Marjolaine Ryley

Growing Up in the New Ageis the product of an inspiring research project by London-based photographer Marjolaine Ryley (born 1974), and stems from the artist's experience as a student at Kirkdale, an alternative school in London. "As a child my experience of education was shared with only a small number of children and I believe we experienced a unique 'social and ideological' experiment in education," she states. Ryley's work explores unconventional communities around the world, from communes in the south of France to squatter villages in South London. Drawing on a range of approaches and media, including photography, digital imaging, film and video, writing, collecting, re-using archival materials, and online venues, Growing Up in the New Agesets out to reconsider the social utopias of the 1960s and early 1970s and discuss what we might learn from them today.