Part of ‘Doing the Work’, an online CPD workshop series co-produced by the Contemporary Art Society and the Decolonising Arts Institute (University of the Arts London). Read more.
Open to CAS Museum Members and professionals.
This workshop focuses on the practices and ethics of ‘engagement’ in art museums and galleries, and how anti-racist and decolonial approaches can be embedded in them. Questions for discussion might include: How can an art museum’s public/audience/community ‘engagement’ practices be expanded to also account for its relationships with, for example, minoritised artists, external collaborators and its own staff? How can extractive or exploitative ‘engagement’ practices be reshaped and reconceived as equitable, co-productive and reciprocal? How can an ethics of care be embedded in ‘engagement’ practices? What does an anti-racist or decolonial approach to ‘engagement’ involve? How can approaches to ‘engagement’ expand beyond engagement with people, to engagement with issues, ethics and power relations?
To kick-start the discussions, there will be presentations from Barby Asante (artist, curator, educator and occasional DJ) and Amal Khalaf (artist, curator and Director of Programmes at Cubitt), expertly moderated by Sandra Shakespeare (Black British Museum Project). Participants will then breakout into small groups for focused conversation on the issues and challenges at hand, as well as strategies to test out back in the workplace. Click here for participant biographies.
The workshop is designed to be participative and generative. We therefore ask you to come prepared to discuss a particular issue or challenge you are grappling with, or to share your experience of using a particular approach, in relation to the topic of embedding anti-racism and decolonization in engagement practices. We provide a list of resources below that can help you shape your example.
Open to CAS Museum Members and professionals. If you would like to participate in this workshop, please send us a brief outline of how you intend to contribute to the conversation to Ilaria@contemporaryartsociety.org by Friday 2 July.
Further Reading:
Podcasts
Online Talks
During November and December 2020, Colchester and Ipswich Museums hosted a series of live-streams on YouTube on the related themes of Decolonisation and Democratisation. In this video Manchester Art Gallery and the Science Museum discuss how they have worked with local communities to reimagine their galleries. D+D: Community Curated Permanent Displays
Articles
General resources
The Museum Association’s Manifesto for Museum Learning and Engagement
The Museums Association’s ‘Power to the People’ framework, which is designed to help museums understand and improve their participatory practice and community engagement
The non-profit organization ‘OF/BY/FOR ALL’ provides digital tools to help public institutions matter more to more people, and has shared these online resources:
- Partner Power: A Technique for Building More Authentic Community Partnerships Right from the Start
- How to co-create an exhibition with your community so people take action on an issue that matters
A think-piece by Chrissie Tiller that unearths and explores some of the complexities and challenges of sharing power, drawing on thinking from CPP directors, community managers and other team members, artists and project critical friends. Some of the big questions that underpin many collaborative practices are unpicked: power, reciprocity, cultural capital, participation, values, ethics, collaboration, and politics. Throughout are contextual reminders and cautionary notes to think about when aiming for truly participatory relationships in the arts. [this is a long read]
How can your museum work alongside children, young people and families to respond to the Black Lives Matter movement? This resource by Kids in Museums suggests some next steps for working with children, young people and families to address the need for change highlighted by the Black Lives Matter movement. It is not intended to be an exhaustive guide to decolonising your museum or becoming an anti-racist organisation but a helpful starting point for museums wanting to start to make this journey alongside their communities. https://www.culturehive.co.uk/resources/how-can-your-museum-work-alongside-children-young-people-and-families-to-respond-to-the-black-lives-matter-movement/
