To help bridge the cultural access gap, international charity Art Explora has partnered with the British Museum to launch Time Odyssey. This ambitious programme will offer free museum visits to over 100,000 children aged 7 to 11 across the UK over the next three years. The programme not only covers museum admission but also offers fully subsidized transportation, ensuring that every child, regardless of background, can truly benefit from arts and culture.
為了解決文化資源分配不均問題，國際慈善機構 Art Explora 攜手大英博物館推出創新的教育計畫「時光奧德賽（Time Odyssey）」，目標是在未來三年內資助超過十萬名7至11歲小學生，免費前往全英各地的博物館參觀與學習。這項計畫不僅涵蓋博物館門票，更提供全額交通補助，確保所有孩子無論出身背景皆有機會親近文化藝術。
Breaking Down Barriers: Bringing Culture Into Every Classroom
打破障礙，讓文化走進每所學校
Art Explora’s research reveals that over 60% of UK teachers did not organise a museum visit for their students in the past 12 months, primarily due to shrinking school budgets, rising transport costs, and the overall decline in arts education. A concerning 14% of teachers have never brought their students to a museum, highlighting a deeper access gap—especially in under-resourced areas outside London.
Frédéric Jousset, President and Founder of Art Explora, emphasized the importance of cultural access: “School trips offer enrichment that cannot be experienced in the classroom. This should be a fundamental right for young people, not an optional extra. Time Odyssey levels the playing field, making sure that all children have access to culture, no matter what their background.”
來自 Art Explora 的研究指出，超過六成英國教師在過去12個月中未曾安排學生參觀博物館，主要因為學校預算壓縮、交通成本上升，以及整體藝術教育的式微。更有14%的教師表示從未帶學生參訪博物館。這一現象在倫敦以外、經濟資源相對不足的地區尤為嚴重。
Art Explora 主席兼創始人弗雷德里克・朱賽（Frédéric Jousset）強調：「校外參訪提供的啟發，是課堂內無法取代的經驗。這應是一項基本文化權利，而非額外福利。『時光奧德賽』讓所有孩子，不論出身，都能公平接觸文化資源。」
Immersive Museum Adventures Powered by Digital Innovation
數位科技打造沉浸式博物館之旅
At the heart of Time Odyssey is an innovative tech-driven experience, developed by Art Explora in collaboration with the British Museum and regional partners. Children are equipped with custom digital tablets, designed to transformed their museum visit into an interactive, gamified adventure.
These tablets feature mission-based learning modules and character-led storylines that encourage observation, analysis, and engagement with exhibitions in a dynamic and immersive way. At the programme’s launch, Maider Larrauri, Head of International Development at Art Explora, demonstrated how the device brings history of life through hands-on exploration.
Sarah Saunders, Head of Learning and National Partnerships at the British Museum, commented:
“We are also proud that this digital experience can be used at any museum – a first for the sector – and we hope this will pave the way for more collaboration around digital to maximise its potential for play, storytelling and engagement in our cultural spaces.”
「時光奧德賽」以創新科技為核心，由 Art Explora 與大英博物館及其合作館所共同設計，融合實地參觀與數位互動體驗。學生將透過專屬平板裝置，進行一場穿越歷史與空間的探索冒險。裝置內建角色任務與遊戲化學習模組，引導學生主動觀察、分析與理解博物館展品。在新聞發佈會上，Art Explora 國際發展主管 Maider Larrauri 簡要向媒體展示了如何使用該平板介面，裝置內建角色任務與遊戲化學習模組，引導學生主動觀察、分析與理解博物館展品。
大英博物館學習與全國合作主管莎拉・桑德斯（Sarah Saunders）表示：「我們很自豪這項數位體驗可以在任何博物館使用，這在業界是第一次！我們希望未來能有更多類似的合作，讓數位科技在文化空間中發揮更大的力量，帶來更多好玩的互動、精彩的故事和豐富的參與體驗。」
From Pilot to Nationwide Expansion
試點成功，計畫全面擴展
The 2024 pilot phase of Time Odyssey was launched across five museums: Yorkshire Museum (York), Royal Albert Memorial Museum (Exeter), Great North Museum: Hancock (Newcastle upon Tyne), Manchester Museum, and South Shields Museum & Art Gallery.
Within just one year, the programme engaged over 5,000 students, 60% of whom hadn’t visited a museum in the past year. The response from both educators and students was overwhelmingly positive.
