Bouygues UK supports learning programme for British Library's new exhibition

Bouygues UK – Building Schools for the Future (BSF) partner for a range of councils including Westminster, Tower Hamlets and Waltham Forest - has announced an important new sponsorship deal with the British Library, funding the learning programme for the forthcoming exhibition - Magnificent Maps: Power, Propaganda and Art.

On Tuesday 23 March, pupils from Torriano Junior School in Camden visited the Library to get a sneak preview of one of the maps that will be displayed in the exhibition. Members of the Learning team and Tom Harper, Curator of Antiquarian Mapping at the British Library ran a workshop with the year 4 and 5 pupils to encourage discussion around the reasons that maps are created, how they are made and what they reveal about the period in which they were used.

To encourage the discussion, Tom talked the pupils through an original map made by John Narborough – the first Englishman to sail through South America's Strait of Magellan in both directions. Created in 1670 to commemorate his success, the chart was presented to James, Duke of York (later James II).

Magnificent Maps: Power Propoganda and Art opens on 30 April 2010 and runs until 19 September 2010. Showcasing some of the most impressive large scale maps ever created, many of which have never been exhibited before, the exhibition demonstrates the historic, aesthetic, social and cultural significance of maps and how they have shaped history through the ages. See: www.bl.uk/magnificentmaps.

The free exhibition is open to the general public and, supporting the company's commitment to improved outcomes for children and young people, construction firm Bouygues UK is the sponsor of the Learning programme associated with the exhibition. It is funding free workshops for Primary and Secondary school pupils to support and enrich the History curriculum and to help participants develop skills in historical enquiry, interpretation, research, critical thinking and visual literacy.

Bouygues UK's Ian Gunter, who attended last week's workshop, said:

“These workshops make a huge difference to the way children and young people understand the influence that maps have in shaping the world, providing an excellent supplement to this fascinating exhibition. This is a great schools programme from the British Library and we are really pleased to be supporting something that inspires education and learning in such innovative ways.”

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Notes to Editors

Magnificent Maps: Power, Propaganda and Art is open from 30 April to 19 September 2010, seven days a week, in the Paccar Gallery at the British Library. Admission is free. www.bl.uk/magnificentmaps.

The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom and one of the world's greatest research libraries. It provides world-class information services to the academic, business, research and scientific communities and offers unparalleled access to the world's largest and most comprehensive research collection. The Library's collection has developed over 250 years and exceeds 150 million separate items representing every age of written civilisation. It includes: books, journals, manuscripts, maps, stamps, music, patents, photographs, newspapers and sound recordings in all written and spoken languages. www.bl.uk.

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