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Progressive, socially purposeful museums
7th May 2012
Jocelyn Dodd
Research Centre for Museums and Galleries (RCMG), University of Leicester
A great pleasure to be in Portugal, delighted to be in Porto (my first visit to the
city) and to be involved in your very thoughtful fascinating programme
Draw on experience as researcher and museum professionaleducator,
community engagement and museum director
Background
RCMGwithin School of Museum Studies, University of LeicesterTraining master students to work in museums
Campus based (85) and Distance learning ( 300)
Big PhD programme (60)
50% students from UK, very international, students from all continents
RCMG researches into the social role, impact and agency of museums and
galleries, focusing on themes of disability, representation, education and
learning.
Not traditional academic research, team based funded research based directly
on museum practice,
RCMG founded in 1999 by Professor Eilean Hooper Greenhill, JD appointed
director 2006
All my work has been about the transformation of museums to creating museums
which are socially relevant-underpinned by issues of equality, human rights,
social justice, where museums are active participants in contemporary society, in
debates, in the construction of values and ideas
The session will cover:
1. The reactionary museumThe diehard traditional museum
2. Relevance of collectionsMadonna of the Pinks
Public moneypublic relevance?
3. Shaping valueschallenging views of disability
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Rethinking Disability Representation
re thinking collectionsgiving a voice to disabled people
challenging the way society views and constructs notions of disability
4. Contemporary art and social justiceShout
Earlier programme
5. Organisational issuesForces for change and change inhibitors
This session will draw on research undertaken by RCMG to illustrate issues, and
raise questions to stimulate debate
1. The reactionary museum
At worst some museums assume the role of passive store houses of collections,their historic context is used to assume a sense of neutrality and sometimes an
aloof distance from contemporary life. Museum processes, working methods
have become so entrenched in a stiffing mystique of tradition they inhibit critical
thinking, consequently some museums are at risk of being stale, moribund and of
little relevance to society today.
Waddesdon Manor - in Buckinghamshire is a classic example of the stale,
outdated museum
Waddesdon Manor was a case study in a research project RCMG carried out for
government Inspiration, identity learningthe value of museums 2007
Built in the 1870s-80s to display his collections of French furniture, textiles and
decorative arts from the eighteenth-century by Baron Ferdinand de Rothschild,
part of the banking and financial dynasty
The manor was bequeathed to the National Trust by the Rothschild family in 1957
Waddesdon Manor positioned its self as elitist, so elitist that it choose to exclude
children, so removed from even the most general of audiences
What are the barriers to being progressive?
Historically Waddesdon regarded its self as a connoisseurs collection
It was in effect positioned as an adultexperience with educationprogrammes for interested adults pitched at an academic level
children under 12 years were not allowed into the house until relativelyrecently
The nature of the house and its rooms - many spaces are cordoned offfrom the public
issue of keeping the public and school groups separate
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the family continue to manage it for the National Trust as a charitabletrust.
quite isolated in terms of professional support as it does not fully belong tothe regional structures of the National Trust
staff attitudes staff involvement and staff skills
Interestingly by the time of our research Waddesdon Manor had slowly begun to
realise quite how out of step it was even with its piers - other decorative art
museums including the National Museum the Wallace Collection, who by then
were conscious that they could have a much wider, dynamic role
So very belatedly Waddesdon began incredibly tentatively to embark on
change
Museums make decisions about how progressive, how socially purposeful theyare.
2. Relevance of collections
So can traditional collections like fine and decorative arts be relevant?
Can they be used in socially purposeful ways?
I want to illustrate this with examples from the:
Victoria and Albert Museum (decorative arts museum)
the National Gall National Gallery ( fine art)
Image and identityV & A worked in partnership with regional museums including the Manchester
Museumsfine and decorative art and a NCH a national childrens charity
working specifically with young people at risk of being excluded
Combining the skills of NCH working with young people and the museums
knowledge and understanding of collections and how to work with them
creatively
The intended aims of Image and Identity are to engage young people in
responding creatively to museum collections through the arts; to increase young
peoples self-esteem, develop their creativity and deepen their understanding of
diverse cultures, shared identities and varied attitudes to learning; and, inaddition, to influence positively teacher and youth worker motivation, enjoyment
and practice, helping them to use museums as resources for exploring issues of
identity with the young people with whom they work.
