects project

Open Arts Objects:

  • inspires wider and diverse audiences to enjoy and understand art works and visual culture, leading to a change in museums’ educational programmes and professional practice, and has increased public awareness about a global approach to Art History.
  • supports teachers by providing free open access materials including films, activities for students, and teaching support documents. OAO films are a recommended resources for the new A-level Curriculum by Pearson, covering the themes of Identities, Nature, and War, but they can also be easily adapted to the Cambridge Pre-U. They are an ideal resource for any teacher who incorporates art and design into their teaching.
  • underpinned by the research of members of the Art History department at the Open University, OAO promotes the understanding of art informed by the innovative methodologies of mobility and global approaches.
  • emboldens communities, regional groups, school children, teachers, and OU students with art historical skills, with a mandate to widen participation in Art History.
  • ensures the sustainability of Art History at all teaching levels, advocating for the democratisation of the subject and the decolonisation of the curriculum, and promotes educational opportunity.

We need your help! Our funding and support depends on feedback from you. Please take a few minutes to fill out this very short survey (6 questions, approx. 4 minutes). If you’d like us to visit your school or community group, get in touch: openartsobjects@open.ac.uk.

Partake in our Facebook group and check us out on Instagram and twitter (where every Monday when we post an interesting object/work of art at the start of every week for #materialmondays).

In 2017-18 members of the Open Arts Objects team served as academic consultants for the 9-part BBC series Civilisations produced in partnership with the OU, reaching over 13.7 million viewers. In 2019 OAO was short-listed for the Times Higher Education Awards in the category of Knowledge Exchange/Transfer Initiative of the Year.

Open Arts Object: Roger Hiorns, Seizure, (2008)

Professor Gill Perry explores an installation by the British artist Roger Hiorns called  Seizure (2008). The artist poured 75,000 litres of heated copper sulphate solution into an abandoned ground floor flat in South London.

Mobility of Objects: Medieval floor tiles from the Grosvenor Museum, Chester

What did floor tiles in churches and elite domestic interiors look like in medieval times? Watch this film with Dr Leah R. Clark (The Open University), Dr Katherine Wilson (University of Chester) and Elizabeth Montgomery (Collections and Interpretation Officer) in the Grosvenor Museum, Chester to find out.

Mobility of Objects: Medieval shoes from the Grosvenor Museum, Chester

What did people wear on their feet and what did their shoes look like? Watch this film with Dr Leah R. Clark (The Open University), Dr Katherine Wilson (University of Chester) and Elizabeth Montgomery (Collections and Interpretation Officer) in the Grosvenor Museum, Chester to find out.

Mobility of Objects: Medieval keys and a Goldsmiths’ chest from the Grosvenor Museum, Chester

How did medieval people protect their worldly goods? Watch this film with Dr Leah R. Clark (The Open University), Dr Katherine Wilson (University of Chester) and Elizabeth Montgomery (Collections and Interpretation Officer) in the Grosvenor Museum, Chester to find out.

Mobility of Objects: Pilgrim badges and devotional tokens from the Grosvenor Museum, Chester

Are souvenirs a modern phenomenon? Watch this film with Dr Leah R. Clark (The Open University), Dr Katherine Wilson (University of Chester) and Elizabeth Montgomery (Collections and Interpretation Officer) in the Grosvenor Museum, Chester to find out.