AMV BBDO Celebrates Childhood Creativity

Conversations about imaginary friends can leave some parents concerned over their child’s psychological wellbeing.

But AMV BBDO has taken a different approach and instead, celebrates childhood creativity by opening The Imaginary Friends Collection today at the V&A Museum of Childhood.

The exhibition contains a series of portraits taken by acclaimed photographer Rankin, featuring six children posing next to their imaginary friends.

Swerl the lion, imagined by Eva Wood (L) and created by Picasso (R).

Once the children described their imagined friends in detail, Aardman and Psyop designers reimagined them by creating model figures – allowing everybody to see them.

“Children create many amazing things,” says AMV BBDO creatives Arvid Harnqvist and Amar Marwaha. “Take their imaginary friends for instance. They are talked about all the time and often become part of the family. But when the child gets older, these marvellous creations fade away. This project aims to immortalise them.”

While some may see imaginary friends as problematic, the exhibition attempts to celebrate children’s unlimited imagination by connect their imagined world to the real world.

The exhibition will run until February 12, but to find out more, click here.