Community Museums in the Creative Economy
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Liverpool
Department Name: Modern Languages and Cultures
Abstract
This project will engage partners in the heritage and cultural sectors in Colombia, South America, to address the UN Sustainable Development Goals. It will collaborate with NGO partners and grassroots museums who work in the areas of human rights, historical memory, victim representation and memories of conflict. These organisations strive to uncover the stories of hidden, marginalised, or misrepresented cultures, social groups, and identities to capture the memories of victims of conflict, stories of non-violent resistance, community mobilisation and self-help.
Working together, the project will develop and implement creative museum products, practices and activities that will support grassroots, community-based museums. The testing and implementation of these museum products, practices and activities will engage diverse audiences, and will position the public as active co-creators of museum content. The project will thus support these community organisations in their human rights work to prevent violence, and envision and build for peaceful futures.
The project will also contribute to the sustainable development of the creative economy more broadly, because, following in the trends of new museology and calls to decolonise the museum and its practices, it will support community empowerment, activism, cultural expression and participation by democratising not only access to museum spaces, but also the very creation of museum content itself. Community museums are uniquely placed to document untold stories of the power of reciprocity and collectivity, of a refusal to bear arms, of a commitment to bear witness and document truths. This project seeks to acknowledge and embed such values into our academic theory and practice, by decolonising notions and norms of museums and museal products, and by empowering local experts to document, create, curate, and narrate self-directed representations of their lives and stories.
In order to achieve this, the project will run 3 interlinking work packages. The first of these will support 27 grassroots and community museums across Colombia by trialling interactive, low-cost products and activities which aim to encourage the public to reflect on issues of memory, human rights, and representation in museums. The team will design a schedule for these museums to trial each product, with accompanying activities to engage audiences in practices of self-curation - that is, curating their own life experiences as a process of working through memories of the past, and aspirations for the future
The second work package will work with five specific community museums or groups who are named partners on the grant. Each of these NGOs already has expertise in running museums, memory spaces, or temporary exhibitions and, working with them, we will develop activities based on co-curation, with the aim of bring in communities into the curating process, as a way of integrating multiple perspectives from local communities. Each of these five community museums or groups will take a lead on a particular aspect of this co-curation, tailored to their expertise and spaces, and will hold an exhibition showcasing the results.
The third work package will be targeted at grassroots organisations that do not currently conceive of themselves as museums, but whose existing archives and resources have the capacity to be exhibited - thus building future capacity for community organisations to participate in the creative economy. Learning from work packages one and two, this work package will develop tools including a checklist, best practice guides, and an online training session to help grassroots organisations decide what elements from their existing resources would work best in a museum or exhibition space.
Working together, the project will develop and implement creative museum products, practices and activities that will support grassroots, community-based museums. The testing and implementation of these museum products, practices and activities will engage diverse audiences, and will position the public as active co-creators of museum content. The project will thus support these community organisations in their human rights work to prevent violence, and envision and build for peaceful futures.
The project will also contribute to the sustainable development of the creative economy more broadly, because, following in the trends of new museology and calls to decolonise the museum and its practices, it will support community empowerment, activism, cultural expression and participation by democratising not only access to museum spaces, but also the very creation of museum content itself. Community museums are uniquely placed to document untold stories of the power of reciprocity and collectivity, of a refusal to bear arms, of a commitment to bear witness and document truths. This project seeks to acknowledge and embed such values into our academic theory and practice, by decolonising notions and norms of museums and museal products, and by empowering local experts to document, create, curate, and narrate self-directed representations of their lives and stories.
In order to achieve this, the project will run 3 interlinking work packages. The first of these will support 27 grassroots and community museums across Colombia by trialling interactive, low-cost products and activities which aim to encourage the public to reflect on issues of memory, human rights, and representation in museums. The team will design a schedule for these museums to trial each product, with accompanying activities to engage audiences in practices of self-curation - that is, curating their own life experiences as a process of working through memories of the past, and aspirations for the future
The second work package will work with five specific community museums or groups who are named partners on the grant. Each of these NGOs already has expertise in running museums, memory spaces, or temporary exhibitions and, working with them, we will develop activities based on co-curation, with the aim of bring in communities into the curating process, as a way of integrating multiple perspectives from local communities. Each of these five community museums or groups will take a lead on a particular aspect of this co-curation, tailored to their expertise and spaces, and will hold an exhibition showcasing the results.
