Treasure hunt around the Barbican
Written by Olivia Morton, volunteer
On a wet Saturday afternoon in September, our team of intrepid explorers gathered at the Museum of London, ready to take on the Artbox Treasure Hunt. Undeterred by the gloomy weather, two teams set out with their raincoats and umbrellas at the ready, to follow the clues around the Barbican and the City, and jump in a few puddles along the way.
The challenge was to find the answers while keeping our eyes open for a winning photo opportunity, before making it back to Central Street Café where some delicious cakes and a well-earned hot chocolate awaited.
The route took our teams from the gardens of the Museum of London (full of fascinating facts about the Great Fire of London) to the walkways around the Barbican. Up here, we had incredible views of some of London’s most interesting buildings, giving our artists the chance to get creative and take those prize-winning photos.
Feeling soggy but happy, our teams finally made it to the café where celebrity photographer Peter Simpkin judged the winning photos and awarded some amazing prizes from our partners Great Art! The winning team was the “Superheroes” and the top photographers were, in 3rd place, Shruti (gold busts), in 2nd place, Anna (portrait), and in 1st place, Toyin (garden).
Shannon won the ‘best overall photo’ prize for this beautiful shot of raindrops on the windows of the Barbican’s botanical gardens, and proudly took home a piece of original art by artist Tim Ellis.
Congratulations to all our winning artists and thank you to everyone who took part. We had so much fun and you showed us it takes more than a few drops of rain to stop Artbox artists being creative!
See the winning photos and the art inspired by them at our ‘Resonate’ exhibition at the Cello Factory in Waterloo on 6 October 2016.
If you’re near the Barbican and would like to have a go at the Artbox Treasure Hunt yourself, you can download the question sheet and the answers (no peeking!) Tweet us @artboxlondon to let us know how you get on!