Manchester Art Gallery worked with was a group of looked after young people
from Broome House residential home in Didsbury, a Manchester suburb. Looked-after children have been identified as an at-risk group, which has led to
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increasing emphasis on the need to improve their life chances and educational
opportunities. Being in public care is linked with social exclusion, homelessness,
higher criminal conviction rates and poor general health. Young people may
face a greater risk of teenage pregnancy, substance misuse and mental illness.
On the whole, children and young people in public care are at a higher risk of
social disadvantage, ill health and poor educational achievement. It is felt that
projects such as Image and Identity can help in the process of reversing some of
these trends.
Broome House is known for its therapeutic and structured approach to helping
young people to grow up in care. It is one of the biggest residential units for
looked after children in Manchester city centre and currently looks after nine
young people aged between 11-16 years
Image and identitypowerful theme
It resonates with young people who are at a time in their lives when they are
receptive to change, approaching adulthood, and when their own image and
identity is emerging.Many of the participants are vulnerable young people whose experiences of life
so far have left them with low self esteem. Through skilful facilitation the project
has enabled them to analyse and reflect on their identity, their uniqueness, their
individualism, and their distinctiveness. This process helps them consider their own
value, and for some, better understand the circumstances that have shaped
their image and identity. For example, some young people in care whose
identity has been shaped by loss and abandonment have, through the
programme, been able to come to terms with their situation. Rather than being
trapped by sadness, anger and frustration at their circumstances, they have
been able to acknowledge and express it. This expression becomes a process of
moving on, looking to the future rather than being consumed by the past.
Lisa was one of the young people involved in Image and Identity, how did
working with the museum impact on her? Her social worker gives this remarkable
account
It has had a holistic effect. The project has impacted on her in every way
- emotionally, on her mental health, physically and on her ability to
manage situations, it has really impacted on her in every way. Lisa has
looked and analysed, and learnt skills which have helped her to express
who she is. This has built her confidence, as for example when she hasconfidently talked to large groups of adults. Her most recent
representation of her identity illustrates a considerable move forward, and
now she is thriving and achieving in every direction; in school, making
friends, doing very well at swimming, cycling and dancing.
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The impact of the museum programme, using collections and creative responses
to them was profound for Lisa and can be categorised using the Generic
Learning Outcomes to demonstrate the impact of the museum experience.
Action, behaviour, progression Progressiondeveloping herself identity, self
esteem, coming to terms with her pastThriving achieving in other areas of her life
Skills Self Expression, confidence,
Communication skills -talking to adults
Attitudes and values Attitude towards herselfself perception, self
worth
Enjoyment, inspiration, creativity Enjoying the art galleryInspired by artists
Being creative
Knowledge and Understanding Of artUnderstanding herself, of her own identity
Madonna of the Pinks
29 x23cm (11.4 x 9) - tiny
Painted by Raphael on cherry wood in Florence in 1506-7
Virgin and child
Raphael 1483- 1520
The Madonna pf the Pinks about 1506-7
The youthful Virgin delights in playing with her baby. Christs attention has
been caught by the carnations ( or pinks) she offers him. In Renaissancedevotional paintings, pinks symbolise divine love.
Raphael here combines a precise technique inspired by
Netherlandish painting with Leonardos vision of the tender bond
between mother and child.
Raphaels skills in depicting light and shade is evident in the folds of
the Virgins sleeves, the drapery around her hip, and the subtle
transitions of the flesh. The delicate modelling of the translucent veil
as it passes over her ear and braided hair is a mark of the pictures
excellent condition.
