We need to encourage a plurality of voices in collections-based research

Museum collections are imbued with countless stories, many of which have been told from narrow perspectives. Encouraging a plurality of voices in collections-based research is one valuable way to address this.

In 2021, National Museums Scotland was awarded a grant by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC), with London’s National Maritime Museum, to enable galleries, libraries, archives and museums around the country to work with community groups to broaden out and reveal some of these stories by exploring experiences of empire, migration and life in Britain, through collections.

Under the £250,000 pilot project, Exchange: Community-Led Collections Research, funding was distributed to seven partner organisations to work with participants from South Asian, African and Caribbean diaspora groups.

Completed last autumn, its success has led to the AHRC allocating £150,000 for Exchange 2.0, which will build on the learnings of the first phase, focusing on sectoral knowledge sharing, sustainable legacy and impact. 

Exchange 1.0 produced a range of creative outputs, all led by community groups, with collections at their heart. For example, Edinburgh’s Museum of Childhood worked with the Edinburgh Caribbean Association to examine experiences of growing up. Participants exploring the museum’s collection said they didn’t see their own childhoods represented.

That lack of representation, the politicisation of childhood and potential racism in the collections were among the themes discussed. They compared experiences of childhood in Scotland and the Caribbean, working across generations to explore everything from music and food to folklore. The project culminated in the Respect! Caribbean Life in Edinburgh exhibition. 

The seven organisations that participated in Exchange 1.0 worked with more than 80 people across 15 community groups to challenge and expand on established representations of diaspora experiences. 

We held 13 events across the UK that attracted hundreds of participants, while online content reached tens of thousands of people. Knowledge was produced that will help to inform Exchange 2.0, as well as leadership and strategy across the sector.

Building on the guidance and knowledge gained from the first phase, Exchange 2.0 will deliver four national, sector-facing workshop training events, which have been co-designed with community partners.

The project is a chance for diaspora heritage community members to take ownership of their collections-based research results and to direct how these findings will be disseminated. Participants will explore topics including the removal of barriers, working towards safer spaces and demystifying the process of collections research for community-led projects.

Planned outputs range from exhibitions and singing in native languages to school poetry days and the creation of YouTube videos on subjects as varied as indentured labourers and inspirational women.

To support greater equality, diversity and inclusion within the sector, it’s vital that we encourage a wide range of voices in community engagement. In an effort to do just that, Exchange 2.0 will support diaspora heritage community members to act as “community bridge builders” with underrepresented communities.

Aspects of museum collections and the way they’re displayed have often been shaped by imperial and colonial thinking and actions that were based on racial and racist understandings of the world. In response, National Museums Scotland and many others are changing how imperial and colonial pasts are represented to audiences.

Exchange 1.0 supported organisations to work with UK communities historically marginalised in museum displays, to share a wider range of stories and perspectives. The project has seen us invest more resources into how histories of empire, migration and life in Britain are told from the perspective of diaspora communities. But this was the first step on a long journey – we’re excited to be taking the next one.