MusLi (Museums Literacy) - Fondazione Fitzcarraldo

110 MusLi - No qualifications needed: museums and new audiences
case 07
For each conversation the Museum works intensively with the community group to explore the collection
of their interest and discuss what responses and ideas they have to the collection. These
responses can be purely emotional, reminiscence, culturally-specific or ideas or theme lead. Conversations
between academic researchers and community groups have explored the relationship of
the Museum’s collection to the abolition of the slave trade, in particular researching where the wealth
of the industrialists and merchants who contributed to the collection came from. Conversations
amongst community members have explored their own cultural history, their personal experiences
and their relocation from their home country to the centre of Manchester.
Once the objects have been selected, the participants come back to the Museum to record their
conversation in a purpose-built recording studio, the Contact Zone. Each conversation is facilitated
by either a member of the community or a member of Museum staff. The resulting film is then edited,
added to the collections database and finally posted onto the internet, currently through YouTube.
A DVD copy of the full film can also be passed on to the community group for their own use.
To date a number of community groups and individuals have participated on the programme. These
have included members from the Somali and Sudanese community, Afro-Caribbean community,
Nigerian women, representatives from WAST (Women Asylum Seekers Together), Wai Yin Chinese
Women Society, staff from the Greater Coalition of Disabled People, young people from local primary
and secondary schools, pre-school children, University students, Museum staff and local residents
from nearby wards in Manchester. These particular groups and individuals were selected to
support the museums and University’s strategic aims to engage people from its surrounding wards
and areas of social and economic deprivation.
The participants lead on the development for the content of the films themselves with minimal direction
from museum staff, so this approach acknowledges people’s opinions and in turn gives value
to their input. This can be a very re-affirming experience for people and their particular cultural
heritage or perspective which has had resonance with our on line users. Some of the Sudanese
participants told museum staff during evaluation sessions that they used the films to promote their
cultural heritage with younger children and families at the Sudanese supplementary school and
day centre. Patterns have emerged where the films about particular cultural objects are viewed by
source communities from countries of origin e.g. Films about the Sudanese collection receive most
views in Sudan and the Wai Yin films in China. This might suggest the importance attached to the
films by these particular communities.
The participants lead on the development for the content of the films themselves with minimal direction
from museum staff, so this approach acknowledges people’s opinions and in turn gives value
to their input. This can be a very re-affirming experience for people and their particular cultural
heritage or perspective which has had resonance with our on line users. Some of the Sudanese
participants told museum staff during evaluation sessions that they used the films to promote their
cultural heritage with younger children and families at the Sudanese supplementary school and