Today and Tomorrow Through the Eyes of Children

‘How I See Tomorrow’ – a new global project for children

We’re living through a moment in history, a moment we must capture. Today (Friday 1^st May 2020) marks the launch of ‘’How I See Tomorrow”, a global initiative that invites children across the world to share their thoughts on COVID-19 in a creative way.

Whether it’s a drawing, a painting, a photograph, or even a sculpture that tells the story, children across the globe are invited to share their creations on www.howiseetomorrow.com from today. These pieces of art could show how they’re spending their time, what they’ve learnt and how they’re interacting with loved ones.

In addition to a piece of art, children are encouraged to write a note about what this period has taught them about the future and how they would like to change the world for the better – their ‘how I see tomorrow’.

Life for the time being has been turned upside down, but we know from other historical moments that challenging times spark great creativity as people adjust to new ways of living. This initiative has been designed to capture the creativity and record the pandemic through the eyes of the next generation.

The artwork will be displayed in galleries and museums around the world for all to see, as a record of this moment in history. We are just finalising details of our national gallery partners in Australia, Singapore, London and New York City and we will announce and confirm in the coming days the hosts for a global exhibition of all the amazing ideas and creations. The really exciting bit is the plan to conduct an Agile road mapping workshop at each venue with business leaders, policy makers and opinion formers  to see how we might facilitate bringing some of these children’s ideas for a better future to life.

Jonathan Sands OBE the instigator of this project said:

“These are unprecedented times which will be looked back on as a time of substantial change to how we live. We wanted to encourage children across the world to share their thoughts on this current pandemic, the future and what we can learn from it. We wanted to see it through their eyes so that we can make positive changes to the way we live, work and play in the future.”

One of the first companies to come on board and support the project is Hobbycraft. 

Katherine Paterson, Customer Director at Hobbycraft says;

“We’re delighted to support How I See Tomorrow and will be helping to raise awareness of the project on our channels in line with our kid’s crafting focus. Crafting and creating is a great way to keep the kids entertained and we think this project will spark some real creativity and some interesting results for how we live our lives in the future.”

As well as The Design Business Association the project is also actively being championed by The Creative Industries Federation

Caroline Norbury, Chief Executive, Creative Industries Federation 

"In times of crisis, as we deal with the unknown, creativity and imagination are the essential tools that help us dream the landscapes of tomorrow. At the Creative Industries Federation, we believe that creativity can build great businesses, but it also brings communities together and enables individuals to lead happier, healthier, more sociable lives. The "How I See Tomorrow" project is an important initiative which provides the space for children of all ages to channel their creativity into optimistic visions - reminding us all that creative skills are vital to building the UK's future."

The initiative is currently being supported by Elmwood, Hobbycraft, Gordon’s LLp, AND Digital, Pimento, DBA, The Creative Industries Federation and The Social Media Geek.

Companies, museums or galleries interested in supporting with this project can email info@howiseetomorrow.com

To enter the project, click www.howiseetomorrow.com

For more information, please contact Wander Bruijel on wander.bruijel@elmwood.com or +44 (0)7812 988807.