Museums as places for intercultural dialogue - Network of European ...

Talking Objects. This is an innovative learning programme in whichyoung people from diverse backgrounds delve into the history ofBritish Museum objects: talking to curators, handling real objectsand debating relevant issues, using drama, dance and other creativeprocesses to expand ideas. The aim of the programme is to generate aconversation between the young people using the collection, creatinga dialogue that is not only a conversation between different people, butalso a dialogue with the Museum itself.The Hanging Gardens Exhibition at Swiss Cottage Gallery. In2009 the author worked with five groups from the London Boroughof Camden to create an exhibition for display at the Swiss CottageGallery. Participating groups included an ESOL class, an art class foradults with learning difficulties, a gardening and photography groupfrom a local community association, an elders’ art group, and familyvisitors to a local library. The aim of the project was to create anexhibition based on a re-imagining of the Hanging Gardens of Babylon,to coincide with the Babylon exhibition at the British Museum. Eachgroup worked on their own interpretation of the Hanging Gardens andthe core collection through a variety of mediums.Volunteer-led programmes. The Museum has a team of nearly500 volunteers, many of whom provide valuable support to Learningand Audiences. In addition, volunteer-led programmes such as theeyeOpener tours and hands-on object handling sessions attract over15,000 visitors each month. The purpose of these programmes is toenable visitors to have a direct and personal experience of the Museumthrough touch and talking about objects.Practical considerationsThe British Museum is funded by a combination of grant-in aidallocated by Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) andincome secured through a range of fund-raising, sponsorship andactivities for which a charge is made. 13 Developing sustainableprogrammes is vital to maintaining the critical balance betweeninnovation and quality, and demands for increased audience access tothe collection. As with any institution, large or small, budgets providedfor public engagement have to be spent wisely. As far as possible, allpilot projects should be conceived with a sustainable component.It is easy to underestimate the amount of work involved in deliveringprogrammes such as those described above. We have found that it ispossible to achieve this with a relatively small learning team, providedthat they are supported by a range of other people, including curators,volunteers, internships, casual staff, freelance educators, artists,performers, and musicians. The importance of close working withpartners in this context cannot be stressed enough.Much of the Department of Learning and Audiences’ work is achievedthrough developing strong local, regional, and national partnerships.Successful and strong partnerships are built on trust. Partnershipsshould be mutually beneficial and, where successful, can addadditional resources, capacity, and knowledge to any museum.Museums have become more proficient at partnership working,encouraged by the Inspiring Learning for All framework and keysupporting documents such as the Learning Revolution (2009), theLearning Power of Museums (2000), and Understanding the Future:Museums and the 21st Century (2005). 14 One of the most importantaspects of partnership working is the identification of suitable partners.Meeting with local community organisations, further education colleges,support groups and charities can prove a fruitful source of potentialpartners. Local government teams and initiatives can also provideuseful networking opportunities.The next step for the British Museum is to build on the successesto date, and to continue to place its role as a “museum of the world”at the heart of its thinking and operations. Providing an environmentwhere intercultural dialogue can take place, where visitors can uncoverthe rich tapestry of human history through the collection, is a realisticand sustainable goal.1E. Hooper-Greenhill, Museums and Education: Purpose, Pedagogy, Performance,Routledge, London and New York, 2007, p. 2.2British Museum website (www.britishmuseum.org).3N. MacGregor, “To Shape the Citizens of ‘That Great City, the World’”, in J. Cuno,Whose Culture?: The promise of museums and the debate over antiquities, PrincetonUniversity Press, Princeton and Oxford, 2009, p. 39.4British Museum website.5The British Museum Strategy to 2012, 2008, p. 5 (www.britishmuseum.org/pdf/Strategy%20to%202012%20web%20version.pdf).6N. FitzGerald KBE, “Chairman’s Foreword”, in British Museum Review 2007/2008, p.4 (www.britishmuseum.org/pdf/annualreview0708.pdf).7E. Hooper-Greenhill, Museums and Education: Purpose, Pedagogy, Performance,Routledge, London and New York, 2007, p. 12.8The British Museum Strategy to 2012, 2008, p. 10.9See for example E. Hooper-Greenhill, Museums and Education: Purpose, Pedagogy,Performance, Routledge, London and New York, 2007.10See www.inspiringlearningforall.gov.uk for a definition on learning.11PocketVisions is an independent film unit set up by anthropologists from UCL (UniversityCollege London).12British Museum Review 2008/2009, p. 60.13The British Museum Reports and Accounts for the year ended 31 March 2008.14See DIUS, The Learning Revolution White Paper, 2009; DCSF/DCMS, The LearningPower of Museums: A Vision for Museum Education, 2000; DCMS, Understanding theFuture: Museums and 21st Century Life, 2005. For a good summary on partnershipworking, read chapter 6 of G. Fincham and J. Ward, Inspiring Adults. Literacy, languageand numeracy in the museums, libraries and archives sector, NIACE, Leicester, 2006,alongside the DCMS publications mentioned above.16 17