I volunteered to be a part of the National Museum's Children Season 2017 on the 27th of May. I was given the task of manning one of the many booths sprawled throughout the museum. I was given a clicker and tasked to record down the number of people that entered the Young Cinema exhibition that I was stationed at and hand out free potato chips to visitors. I also manned the Bumboat Trail exhibition where I was in-charge of the donation box. My responsibilities also include answering any queries about Young Cinema, Bumboat Trail and the Children's Season.
Since I was unable to attend the volunteer orientation, I was not briefed thoroughly about my job-scope. However, I was given the volunteer handbook to read through a few days before the actual volunteering. Information about the museum's background, mission and vision, as well as volunteer dress-code were quite detailed. On the day itself, the Programmes Managers were helpful and briefed me thoroughly about my responsibilities and duties, therefore I did not encounter any difficulties when visitors asked me questions regarding Young Cinema.I think the Programmes Manager did quite a good job explaining what the Young Cinema booth was about, and therefore I did not encounter any difficulties when visitors asked me questions regarding Young Cinema. Although I was not given a specific or specialised role, I was able to experience and understand the importance of such volunteers. My role was simple but laborious and without such volunteers, the event would not have been able to run smoothly. Therefore, I've gained a better understanding and appreciation for such volunteers. I will also take note of this if I have to manage volunteers in future events or projects, and ensure that they are not over-worked and have breaks in between shifts.
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During my short stint volunteering at Children’s Biennale 2017, which was organised by the National Gallery, I was tasked to be an artist’s assistant. My job as a volunteer consisted of helping to set up an art installation created by the French-Vietnamese artist, Tran Trong Vu. This art installation is called Sonnet in Blue. My task was to tie blue plastics strips onto the metal wire structure.
Overall, the volunteer experience was enriching memorable for me. The volunteer briefing for the Children’s Biennale was clear, precise and smooth. During the briefing, the programmes manager provided all the volunteers with volunteer handbooks that were printed in colour. In turn, I was confident and clear about my roles and responsibilities. One of the most memorable parts of my experience with the National Gallery was when the volunteers were able to engage in a question-and-answer session with Tran Trong Vu himself. When the volunteer orientation ended earlier than scheduled, the programmes manager brought us to another exhibition by teamLab that was still under construction. The opportunity to interact with the artist of the installation we were volunteering at as well as the chance to have a sneak-peek of another exhibition that was closed off to the public made me feel appreciated by the organisation despite the short duration of time I was able to volunteer with them. Even though the interactive session with the artist and the sneak peek of teamLab’s exhibition was brief, it was very much appreciated as a sense of inclusion and community is built between the organisation and me. This made my experience with National Gallery a memorable one and I would definitely want to volunteer for the organisation again. |
“Art enables us to find ourselves and lose ourselves at the same time.” — Thomas Merton ArchivesCategories |