Transforming Collections: Reimagining Art, Nation and Heritage
Lead Research Organisation:
University of the Arts London
Department Name: Decolonising Arts Institute
Abstract
Over 20 years ago, Stuart Hall posed the question, 'Whose heritage?' (Hall, 1999). Hall's call for the critical transformation and reimagining of heritage and nation, for 'un-settling "The Heritage" and re-imagining the post-nation', remains as urgent as ever. In the context of the ongoing disparate impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic and the global re-ignition of the Black Lives Matter movement, 'a national collection' cannot be imagined without addressing the structural inequalities in the arts, debates around 'contested heritage', and the difficult and contentious histories imbued in objects.
Transforming Collections: Reimagining Art, Nation and Heritage aims to build on decolonial feminist approaches and creative machine learning (ML) development: to enable digital cross-search of collections, to surface patterns of bias, to uncover hidden and unexpected connections, and to thus open up new interpretative frames and potential narratives of art, nation and heritage.
Transforming Collections seeks to address the following questions:
- How can we counter structural biases and decentre white Western narratives in our cultural collections? (Wekker, 2016; Olusoga, 2016)
- How can we surface suppressed histories, amplify marginalized voices, and reevaluate artists and artworks ignored or sidelined by dominant narratives?
- How can we transform the architectures and 'algorithms of oppression' (Noble, 2018) that underpin collections and reproduce inequalities and erasures?
- How can we imagine a distributed yet connected 'national collection' that builds on and enriches existing knowledge, with multiple and multivocal new narratives?
- How can we reimagine art, nation and heritage through collections as part of the wider 'digital cultural record' (Risam, 2019)?
Transforming Collections is an interdisciplinary collaborative project led by University of the Arts London (UAL) with Tate, home to the national collection of British art from the 16th century and an international modern and contemporary art collection. The project will be led by a core team from UAL's Decolonising Arts Institute and Creative Computing Institute, working closely with Tate as an Independent Research Organisation (IRO). In addition to Tate, Transforming Collections has nine project partners and four collaborating organisations across the UK, representing significant public collections as well as major arts charities and key archives of different scales. These are: Arts Council Collection, British Council Collection, Birmingham Museums Trust, Glasgow Museums, Liverpool Museums Trust, Middlesbrough Institute of Modern Art, Wellcome Collection, Art Fund, Contemporary Art Society, Art UK, the JISC Archives Hub and Iniva (Institute of International Visual Art). We also have an international project partner in the Van Abbemuseum, Eindhoven, who will host a major project conference in year one.
The project adopts a braided approach enfolding 1) Critical art historical and museological research with 2) Creative machine learning development and participatory design and 3) Artists digital commissions as interventions into collections. Building on the insights and emerging findings of the Tate-led TANC Foundation project, Provisional Semantics (2020-22), and the UAL-led projects, AHRC Black Artists and Modernism (2015-18) and UKRI MIMIC project (Musically Intelligent Machines Interacting Creatively, 2018-21), Transforming Collections approaches the challenge of 'dissolving barriers' as a problem of knowledge and power - not only a question of what becomes visible, legible, accessible, but also how, and for whom. As such, Transforming Collections aims to model and test new and sustainable ways of searching across collections; to expose in-built inequities in collections data; to reconnect, recontextualise and reinterpret the work of 'artists of colour'; and empower diverse stakeholders in discovering the sometimes uncomfortable stories that collections.
Transforming Collections: Reimagining Art, Nation and Heritage aims to build on decolonial feminist approaches and creative machine learning (ML) development: to enable digital cross-search of collections, to surface patterns of bias, to uncover hidden and unexpected connections, and to thus open up new interpretative frames and potential narratives of art, nation and heritage.
Transforming Collections seeks to address the following questions:
- How can we counter structural biases and decentre white Western narratives in our cultural collections? (Wekker, 2016; Olusoga, 2016)
- How can we surface suppressed histories, amplify marginalized voices, and reevaluate artists and artworks ignored or sidelined by dominant narratives?
- How can we transform the architectures and 'algorithms of oppression' (Noble, 2018) that underpin collections and reproduce inequalities and erasures?
- How can we imagine a distributed yet connected 'national collection' that builds on and enriches existing knowledge, with multiple and multivocal new narratives?