Oil on fruitwood ( probably cherry)
Madonna of the Pinks belonged to 10th Duke of Northumberland, the painting
had hung in a dark corridor at Alnwick Castle, on the Northumbrian (best know
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as the location for the film Harry Potter and the Philosophers stone!). In 1991 the
painting was uncovered by the National Galleries now director Nicolas Penny, it
was loaned to National Gallery- making it available to a much bigger audience,
seen by millions..that was until the Duke decided to sell it to the Getty Trust
The National Gallery mounted a campaign to purchase the painting and
prevent it leaving the UK
22 million was raised to save the painting, half 11.5 millionfrom the Heritage
Lottery Fund, it largest grant ever of a single work of art.
A condition of the grant from Heritage Lottery Fundwas that the painting
should be seen not just by the 4.5 million visitors who visit to the National Gallery,
but that it should be an acquisition on behalf of the nation as a whole, that it
should be seen by more than traditional gallery goers
Link to governments social inclusion agendas
What do children and young people think of a tiny devotional renaissance
painting?
Does Madonna of the Pinks have :
any relevance to them? any significance for them? any resonance in their lives?
The painting toured the UK and an active community engagement programme
was set up.
National Museum Wales
Worked with a group of teenage mothers in the Rhondda Valley, post industrial,
ex coal mining, landscape and housing shaped by mining, poor communication,parallel valleys
low income, low educational attainment, high crime levels, poor physical
environments
UK highest Teenage conception rates
Young woman have low expectations of education and the job market
What did these young mothers make of this painting?
Several just thought it was boring
Katy more engaged
Really I never thought that art could be so interesting and how theres a
story behind every painting kind of thing and how it tells a story and how it
comes across like in how theres so much feeling in a painting
.you look at the picture and all these emotions come to you kind of
thing
What sort of emotions?
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Like loving emotions, like what is is like to be a mother, and how the artist
seemed to know what it was like, it was, I dont know, it was really
touching..
Does Madonna of the Pinks have any relevance to children who live in isolated
rural areas?
I never knew it was going to be that small. Yeah Id think it was huge, but
then it was just a tiny little picture it was quite interesting because if I
could have had that in my room I would have had that one.
And I like trying, I like when you have to try and draw the baby when its
moving. Because you get to keep changing it. And it feels like youre
drawing the Madonna of the Pinks.
Close and intimate and memorable experience of the painting
Skillsaccelerated their art skillsLanguage and technical information
Life experiences
Challenged their teacher
Visiting the National Gallery it is like seeing an old friend
Young excluded people do connect with the Madonna of the Pinks intimately
but this process needs to be facilitated and proactively managedit will not
happen is the Gallery is passive, the gallery must create pathways, opportunities,
targeted provisions, related to socio economic demographic data
It is not that collections are not relevant to people, but interpretation andfacilitation is required for people to make sense and relevance of them
The impact collections and museums experiences can have on individuals and
groups is profound
Museums can do quite exceptional things
Do we as professionals underestimate this, do we really understand the
significance museums can have?
Why do we always dismiss this as being one off examples?
3. Shaping values
Rethinking Disability Representation in Museums and GalleriesRCMG project
It was shaped by a set of values - which the participating museums had to use
to and refocus their use of collectionsit was actively trying to change museum
practice and challenge visitors ideas.
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It actively set out to reassess museums collections and how they are interpreted
Disabled people throughout the world are engaged with a long and
complicated struggle with the way we are portrayed and the meanings
attached to these portrayals that include disability as stigma, as a sign of
a damaged soul, as being less than human, as dependent, weak, sexless,
valueless.