A Year 5 school teacher shared: “I’ve got a lot of children with varying ability and different needs in my class; it was accessible and appealed to every single one. It worked wonders! Nothing has done that before, especially when we’ve gone to a museum.”
A Year 6 student added with enthusiasm: “I really like that we got to explore the museum in a fun way instead of the boring way.”
In 2025, Time Odyssey will expand its reach with new partners, including National Museums Liverpool, Doncaster’s Danum Gallery, Library and Museum, and Tees Valley Museums.
2024年，「時光奧德賽」已經在五家博物館完成試點，分別為約克郡博物館（Yorkshire Museum）、皇家艾伯特紀念博物館（Exeter）、大北方博物館：漢考克（Newcastle upon Tyne）、曼徹斯特博物館（Manchester Museum），以及南希爾茲博物館與美術館（South Shields）。一年內吸引超過5,000名學生參與，其中六成學生表示在過去一年從未踏入博物館。
教育工作者與學生反應熱烈。一位小學五年級的教師指出：「我們班上有很多不同能力和需求的孩子，但這次的活動對每一位學生都很友好，而且大家都很投入，真的太神奇了！以前從來沒遇過這樣的情況，尤其是參觀博物館的時候。」
一名六年級學生則開心表示：「我真的很喜歡這次用有趣的方式探索博物館，不像以前那麼無聊。」
2025年，該計畫將擴展至更多合作夥伴，包括利物浦國家博物館（National Museums Liverpool）、唐卡斯特的 Danum 圖書館與博物館、以及蒂斯河谷博物館（Tees Valley Museums）等。
Partnerships Driving Educational Equity
合作驅動，助力教育公平
Art Explora is working closely with cultural institutions across the UK, particularly targeting schools in underserved and remote areas and those with a high percentage of students eligible for free school meals. By covering all costs, Time Odyssey empowers schools that would otherwise struggle to offer cultural field trips.
Keith Merrin, Director of the North East Museums Development Programme, stated: “With Time Odyssey we are able to widen that opportunity and particularly to those young people most in need of that transformative power of museums but who may otherwise not be able to visit.”
Art Explora 與各地文化機構緊密合作，特別鎖定高比例提供免費學餐的學校及偏遠地區學校。這些學校因資源限制，原本無法安排學生前往博物館，現在在「時光奧德賽」支持下，得以克服交通與經費困難，實現文化平權。
英格蘭東北地區博物館聯盟負責人凱斯・梅林（Keith Merrin）指出：「通過『時光奧德賽』，我們能讓更多孩子走進博物館，尤其是那些最需要文化啟發、卻可能從未有機會踏入博物館的小朋友。」
A New Era for Cultural Education
從想像到實踐，文化教育的新未來
Jemima Montagu, Director of Art Explora UK, remarked: “Time Odyssey is a programme aimed at tackling the decline in school trips to museums–but with a difference! We want to transform the traditional school trip into a fun adventure that sparks a lifelong love of arts, culture and museums. Art Explora works with partners to test out new ideas, technologies and approaches to overcome the barriers that prevent so many people from having the opportunity to be inspired by art and culture.”
From students proclaiming it the “best day of their lives” to teachers celebrating its inclusivity and impact, Time Odyssey is breathing new life into museum education. Through its free, digital, and immersive format, the initiative is forging stronger ties between children and culture—laying the foundation for a more equitable and inspired future.
Art Explora 的英國總監潔瑪・蒙塔古（Jemima Montagu）表示：「『時光奧德賽』計畫的目標是為了解決學校參訪博物館次數逐年下降的問題——但我們不只是延續傳統，而是想帶來真正的轉變！我們希望把傳統的校外教學轉化為一場充滿樂趣的文化冒險，引發孩子對藝術、文化與博物館的長久熱愛。Art Explora 和各地夥伴攜手合作，積極嘗試各種新點子、新科技與新方法，突破那些阻礙人們接觸藝術與文化的障礙，讓啟發能走進每個人的生活。」
從學生的「這是我人生中最棒的一天」到教師讚嘆其包容性與啟發性，「時光奧德賽」正為英國教育與博物館注入嶄新能量。透過免費、數位化、沉浸式的學習旅程，這項計畫正在一點一滴重建孩子與文化的聯繫，也為教育公平與文化共融描繪出嶄新的藍圖。
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