- How can we reimagine art, nation and heritage through collections as part of the wider 'digital cultural record' (Risam, 2019)?
Transforming Collections is an interdisciplinary collaborative project led by University of the Arts London (UAL) with Tate, home to the national collection of British art from the 16th century and an international modern and contemporary art collection. The project will be led by a core team from UAL's Decolonising Arts Institute and Creative Computing Institute, working closely with Tate as an Independent Research Organisation (IRO). In addition to Tate, Transforming Collections has nine project partners and four collaborating organisations across the UK, representing significant public collections as well as major arts charities and key archives of different scales. These are: Arts Council Collection, British Council Collection, Birmingham Museums Trust, Glasgow Museums, Liverpool Museums Trust, Middlesbrough Institute of Modern Art, Wellcome Collection, Art Fund, Contemporary Art Society, Art UK, the JISC Archives Hub and Iniva (Institute of International Visual Art). We also have an international project partner in the Van Abbemuseum, Eindhoven, who will host a major project conference in year one.
The project adopts a braided approach enfolding 1) Critical art historical and museological research with 2) Creative machine learning development and participatory design and 3) Artists digital commissions as interventions into collections. Building on the insights and emerging findings of the Tate-led TANC Foundation project, Provisional Semantics (2020-22), and the UAL-led projects, AHRC Black Artists and Modernism (2015-18) and UKRI MIMIC project (Musically Intelligent Machines Interacting Creatively, 2018-21), Transforming Collections approaches the challenge of 'dissolving barriers' as a problem of knowledge and power - not only a question of what becomes visible, legible, accessible, but also how, and for whom. As such, Transforming Collections aims to model and test new and sustainable ways of searching across collections; to expose in-built inequities in collections data; to reconnect, recontextualise and reinterpret the work of 'artists of colour'; and empower diverse stakeholders in discovering the sometimes uncomfortable stories that collections.
Organisations
- University of the Arts London (Lead Research Organisation)
- Van Abbemuseum (Collaboration, Project Partner)
- National Museums Liverpool (Collaboration)
- British Council (Collaboration, Project Partner)
- Jisc (Collaboration, Project Partner)
- BIRMINGHAM MUSEUMS TRUST (Collaboration)
- Middlesbrough Institute of Modern Art (Collaboration, Project Partner)
- Art Fund (Collaboration, Project Partner)
- Wellcome Trust (Collaboration)
- Southbank Centre (Collaboration)
- Glasgow Life (Collaboration)
- Tate (Collaboration)
- Institute of International Visual Art (Collaboration)
- Manchester Art Gallery (Collaboration, Project Partner)
- Contemporary Art Society (Collaboration, Project Partner)
- Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport (Collaboration)
- Art UK (Collaboration)
- National Museums Liverpool (Project Partner)
- Wellcome Collection (Project Partner)
- Arts Council Collection (Project Partner)
| Description | Collaborating Organisation - Glasgow Museums |
| Organisation | Glasgow Life |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| PI Contribution | Transforming Collections aims to enable digital search across collections, to uncover patterns of bias in collections systems and narratives, to reveal hidden connections, and to open up new interpretative frames and 'potential histories' of art, nation and heritage. The project is underpinned by the belief that a national collection cannot be imagined without addressing structural inequalities, contested heritage and contentious histories embedded in objects. In 1999, the late sociologist and cultural theorist Stuart Hall posed the question 'Whose heritage? Hall called for the 'unsettling' and 'reimagining' of heritage and nation. More than 20 years on, the need to critically question and transform notions of 'heritage' and 'nation' remain as urgent as ever. Whose voices, bodies and experiences are centred and privileged in collections? Our approach brings together academic and artistic research into collections and museum practices with participatory machine learning (ML) design. A series of artistic residencies will lead to new works that critically and creatively activate the emerging research and ML tools. A major public programme with Tate Learning will generate insights and understandings of the ways in which the Transforming Collections research can enable new stories to be told. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Glasgow Museums will faciliate access to collections data in relation to acquisitions policies and collection practices, and support researchers' case studies on works by Maud Sulter and the disbandment of the Scottish Arts Collection. |
| Impact | n/a |
| Start Year | 2021 |
| Description | Collaborating Organisation - Iniva |
