News
Autumn budget offers little support for museum sector
But devolution measures and increase in National Living Wage will have an impact
Museum of Oxford drops entry fees for locals
A pilot scheme for free entry for Oxford residents begins in January
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Takeover issue: Challenging the western museum
All things to all people | How communities are reshaping heritage practice
Museums often ask communities to respond to collections. The Black Beyond Data project asks what ethical practice looks like when descendant communities put forward the questions, rather than just the answers
People
Q&A | ‘Museums need to move beyond treating exhibitions as isolated historical events’
Abira Hussein and Yahya Birt tell us about an exhibition that explores the legacy of Bradford’s 1904 Somali Village show, in which 57 Somali people were put on public display
Q&A | ‘We hope the river will become hospitable for the creatures that inhabit it and the humans that live around it’
Artist duo Audrey Samson and Francisco Gallardo discuss an exhibition that explored the current crisis in UK water
Q&A | ‘We are not anti-museum – we’re trying to build something new from the ground up’
Community curator Adassa Dixon tells us how the UnMuseum programme is creating a new framework for Black heritage
Q&A | ‘Despite their global importance, natural science collections remain difficult to access’
Sarah Addezio tells Museums Journal about DiSSCo UK, an ambitious new initiative to unite the UK's natural history collections in a single digital space
Opinion
The art of interpretation
Muriel Bryans calls for more confidence among those working in interpretation
Blockbuster exhibitions: what happens when the crowd gets too big?
Popularity must go hand in hand with meaningful engagement, says Justin Langshaw
Widespread hidden digital labour is having a negative impact on our workforce
Ash Mann shares the findings from a new research report
Museums must recognise class inequality in their EDI work
Some of the most disadvantaged groups are being overlooked, says Alexander Goodger
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Analysis
Financial resilience doesn’t happen by accident
Institutions can stabilise their income by integrating commercial thinking into their core decision-making and programming
All that glitters: Is the Treasure scheme losing some of its shine?
There is some disquiet about the system’s current direction of travel, despite record numbers of finds in recent years
In practice
Spotlight | Building better boards
Effective governance requires trustees with a range of ages, backgrounds and lived experience, says Caroline Parry
Case study | Board diversity in action
Birmingham Museums Trust’s experience is that the culture of the board is key
The guide | Benchmarking your governance
Keith Arrowsmith explains how your governance framework can support cognitive and cultural diversity
Case study | A community-centred approach to storytelling
Hardish Virk shares advice on sharing power with communities
Features
From objects to experiences
Charlotte Slark and Sophie Vohra explore what the Sensational Museum has taught us about experimental practice
Vision from the edge
Museum X talks to artist Nadia Huggins about heritage, climate and her dream for a Caribbean museum of the future
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Reviews
A slow process | Museums in the Wake of Empire, by Claire Wintle
Melanie Keen is impressed by a book that unpicks why decolonising museums is such a difficult task
Watch and listen
Radical Museums | S3E4: Nelson Cummins
Simon Stephens travels to Glasgow to meet Nelson Cummins, curator of legacies of slavery and empire at Glasgow Museums
Radical Museums | S3E3: Marian Gwyn
Sharon Heal speaks to Marian Gwyn, whose transformative initiative has worked to diversify and decolonise local museums in Wales
Radical Museums | S3E2: E-J Scott
Simon Stephens travels to south London to interview E-J Scott, founder of the Museum of Transology
Radical Museums | S3E1: William Mitchell
Sharon Heal meets William Mitchell, project director for the Action for Community Transformation (ACT) Initiative in Belfast
Radical Museums | S2E4: Agrippa Njanina
Sharon Heal travels to Belfast to meet Agrippa Njanina, a community engagement officer at National Museums Northern Ireland
Radical Museums | S2E3: Ken Paranada
Simon Stephens meets Ken Paranada, the curator of art and climate change at the Sainsbury Centre
We are committed to publishing accurate, engaging, challenging and constructive content on the issues, ideas, debates and practices that help museums serve the public better.
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