Above: The Country's Museum collections will provide a way of debating, discussing and celebrating our shared cultures.

Who do we think we are as individuals? As family members? As parts of our groups and communities? And who do we think we are as a nation?

These are all questions that young people will explore during the course of Stories of the World - one of the major projects of the Cultural Olympiad. Sir Keith Ajegbo identified the need for young people to "debate, discuss and celebrate" our shared cultures and our differences and 'Stories of the World' provides the platform to do this, with collections as the exciting and intriguing starting point. The programme will work with over fifty museums, libraries and archives across the UK and will invite young people to unlock the stories the collections hold. The focus will be on collections that have come from other parts of the world, that have been collected in the course of our history of trade, exploration and colonisation. Many of these objects were originally collected to give a view of distant places and cultures - cultures that are now a part of our own diverse population.

Collections carry young people on a journey across the globe and through time, to look at issues that affect them and their families and also encourage the move outwards to understand more about their own lives in this global context; to tell about themselves but to also listen to others. The Stories of the World project addresses universal themes (such as music and fashion) and crucially supports this collective journey of listening and telling and will no doubt provoke debate on complex subjects. Final exhibitions will showcase the multiple and sometimes conflicting stories that a single object can tell. There is no such thing as 'The' story of the world, just as there is no single answer to the question 'Who Do We Think We Are?'

Written By
Isobel Siddons
Programme Manager for 2012,
Museums, Libraries and Archives Council

If you would like to comment on the content of this article, please send a response via the WDWTWA Blog (Have Your Say) or email wdwtwa@rgs.org.

To learn more about the Stories of the World Project, please follow the links below.