Sachets of fruit tea hanging from the ceiling. A deckchair pierced with needles and placed on a pile of sand. Cutlery stuck in the walls of a ripped material tent. The Tiffin Girls’ art installation evening could not be described as ‘conventional’. Given just under two weeks to design, develop and assemble an installation, the students sought inspiration from every aspect of their lives and the responses to the theme, ‘objects past and present’, were wide ranging. From the delicious anticipation of a dance show to childhood stories murmured at bedtime, the young women took an opportunity to offer a glimpse into their own memories.

The viewers, given a map and a smile of encouragement from the art teachers in the foyer, were left to wander the dark corridors of the school in what resembled a treasure hunt. Each student was designated a space in which to install their work and these spaces, scattered around the school, included music practice rooms, a science store cupboard and the maths corridor.

Asked for their responses, viewers seemed profoundly affected by the girls’ sensitivity and their communal sense of nostalgia for a childhood that is not far behind them. One particularly poignant installation showed a table set for a child’s tea party, scattered with balloons and with a slice of cake on each plate. One plate, marked ‘grandma’, was left empty. A woman described how this simple piece “brought tears” to her eyes. Others were more abstract yet equally beautiful; empty glass bottles dripping with brightly coloured paint were hung in a white corridor; glinting in the light and constantly evolving throughout the evening as more paint was added. The view of a backstage dance show, complete with mirrors, bright dresses, lipstick and the cheerful tones of ‘bring me sunshine’ captured perfectly the excitement of anticipation.

Common themes emerged between these seemingly unconnected installations. Many students used light; candles floating in white teacups, fairy lights lighting curling pages of novels and the flickering electric light of a miniature runway. Music could be heard from different corners of the school; the soothing pluck of guitar strings turned to 60s dance records. Most noticeable of all, however, and perhaps most comforting, was that very few pieces focused on the teenage stereotype of dark, depressing art. Most was beautiful, colourful, light, and showed a sense of optimism for the future alongside a nostalgic reflection on the simplicities of childhood. In a society full of fears for the future; personal, economic and environmental, there is something profoundly uplifting in knowing that these young artists do not use art simply as a way to demonstrate pain, but to express their joy in being able to create beautiful spaces and begin their journeys into the world with these memories.

There was, however, a bittersweet ending to this evening. After their showcase lasting just two hours, the installations had to be taken down from their various spaces around the school: a reminder of the impracticality of art in a world where practicality is everything. As the music faded from the corridors and the golden glow of candles was replaced by harsh white lights being switched back on, the magic disappeared. Or did it? One student was far more optimistic about the short lived enchantment of the installation evening. “The rest of the school won’t know it ever happened”, she said. “It’s like our little secret”. As fairies dance in a forest and then hide away before daylight comes, the school was transformed and then returned to normality with such fluidity that few will notice anything different. But glance around Tiffin Girls’ School today and, if you’re lucky, you might just notice a few pins scattered on the floor, a vague smell of graffiti paint in the science corridor, or a pink packet of grapefruit tea lying alone in the hallway.