| Organisation | Institute of International Visual Art |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| PI Contribution | Transforming Collections aims to enable digital search across collections, to uncover patterns of bias in collections systems and narratives, to reveal hidden connections, and to open up new interpretative frames and 'potential histories' of art, nation and heritage. The project is underpinned by the belief that a national collection cannot be imagined without addressing structural inequalities, contested heritage and contentious histories embedded in objects. In 1999, the late sociologist and cultural theorist Stuart Hall posed the question 'Whose heritage? Hall called for the 'unsettling' and 'reimagining' of heritage and nation. More than 20 years on, the need to critically question and transform notions of 'heritage' and 'nation' remain as urgent as ever. Whose voices, bodies and experiences are centred and privileged in collections? Our approach brings together academic and artistic research into collections and museum practices with participatory machine learning (ML) design. A series of artistic residencies will lead to new works that critically and creatively activate the emerging research and ML tools. A major public programme with Tate Learning will generate insights and understandings of the ways in which the Transforming Collections research can enable new stories to be told. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Iniva's has digitised its uncatalogued archive of c.3,000 slides and c.180 artists' files. This work generates an important new dataset for the Transforming Collections project, and represents a vital step towards establishing a future research resource within the Iniva Stuart Hall Library, based at UAL. The digitisation and ongoing cataloguing work will increase the discoverability of hard-to-access documents relating to artists of colour, and provide a critical counterpoint within the project to objects and data both present and absent in UK collections. collections. |
| Impact | n/a |
| Start Year | 2021 |
| Description | Collaborating Organisation - Van Abbemuseum |
| Organisation | Van Abbemuseum |
| Country | Netherlands |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| PI Contribution | Transforming Collections aims to enable digital search across collections, to uncover patterns of bias in collections systems and narratives, to reveal hidden connections, and to open up new interpretative frames and 'potential histories' of art, nation and heritage. The project is underpinned by the belief that a national collection cannot be imagined without addressing structural inequalities, contested heritage and contentious histories embedded in objects. In 1999, the late sociologist and cultural theorist Stuart Hall posed the question 'Whose heritage? Hall called for the 'unsettling' and 'reimagining' of heritage and nation. More than 20 years on, the need to critically question and transform notions of 'heritage' and 'nation' remain as urgent as ever. Whose voices, bodies and experiences are centred and privileged in collections? Our approach brings together academic and artistic research into collections and museum practices with participatory machine learning (ML) design. A series of artistic residencies will lead to new works that critically and creatively activate the emerging research and ML tools. A major public programme with Tate Learning will generate insights and understandings of the ways in which the Transforming Collections research can enable new stories to be told. |
| Collaborator Contribution | The museum will host and co-convene an international conference as part of the project, welcoming researchers from the wider TaNC programme and engaging organisations and projects in the Netherlands welcoming. The museum will offer multiple spaces in kind, including the auditorium and meeting rooms logistical and administrative support and promotion through its website and social media channels. |
| Impact | n/a |
| Start Year | 2021 |
| Description | Collaborating organisation - Art UK |
| Organisation | Art UK |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| PI Contribution | Transforming Collections aims to enable digital search across collections, to uncover patterns of bias in collections systems and narratives, to reveal hidden connections, and to open up new interpretative frames and 'potential histories' of art, nation and heritage. The project is underpinned by the belief that a national collection cannot be imagined without addressing structural inequalities, contested heritage and contentious histories embedded in objects. In 1999, the late sociologist and cultural theorist Stuart Hall posed the question 'Whose heritage? Hall called for the 'unsettling' and 'reimagining' of heritage and nation. More than 20 years on, the need to critically question and transform notions of 'heritage' and 'nation' remain as urgent as ever. Whose voices, bodies and experiences are centred and privileged in collections? Our approach brings together academic and artistic research into collections and museum practices with participatory machine learning (ML) design. A series of artistic residencies will lead to new works that critically and creatively activate the emerging research and ML tools. A major public programme with Tate Learning will generate insights and understandings of the ways in which the Transforming Collections research can enable new stories to be told. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Art UK will provide data records and images (where rights allow) relating to the artists and artworks that are the focus of the Transforming Collections project Art UK will also look to its Art Detective groups to help uncover further knowledge relating to artists and artworks surfaced by the Transforming Collections project, to encourage as wide public awareness and engagement with the UAL project. |
| Impact | n/a |
| Start Year | 2021 |
| Description | Project Partner - Art Fund |