(Gay with Fraser 2008)
In our view it is society which disables physically impaired people. Disability
is something imposed on top of our impairments, by the way we are
unnecessarily isolated and excluded from full participation in society
(Union of Physically Impaired Against Segregation 1976
Rethinking Disability Representation Led by RCMG 9 partner museumsselected across a range of museumsvery small to
very large
think tankdisability activists, artists etc collections research -based on collections research informing contemporary debates - Museums actively engaging in
contemporary debates of how disabled people are perceived in society,
what voice they have to present themselves- setting out to shape views
To find and show their place in historywhich has rarely been shown
To show they are people, with emotions, who have value
Rethinking Disability Representation - Museum Experimentsexperimental work
Unchartered territory
Museums/collections identified
Development of ideasresidential eventschallenging process
Think Tank/RCMG museum visits
Development of Displays/ exhibitions / education
Visitor responses
Museums included:Imperial War Museum, London
Conflict and Disabilityexample of soldiers from World war One
Collections had not been used
Used to tell stories of warunderpinned by social model of disabilityshowed
diversity and complexity of disabled peoples voices and experiences
Colchester MuseumLife beyond the label - before you make up your mind
open your mind
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Collections and creative processes
Royal London Hospital Museum
Behind the Shadow of Merrick
Joseph Merrickalso known as the Elephant man
1980 film by David Lynch
Firm centres around 3 disabled people experiences
Tina, Rowen and Tim
All share the experiences of Merrick, their deep shared experience of being the
other
Public propertybeing stared at
Their shared past
Changing attitudes to disability?
Visitor responses
How does this display change the way you think about disability
same question across 9 museums
A noble exhibit but perhaps not for a museumI came to learn about the
Normans
The film made me more aware of people's reactions to disabled people
and how those with disabilities can be affected. Even in 2008, disabled
people are looked down upon, judged etc similar to Merrick was in
the19th century.
Visitor, Royal London Hospital Museum
This exhibition was excellent, it reminds you how far society has come but
also still to go, and that it is society that causes disability in not adapting to
individuals
At last I am not here, but here
The exhibition did not change everyones views, but it did make people think
and begin to negotiate new ways of thinking about disability and the waydisabled people are represented
4. Contemporary Art and Social Justice
Gallery of Modern Art Glasgow
Contemporary arts and human rights Partnership with Amnesty International
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Biennial programme Started in 2001 Exhibition City-wide community engagement strategy
Exhibitions and programmes on themes of:
Refugerefugees and asylum seekers
Violence against women
Sectarianism
Shout
Glasgow context
Civic values, City Council Long-standing commitment to social justice and equality Grounded in human rights History of discrimination of Irish Catholics
Shoutlesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex culture
Pattie Cronin
Grave stoneprotest pieceprotesting that she and her partner were not able
to marry in New York state
Art to raise issues about lack of equality
Community programmegiving voice and public credibility to for example
young gay mennot accepted by parents, families, communities
Safe placePublic place
Celebratory
But also backlash
Unique contribution to human rights Place for debate Progressive and respectful understandings of difference Need for interpretive materials Human rights framework
Balancing actstrong stance avoid sensationalism Understanding the social contextlatent social conservatism
On the one hand Glasgow has a radical left wing politics, on the other hand the
influence of Catholicism can lead to social conservatism
Yet progressive museums have been through an active process of
transformation, rethinking the very essence of their role and work, revisiting their
mission, their working practices to enable them to be active, vital, engaging,
socially purposeful public spaces which use collections to enable visitors to
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explore the world we live in today, conscious of, and responding to
contemporary society. These museums engage a wider cross section of society,
not just those who are traditionally drawn to visit museums. These museums are
aware that all museums are constructed with a set of values, which means
implicitly they are not neutral spaces, but shaped by a set of principles, they are
deeply politically institutions, some traditional museums choose to deny this,
while progressive museums make this explicit to their visitors, shaping all they do
and strive to achieve.
5. Organisational issues
Change inhibitors
Lack of skills Limited workforce diversity Historical context Collections focused Management hierarchy Distance from priorities of governing bodies Limited motivation No evidence of impact Remote from policy context Climate change ( or issues e.g. social justice)
Forces for change
Social Justice and rights Climate change( and other issues) as a social issue Public fundingaccountability Policy context Involvement in wider networks Professional passion
Some museums have transformed into cultural organisations that have
contemporary relevance, creating spaces for dialogue, debate, exploration of
social issues, of equity and diversity. Places that resonate with relevance in
contemporary society, examples of museum practice which are concerned with
issues of equality, human rights, democracy and citizenship
Museums are notneutral spacesThey are political
Visitors as active meaning makers
Being conscious of the social and political context
Inclusive