The third work package will be targeted at grassroots organisations that do not currently conceive of themselves as museums, but whose existing archives and resources have the capacity to be exhibited - thus building future capacity for community organisations to participate in the creative economy. Learning from work packages one and two, this work package will develop tools including a checklist, best practice guides, and an online training session to help grassroots organisations decide what elements from their existing resources would work best in a museum or exhibition space.
People |
ORCID iD |
| Claire Taylor (Principal Investigator) | |
| Lucia Brandi (Researcher) |
| Description | The key achievements of this project include: The successful implementation of the materials with our partner community organisations in Colombia Highly successful engagement with our materials nationally and internationally Multiple expressions of interest and further uses of our materials in international settings See the 'Impact' section for details on all of these |
| Exploitation Route | The materials are usable in many other country contexts and settings. The project team is particularly keen to collaborate and share findings with similar groups and museums in other country settings. Indeed, as a result of the interest that our project has already generated, we are creating 'training the trainer' materials so that the findings can be replicated. |
| Sectors | Creative Economy,Education,Culture, Heritage, Museums and Collections |
| Description | The findings have been used in the following ways: Implementation of the products designed by the project in community organisations in Colombia, in the form of co-creation and co-curation workshops and events with diverse publics. Application of the materials/products in a range of settings in the UK, including community engagement events and in museums. This was unanticipated at the time of applying for this funding, and came about as the visibility of the project grew. This is an indication of the applicability of the project findings to a range of settings. Sharing of the products designed by the project with over 20 museums nationwide (across Colombia), who adapted the products to their circumstances and reported positive engagement, including some notable successes (for more see next paragraphs) Invitations to collaborate with major initiatives internationally, such as the Colombian Ministry of Culture and the National Museum Colombia, which established a project in 2022 to design a strategy for a forthcoming Afro Museum of Colombia. This will be the first museum of its kind in the country, with the aim of opening its doors in 2023. The Afro Museum of Colombia team is employing a co-creation methodology, and co-creation laboratories were held in 2022 in 4 locations across the country. The research team was invited to participate in these laboratories, and facilitate this process of co-creation by running workshops using the A Museum For Me products - products designed by the research team based on the research findings. This involved a process of consultations and focus groups with the objective of identifying the needs of the local Afro-Colombian populations with regard to the construction of this museum; the products designed by the research team were used as a tool for this consultation process, with the aim of inviting dialogue on the different elements of the museum and the narratives it would convey. The Research project team collaborated with a team based in the Secretariat of Culture of Ibagué who were preparing for the forthcoming creation of the Panoptic Museum of Ibagué. The research team provided a suite of A Museum For Me products - products designed by the research team based on the research findings. These materials were then applied in educational institutions and community spaces across the department (county) of Tolima with the objective of garnering information about the perceptions that the public have about the forthcoming museum, and the possibilities for topics to be covered in the museum. Subsequently, the Colombian Truth Commission visited this museum in July 2022, as part of its process of disseminating the findings of the Truth Commission Report. As part of this visit, the materials created by the project team were given out to participants as tools to be used to discuss the importance of collective memory construction. This activity was directed to young people and adults, making use of these tools to dialogue about the importance of the construction of historical memory and the construction of exercises of representation. The project team delivered a methods training session at the annual conference of the International Council of Museums in Prague in August 2022. The session was entitled 'Decolonisation and Museum Heritage', and used the A Museum For Me materials - products designed by the research team based on the research findings. The session involved using these materials to address the concepts of museums and memory, and to get museum practitioners thinking about how to dialogue with migrant populations in their countries. The impact of this can be seen in the fact that the project team was subsequently contacted by several museums worldwide who are interested in implementing our materials, with some workshops already planned/underway. In particular, the project team is collaborating with museum professions who are undertaking a process of renovation of the National Museum, Chile. |
| First Year Of Impact | 2012 |
| Sector | Creative Economy,Culture, Heritage, Museums and Collections |
