Click on the events below to find out more about our past events
Recordings will be released in the New Year of 2022 and a link will be provided on this page
You Can't Touch This! How to keep engaging with heritage during a global pandemic
Philip Walker, Head of Culture at Gloucester City Council, spoke to South West Fed members about the varied and creative ways in which he and his team engaged audiences over the last nine months.
Philip shared lessons learned using examples of how the cultural and heritage sector in the city managed to adapt to the changing circumstances. For example, the Museum of Gloucester and other heritage partners found innovative ways to continue to connect with communities and engage them with culture remotely.
Addressing the colonial legacies of Wellcome’s collections
James Peto, Project Director of the collections gallery at the Wellcome Collection, opens the conversation of how the Wellcome Collection should tackle inequities inherent in its collections to make them relevant and relatable today.
This was a talk of a collection of objects, archives and artworks largely assembled by Sir Henry Wellcome and his agents between 1890 and 1936 to facilitate a better understanding of the "art and science of healing throughout the ages”.
James was able to share the ways in which the collections were acquired, and the stories they have been used to tell, reflecting power structures, beliefs and values to which Wellcome Collection does not ascribe in 2021.
Questions raised included: How should it tackle the inequities inherent in its collections and build a gallery that can help make them relevant and relatable today?
Building Partnerships and Attracting Funding to See you Through
Cassie Griffiths; Senior Engagement Manager, National Lottery Heritage Fund,< Victoria Harding; Programme Manager, South West Museum Development Sharon Heal; Director, Museums Association shared their insights into how museums and heritage organisations has the potential to react to the huge changes we face, including Covid, Black Lives Matter and the Climate & Ecological Emergency.
They were able to share what help is available and what practical steps can be taken to address these seismic changes and create a sustainable, vibrant and innovative sector.
Mayflower 400: Legend and Legacy
Jo Loosemore, Visiting Curator of ‘Mayflower 400: Legend & Legacy’ for The Box, Plymouth considers the ethical issues faced in creating an exhibition marking 400 years since the sailing of the Mayflower.
The story of the Mayflower's voyage has come to define England’s relationship with America, yet it has also denied indigenous Americans their part in this history. What lessons have we really learned about power, politics and presenting the past? What is the influence of ambition, economics and expectation in the present? Mayflower 400: Legend and Legacy opened at The Box, Plymouth – during the pandemic. Its curation raised ethical questions about cultural collisions then – and now.