| Organisation | Art Fund |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| PI Contribution | Transforming Collections aims to enable digital search across collections, to uncover patterns of bias in collections systems and narratives, to reveal hidden connections, and to open up new interpretative frames and 'potential histories' of art, nation and heritage. The project is underpinned by the belief that a national collection cannot be imagined without addressing structural inequalities, contested heritage and contentious histories embedded in objects. In 1999, the late sociologist and cultural theorist Stuart Hall posed the question 'Whose heritage? Hall called for the 'unsettling' and 'reimagining' of heritage and nation. More than 20 years on, the need to critically question and transform notions of 'heritage' and 'nation' remain as urgent as ever. Whose voices, bodies and experiences are centred and privileged in collections? Our approach brings together academic and artistic research into collections and museum practices with participatory machine learning (ML) design. A series of artistic residencies will lead to new works that critically and creatively activate the emerging research and ML tools. A major public programme with Tate Learning will generate insights and understandings of the ways in which the Transforming Collections research can enable new stories to be told. |
| Collaborator Contribution | The Art Fund is providing staff time across its programmes and technical development teams for the Transforming Collections team to access data related to: Acquisitions funding and related information about supported works, artists and organisations, gifts and bequests, targeted funding initiatives, institutional archive, and public reports on organisation activities. |
| Impact | n/a |
| Start Year | 2021 |
| Description | Project Partner - Birmingham Museums Trust |
| Organisation | Birmingham Museums Trust |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| PI Contribution | Transforming Collections aims to enable digital search across collections, to uncover patterns of bias in collections systems and narratives, to reveal hidden connections, and to open up new interpretative frames and 'potential histories' of art, nation and heritage. The project is underpinned by the belief that a national collection cannot be imagined without addressing structural inequalities, contested heritage and contentious histories embedded in objects. In 1999, the late sociologist and cultural theorist Stuart Hall posed the question 'Whose heritage? Hall called for the 'unsettling' and 'reimagining' of heritage and nation. More than 20 years on, the need to critically question and transform notions of 'heritage' and 'nation' remain as urgent as ever. Whose voices, bodies and experiences are centred and privileged in collections? Our approach brings together academic and artistic research into collections and museum practices with participatory machine learning (ML) design. A series of artistic residencies will lead to new works that critically and creatively activate the emerging research and ML tools. A major public programme with Tate Learning will generate insights and understandings of the ways in which the Transforming Collections research can enable new stories to be told. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Building on work completed for the AHRC Black Artists and Modernism project (2015-18), research as part of 'Transforming Collections' will bring much needed enhancement of our digital records. This is also part of a wider process of re-interpreting Birmingham's collections through a decolonising lens, that is a particular focus for the Trust in the build up to and legacy from the city's hosting of the Commonwealth Games in 2022. The Trust's CEO, Sara Wajid, serves on the project's Advisory Board. |
| Impact | n/a |
| Start Year | 2021 |
| Description | Project Partner - British Council |
| Organisation | British Council |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| PI Contribution | Transforming Collections aims to enable digital search across collections, to uncover patterns of bias in collections systems and narratives, to reveal hidden connections, and to open up new interpretative frames and 'potential histories' of art, nation and heritage. The project is underpinned by the belief that a national collection cannot be imagined without addressing structural inequalities, contested heritage and contentious histories embedded in objects. In 1999, the late sociologist and cultural theorist Stuart Hall posed the question 'Whose heritage? Hall called for the 'unsettling' and 'reimagining' of heritage and nation. More than 20 years on, the need to critically question and transform notions of 'heritage' and 'nation' remain as urgent as ever. Whose voices, bodies and experiences are centred and privileged in collections? Our approach brings together academic and artistic research into collections and museum practices with participatory machine learning (ML) design. A series of artistic residencies will lead to new works that critically and creatively activate the emerging research and ML tools. A major public programme with Tate Learning will generate insights and understandings of the ways in which the Transforming Collections research can enable new stories to be told. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Analysis of British Council Collection's data through the AHRC Black Artists and Modernism project (2015-18), and the Decolonising Arts Institute's update in 2019 informed a strategic shift in acquisitions thereafter. The Machine Learning aspect is important in helping us uncover our and the sector's operational biases and inform an inclusive strategy for management, development and enriched digital dissemination of the Collection. The British Council will provide access to collections data, records, library and other relevant information systems, facilitate research visits to the Collection, and support the project with staff time, knowledge and advice and participation in workshops. |