| Description | A Museum For Me - Decolonial Methods Workshop for ICOM, Prague |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | The project team delivered a methods training session at the annual conference of the International Council of Museums in Prague in August 2022. The session was entitled 'Decolonisation and Museum Heritage', and used the A Museum For Me materials - products designed by the research team based on the research findings. The session involved using these materials to address the concepts of museums and memory, and to get museum practitioners thinking about how to dialogue with migrant populations in their countries. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| URL | https://prague2022.icom.museum/ |
| Description | An Afro Museum For Me: Laboratory Santander de Quilichao, Colombia |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | The Colombian Ministry of Culture and the National Museum Colombia established a project in 2022 to design a strategy for a forthcoming Afro Museum of Colombia. This will be the first museum of its kind in the country, with the aim of opening its doors in 2023. The Afro Museum of Colombia team is employing a co-creation methodology. The research team was invited to participate in these laboratories, and facilitate this process of co-creation by running workshops using the A Museum For Me products - products designed by the research team based on the research findings. This involved a process of consultations and focus groups with the objective of identifying the needs of the local Afro-Colombian populations with regard to the construction of this museum; the products designed by the research team were used as a tool for this consultation process, with the aim of inviting dialogue on the different elements of the museum and the narratives it would convey. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | An Afro Museum For Me: Laboratory Cali, Colombia |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | The Colombian Ministry of Culture and the National Museum Colombia established a project in 2022 to design a strategy for a forthcoming Afro Museum of Colombia. This will be the first museum of its kind in the country, with the aim of opening its doors in 2023. The Afro Museum of Colombia team is employing a co-creation methodology, and co-creation laboratories were held in 2022 in the cities of Cali and Cartagena. The research team was invited to participate in these laboratories, and facilitate this process of co-creation by running workshops using the A Museum For Me products - products designed by the research team based on the research findings. The project team ran co-creation workshops and focus groups using these products for participants in the city of Cali, including the general public as well as children. Participants were invited to envisage what they would like to see in the museum, dialoguing with their life experiences and heritage. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | An Afro Museum For Me: Laboratory Cartagena, Colombia |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | The Colombian Ministry of Culture and the National Museum Colombia established a project in 2022 to design a strategy for a forthcoming Afro Museum of Colombia. This will be the first museum of its kind in the country, with the aim of opening its doors in 2023. The Afro Museum of Colombia team is employing a co-creation methodology, and co-creation laboratories were held in 2022 in the cities of Cali and Cartagena. The research team was invited to participate in these laboratories, and facilitate this process of co-creation by running workshops using the A Museum For Me products - products designed by the research team based on the research findings. The project team ran co-creation workshops and focus groups using these products for participants in the city of Cartagena, including the general public as well as children. Participants were invited to envisage what they would like to see in the museum, dialoguing with their life experiences and heritage. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | An Afro Museum For Me: Laboratory San Basilio de Palenque, Colombia |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | The Colombian Ministry of Culture and the National Museum Colombia established a project in 2022 to design a strategy for a forthcoming Afro Museum of Colombia. This will be the first museum of its kind in the country, with the aim of opening its doors in 2023. The Afro Museum of Colombia team is employing a co-creation methodology, and co-creation laboratories, consultations and focus groups were held in 2022 in San Basilio de Palenque. The research team was invited to participate in these laboratories, and facilitate this process of co-creation by running workshops using the A Museum For Me products - products designed by the research team based on the research findings. This involved a process of consultations and focus groups with the objective of identifying the needs of the local Afro-Colombian populations with regard to the construction of this museum; the products designed by the research team were used as a tool for this consultation process, with the aim of inviting dialogue on the different elements of the museum and the narratives it would convey. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Behind the Scenes at the Museum - Liverpool |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Behind the Scenes at the Museum was an open day at the Victoria Gallery and Museum, with a series of events and activities directed to families, based around how curators care for their collections, including identifying museum pests, packing a delicate object, and taking part in a range of curatorial activities. The project PI ran workshops all day using the A Museum For Me products created by the project team. Participants created their own mini 3D museum to take home. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| URL | https://vgm.liverpool.ac.uk/exhibitions_events_tours/events/family/vgmsummerworkshop17thaugust.html |
