This was a programme of live and digital events – What do you think about when you think about nothing? – all curated by children’s author and illustrator, Lauren Child CBE, who has been influenced by the genius imagination of Blake.

Running alongside the exhibition Quentin Blake: Gifted, famous illustrator Lauren Child CBE curated engaging and creative events for audiences to get involved with. This was what’s on offer:

  • Family workshops: Took place 26-30 July
  • Quentin Blake Storytelling & illustration competition: Took place during August
  • Twitter takeover: Join us for #LaurenChildCurates and see how books have shaped childhood: Took place during August
  • Bedtime Stories: Took place 6-11 September
  • Lauren Child in conversation: Took place 21 September
  • A Picture of Health: Arts and Children’s Wellbeing: Took place 22-23 September
  • Kerry Andrew’s specially commissioned song, a setting of Michael Rosen’s new poem for the Quentin Blake exhibition

Read Lauren Child CBE’s full manifesto here.

When asked ‘where do you get your ideas from?’, my answer had frequently been something along the lines of: childhood memories, things people tell me, overheard things, observed things, funny things, sad things, things that pop into my head…  But when I gave myself space to consider my answer fully, it struck me that I was wrong: these are just elements that contribute to the genesis of an idea.  A memory is not an idea.  A sad happening is not an idea.  Ideas begin to form when these particles collide, and I begin to see pattern or meaning in the connections, something whole and original. A new thing.  A complete idea.
Lauren Child CBE