| Impact | n/a |
| Start Year | 2021 |
| Description | Project Partner - Contemporary Art Society |
| Organisation | Contemporary Art Society |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| PI Contribution | Transforming Collections aims to enable digital search across collections, to uncover patterns of bias in collections systems and narratives, to reveal hidden connections, and to open up new interpretative frames and 'potential histories' of art, nation and heritage. The project is underpinned by the belief that a national collection cannot be imagined without addressing structural inequalities, contested heritage and contentious histories embedded in objects. In 1999, the late sociologist and cultural theorist Stuart Hall posed the question 'Whose heritage? Hall called for the 'unsettling' and 'reimagining' of heritage and nation. More than 20 years on, the need to critically question and transform notions of 'heritage' and 'nation' remain as urgent as ever. Whose voices, bodies and experiences are centred and privileged in collections? Our approach brings together academic and artistic research into collections and museum practices with participatory machine learning (ML) design. A series of artistic residencies will lead to new works that critically and creatively activate the emerging research and ML tools. A major public programme with Tate Learning will generate insights and understandings of the ways in which the Transforming Collections research can enable new stories to be told. |
| Collaborator Contribution | The Contemporary Art Society will provide access to the organisation's digital database of gifts since 1910, holding records of 4,500 individuals and organisations and 10,000 objects. The project will be supported by staff with responsibility for the database and record keeping, the Collections research and Image Rights Manager as well as the Senior curator of Museum Acquisitions and the programme manager. |
| Impact | n/a |
| Start Year | 2021 |
| Description | Project Partner - Government Art Collection |
| Organisation | Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Public |
| PI Contribution | Transforming Collections aims to enable digital search across collections, to uncover patterns of bias in collections systems and narratives, to reveal hidden connections, and to open up new interpretative frames and 'potential histories' of art, nation and heritage. The project is underpinned by the belief that a national collection cannot be imagined without addressing structural inequalities, contested heritage and contentious histories embedded in objects. In 1999, the late sociologist and cultural theorist Stuart Hall posed the question 'Whose heritage? Hall called for the 'unsettling' and 'reimagining' of heritage and nation. More than 20 years on, the need to critically question and transform notions of 'heritage' and 'nation' remain as urgent as ever. Whose voices, bodies and experiences are centred and privileged in collections? Our approach brings together academic and artistic research into collections and museum practices with participatory machine learning (ML) design. A series of artistic residencies will lead to new works that critically and creatively activate the emerging research and ML tools. A major public programme with Tate Learning will generate insights and understandings of the ways in which the Transforming Collections research can enable new stories to be told. |
| Collaborator Contribution | The Government Art Collection will provide access to data and offer staff time in-kind to support research fellows with expertise from our Documentation Manager, Curatorial team and Head of Collection Information. |
| Impact | n/a |
| Start Year | 2022 |
| Description | Project Partner - JISC |
| Organisation | Jisc |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Public |
| PI Contribution | Transforming Collections aims to enable digital search across collections, to uncover patterns of bias in collections systems and narratives, to reveal hidden connections, and to open up new interpretative frames and 'potential histories' of art, nation and heritage. The project is underpinned by the belief that a national collection cannot be imagined without addressing structural inequalities, contested heritage and contentious histories embedded in objects. In 1999, the late sociologist and cultural theorist Stuart Hall posed the question 'Whose heritage? Hall called for the 'unsettling' and 'reimagining' of heritage and nation. More than 20 years on, the need to critically question and transform notions of 'heritage' and 'nation' remain as urgent as ever. Whose voices, bodies and experiences are centred and privileged in collections? Our approach brings together academic and artistic research into collections and museum practices with participatory machine learning (ML) design. A series of artistic residencies will lead to new works that critically and creatively activate the emerging research and ML tools. A major public programme with Tate Learning will generate insights and understandings of the ways in which the Transforming Collections research can enable new stories to be told. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Jisc will disseminate the project aims, developments and outcomes to its contributors, to encourage a wide range of archives to engage with the interactive ML systems o potentially benefit over 350 institutions, including public art institutions. JISC will provide expertise, from over 20 years of running an archival aggregator and working with a whole range of UK archive repositories, particularly around sustainability and the challenges of working with archival metadata. |
| Impact | n/a |
| Start Year | 2021 |
| Description | Project Partner - MIMA |
| Organisation | Middlesbrough Institute of Modern Art |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| PI Contribution | Transforming Collections aims to enable digital search across collections, to uncover patterns of bias in collections systems and narratives, to reveal hidden connections, and to open up new interpretative frames and 'potential histories' of art, nation and heritage. The project is underpinned by the belief that a national collection cannot be imagined without addressing structural inequalities, contested heritage and contentious histories embedded in objects. In 1999, the late sociologist and cultural theorist Stuart Hall posed the question 'Whose heritage? Hall called for the 'unsettling' and 'reimagining' of heritage and nation. More than 20 years on, the need to critically question and transform notions of 'heritage' and 'nation' remain as urgent as ever. Whose voices, bodies and experiences are centred and privileged in collections? Our approach brings together academic and artistic research into collections and museum practices with participatory machine learning (ML) design. A series of artistic residencies will lead to new works that critically and creatively activate the emerging research and ML tools. A major public programme with Tate Learning will generate insights and understandings of the ways in which the Transforming Collections research can enable new stories to be told. |
| Collaborator Contribution | MIMA will contribute the time of its curatorial and research team, facilitate access to the Middlesbrough Collection, its related data and archives, and support the project by participating and/or hosting workshops and site visits for researchers, partners and collaborators. MIMA will also contribute to public and research events by presenting findings and learnings, develop study sessions with students and researchers in the MIMA School of Art and Design to digest and analyse the research undertaken in the 'Transforming Collections' project, and distribute the project to our publics and communities via displays and interpretation. |
| Impact | n/a |
| Start Year | 2021 |
| Description | Project Partner - Manchester Art Gallery |
| Organisation | Manchester Art Gallery |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Public |
| PI Contribution | Transforming Collections aims to enable digital search across collections, to uncover patterns of bias in collections systems and narratives, to reveal hidden connections, and to open up new interpretative frames and 'potential histories' of art, nation and heritage. The project is underpinned by the belief that a national collection cannot be imagined without addressing structural inequalities, contested heritage and contentious histories embedded in objects. In 1999, the late sociologist and cultural theorist Stuart Hall posed the question 'Whose heritage? Hall called for the 'unsettling' and 'reimagining' of heritage and nation. More than 20 years on, the need to critically question and transform notions of 'heritage' and 'nation' remain as urgent as ever. Whose voices, bodies and experiences are centred and privileged in collections? Our approach brings together academic and artistic research into collections and museum practices with participatory machine learning (ML) design. A series of artistic residencies will lead to new works that critically and creatively activate the emerging research and ML tools. A major public programme with Tate Learning will generate insights and understandings of the ways in which the Transforming Collections research can enable new stories to be told. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Manchester Art Gallery will support the Transforming Collections with curatorial and collections management staff time in kind and budget to the project towards an anticipated public outcome, such as a small collection display. MAG will provide access to their collections management database and our artists' files and any other support needed, and talk about the project publicly through their website and social media, as part of their transparent communication about their decolonisation work. |
| Impact | n/a |
| Start Year | 2021 |
| Description | Project Partner - National Museums Liverpool |
| Organisation | National Museums Liverpool |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Public |
| PI Contribution | Transforming Collections aims to enable digital search across collections, to uncover patterns of bias in collections systems and narratives, to reveal hidden connections, and to open up new interpretative frames and 'potential histories' of art, nation and heritage. The project is underpinned by the belief that a national collection cannot be imagined without addressing structural inequalities, contested heritage and contentious histories embedded in objects. In 1999, the late sociologist and cultural theorist Stuart Hall posed the question 'Whose heritage? Hall called for the 'unsettling' and 'reimagining' of heritage and nation. More than 20 years on, the need to critically question and transform notions of 'heritage' and 'nation' remain as urgent as ever. Whose voices, bodies and experiences are centred and privileged in collections? Our approach brings together academic and artistic research into collections and museum practices with participatory machine learning (ML) design. A series of artistic residencies will lead to new works that critically and creatively activate the emerging research and ML tools. A major public programme with Tate Learning will generate insights and understandings of the ways in which the Transforming Collections research can enable new stories to be told. |