| Description | Diaspora Here Community Engagement Day, Liverpool |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Community engagement day co-organised by the research project in conjunction with the Centre for the Study of International Slavery. The day involved an artist roundtable featuring local artists and filmmakers who have documented Liverpool's Black community, discussion with members of the community, Afro Caribbean and Latin American cuisine, an Afro-Latino musical performance, and a selection of activities including carnival headdresses, mask making as well as Museum for Me activities. Participants were encouraged to bring to the event artefacts, photographs, or any other objects that help them reflect about their lives as members of Liverpool´s culturally diverse landscape. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Interview on UPTC Radio, April 2023 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Interview of PI and members of research team on UPTC radio, to discuss the project, its activities and its recommendations. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Museum For Me Workshop - Kuumba Imani Centre, Liverpool |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Museum for Me workshop using products designed by the research team. The event was held at the Kuumba Imani Centre in conjunction with the Centre for the Study of International Slavery. Participants made their own museums and reflected on their identity and heritage. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Museum For Me Workshop - Museo Panoptico de Ibague, Colombia |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | The Research project team collaborated with a team based in the Secretariat of Culture of Ibagué who were preparing for the forthcoming creation of the Panoptic Museum of Ibagué. The research team provided a suite of A Museum For Me products - products designed by the research team based on the research findings. These materials were then applied in educational institutions and community spaces across the department (county) of Tolima with the objective of garnering information about the perceptions that the public have about the forthcoming museum, and the possibilities for topics to be covered in the museum. Subsequently, the Colombian Truth Commission visited this museum, as part of its process of disseminating the findings of the Truth Commission Report. As part of this visit, the materials created by the project team were given out to participants as tools to be used to discuss the importance of collective memory construction. This activity was directed to young people and adults, making use of these tools to dialogue about the importance of the construction of historical memory and the construction of exercises of representation. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Museum For Me workshop - Barranquilla, Colombia |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Schools |
| Results and Impact | Museum For Me interactive workshop, working with products designed by the research team. The workshop was co-designed and run with the Organización Femenina Popular in the city Barrancabermeja with schoolchildren from a state school in the municipality. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Museum For Me workshop - Guagua, Cali, Colombia |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Museum for Me activities using products designed by the research team. The event was co-designed and run with Fundación Guagua, a victims' organisation in the city of Cali, Colombia. The event formed part of a public demonstration protesting against forced disappearances in the public space of the city, in front of the Fiscalía. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Museum For Me workshop - RMVP, Villavicencio, Colombia |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Museum for Me workshop using products designed by the research team. The workshop was co-designed and run with the Red de Mujeres Víctimas y profesionales [Network of Women Victims and Professionals] in the city of Villavicencio, in an event involving male victims of sexual violence. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Museum for Me workshop - Zoscua, Bogota, Colombia |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Schools |
| Results and Impact | Museum for Me workshop using products designed by the research team. The workshop was co-designed and run with Corporacion Zoscua, from Boyacá. The participants were students undertaking the National Apprenticeship Service SENA. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Presentation at Transnational Memory Practices in the UK and South Korea - Ethics, Evaluation and Learning in Digital Exhibitions |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | The PI gave a talk about the project findings at the workshops for the Transnational Memory Practices in the UK and South Korea - Ethics, Evaluation and Learning in Digital Exhibitions project. The audience was academics, postgraduates, and museum professionals |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Presentation on Methods, Lancaster, UK |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | Presentation by the PI on methodology on 'Co-curation, Co-creation and Working with Museums and Communities' at Methodological Discontents: Creative approaches to inclusive, decolonising and interdisciplinary methods in times of crises' Univeristy of Manchester/University of Lancaster: Collaborative Innovations Grant Methods NW. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |