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By Kate Burnett on

‘One thing you need to know about me is…’

If you could tell people just one thing about yourself, what would it be? Our Great Interactions exhibition inspired visitors to consider this intriguing question.

For the Great Interactions book, Polly Braden photographed MacIntyre clients holding up handwritten cards with their answers to that very question. The cards revealed what was most important to them; not their experience of having a learning disability or autism, but their relationships, individual talents, and favourite pastimes. When we began to develop the Great Interactions exhibition with Polly it became clear that this simple, hands-on activity would work extremely well in a gallery setting too.

Since the Great Interactions exhibition opened four weeks ago, over 1,300 visitors have written and displayed their ‘one thing’ on cards in the gallery. In fact people are so keen to take part that we have to empty the wall daily to make room for new cards.

Again, what is most striking is how overwhelmingly positive people’s comments are. Almost everyone has written about the people they love, the hobbies they enjoy most and the things they have achieved. Football, gaming and Harry Potter make regular appearances, but so do people’s families and their hopes and plans for the future. Some include superb drawings too.

Following this paragraph is a just a small selection of our visitors’ “one things”. To add your own, be sure to visit Great Interactions in Gallery Two by 10 April 2016, or leave a comment below.