| Collaborator Contribution | National Museums Liverpool will facilitate access to our collections and documentation and provide digital photography as required. They will host workshops and meetings as needed and promote the project and share its outputs through our website and social media, and support audience engagement. |
| Impact | n/a |
| Start Year | 2021 |
| Description | Project Partner - Southbank Centre |
| Organisation | Southbank Centre |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Private |
| PI Contribution | Transforming Collections aims to enable digital search across collections, to uncover patterns of bias in collections systems and narratives, to reveal hidden connections, and to open up new interpretative frames and 'potential histories' of art, nation and heritage. The project is underpinned by the belief that a national collection cannot be imagined without addressing structural inequalities, contested heritage and contentious histories embedded in objects. In 1999, the late sociologist and cultural theorist Stuart Hall posed the question 'Whose heritage? Hall called for the 'unsettling' and 'reimagining' of heritage and nation. More than 20 years on, the need to critically question and transform notions of 'heritage' and 'nation' remain as urgent as ever. Whose voices, bodies and experiences are centred and privileged in collections? Our approach brings together academic and artistic research into collections and museum practices with participatory machine learning (ML) design. A series of artistic residencies will lead to new works that critically and creatively activate the emerging research and ML tools. A major public programme with Tate Learning will generate insights and understandings of the ways in which the Transforming Collections research can enable new stories to be told. |
| Collaborator Contribution | In support of the Project the South Bank centre and its Arts Council Collection has agreed to: provide registrarial support creating access to our collections management data enable IT support to facilitate access to our collections management data provide curatorial support to explore research questions and add narrative to the raw data enable access to 'grey' data including including but not limited to our library and archival holdings. |
| Impact | n/a |
| Start Year | 2021 |
| Description | Project partner - Tate |
| Organisation | Tate |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| PI Contribution | Transforming Collections aims to enable digital search across collections, to uncover patterns of bias in collections systems and narratives, to reveal hidden connections, and to open up new interpretative frames and 'potential histories' of art, nation and heritage. The project is underpinned by the belief that a national collection cannot be imagined without addressing structural inequalities, contested heritage and contentious histories embedded in objects. In 1999, the late sociologist and cultural theorist Stuart Hall posed the question 'Whose heritage? Hall called for the 'unsettling' and 'reimagining' of heritage and nation. More than 20 years on, the need to critically question and transform notions of 'heritage' and 'nation' remain as urgent as ever. Whose voices, bodies and experiences are centred and privileged in collections? Our approach brings together academic and artistic research into collections and museum practices with participatory machine learning (ML) design. A series of artistic residencies will lead to new works that critically and creatively activate the emerging research and ML tools. A major public programme with Tate Learning will generate insights and understandings of the ways in which the Transforming Collections research can enable new stories to be told. |
| Collaborator Contribution | The three Co-Investigators at Tate have overseen discrete but interconnected strands of enquiry over the past 12 months, in line with the project's braided, interdisciplinary approach to research. This narrative report covers each area of enquiry as well as detailing the contributions that Tate has made to the evolution of the overall project. Christopher Griffin (0.4) has led Tate's work relating to Strands A and B of the project, developing art historical and museological research that reveals the ways in which collection interpretation at Tate has perpetuated racism, white supremacy and imperialist attitudes. This has involved consolidating existing information about artwork interpretation and auditing texts for biases. This work has so far identified almost 300 individual texts on artworks across all periods of history and a range of practices. Early research on particular case studies demonstrates the multitude of ways in which bias is manifested - including offensive or euphemistic language, absence/erasure and the neutralisation of violence. Presentations at workshops with the project team, PDRFs and with partners has supported and advanced this research and, importantly, informed the development of machine learning prototypes relating to strands C and D. The next stage is to undertake historiographic research on individual artworks with subject specialists to reveal in detail the effects of this bias on understandings of the artist, the artwork and history. Taking over from Hilary Knight (formerly Tate Director of Digital) as Co-Investigator from April 2022, Hannah Barton (0.2) has undertaken research that mobilises one element of Tate's digitalisation workflow - the subject index tagging process - to expound the contingent and co-constitutive relationship inherent between institutional practice and technical systems. Subject indexing is a critical back-of-house digital data process of identifying and describing items held in Tate's collection. This process allows visitors to Tate's website to discover digitised items - which total 150,000 as of 2022 - by using key words to search the national collection of British art from 1500 to the present day, as well as international, modern, and contemporary art. Tate has been applying subject index terms to its collection since 2000 and the launch of the Insights Project (which implemented a workflow to digitise Tate's art collection and make it available online via the Gallery website). The archive collection began to be subject indexed in 2015, as part of the Archives & Access project - a project which implemented a workflow to digitise Tate's archive material and make it available online via the Gallery website. While the commitment to subject indexing over the course of two decades has proven valuable, as of 2022 a number of inconsistencies are known to exist in the data set, produced as a result of differing approaches to subject tagging, changes to tagging and resources, and revisions to the suitability of terms applied. As such, this data poses the risk of replicating harms and biases through the problematic or incorrect framing of Tate's collection. Without oversight, and if necessary, remediation, this data set can also not be used in digital product development, constraining the range of user experiences (such as website browsing) that can be created. Within this context, this research has so far 1) completed a data audit of subject index terms, 2) completed a design ideation session with Tate's Digital team to begin design thinking in respect to improving the website front end, and 3) benchmarked workflow and best practice. Mark Miller (0.3) has been leading on Strand E of the project, focusing on the development of a public programme to be realised at Tate in 2024 that will showcase, celebrate and reflect upon the project's innovations and discoveries, incorporating artistic commissions and participatory events for a broad public. Plans are being made for an academic symposium/seminar, a large-scale evening programme and a series of events over a weekend. In addition to the research strands detailed above, Tate Co-investigators have contributed to the development of the project's data ethics guidelines and machine learning prototypes through participation in workshops and meetings. Other members of Tate staff have also facilitated research, including the collections database team, who have provided data and support towards the audit of Black artists in Tate's collection relating to strands A and B. Curatorial staff at Tate, along with Mark Miller and Christopher Griffin, also participated in the recruitment of the 4 artists who will undertake practice research residencies. |
| Impact | n/a |
| Start Year | 2021 |
| Description | Project partner - Wellcome Trust |
| Organisation | Wellcome Trust |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| PI Contribution | Transforming Collections aims to enable digital search across collections, to uncover patterns of bias in collections systems and narratives, to reveal hidden connections, and to open up new interpretative frames and 'potential histories' of art, nation and heritage. The project is underpinned by the belief that a national collection cannot be imagined without addressing structural inequalities, contested heritage and contentious histories embedded in objects. In 1999, the late sociologist and cultural theorist Stuart Hall posed the question 'Whose heritage? Hall called for the 'unsettling' and 'reimagining' of heritage and nation. More than 20 years on, the need to critically question and transform notions of 'heritage' and 'nation' remain as urgent as ever. Whose voices, bodies and experiences are centred and privileged in collections? Our approach brings together academic and artistic research into collections and museum practices with participatory machine learning (ML) design. A series of artistic residencies will lead to new works that critically and creatively activate the emerging research and ML tools. A major public programme with Tate Learning will generate insights and understandings of the ways in which the Transforming Collections research can enable new stories to be told. |
| Collaborator Contribution | The Wellcome Trusts agrees to provide live access to their collections data via their open collections APls and datasets to help inform and iteratively test the project's machine learning software. They will participate in at least one machine learning critical research and participatory design workshop, and provide space in kind to host project activity. The Wellcome Trust will enable access to relevant curatorial expertise specific to their collections of paintings from colonial India, and the support of its team, to enable further exploration of uncatalogued and/or undigitized paintings in its collections whose 'absence' from the current digital cultural record. |
| Impact | n/a |
| Start Year | 2021 |