Meet the winners of the Museums Change Lives Awards

Radical Changemaker Award | Marian Gwyn  

Marian Gwyn has had a 30-year career in the museum sector, where she has focused on diversifying heritage practices, including producing the first exhibition on slavery at any National Trust property, in 2007.

More recently, with Welsh Government funding, she devised and led a transformative initiative to diversify and decolonise local museums in Wales.  

Over three years, she assembled a diverse team and collaborated with 40 museums, conducting collections reviews, facilitating workshops, and providing guidance on understanding the complex connections between their collections, empire and diversity.

She brought together museum staff and ethnic minority communities, ensuring their often-silenced stories are celebrated through co-created activities and reinterpretation work.  

In partnership with Group for Education in Museums, she also led a three-year programme to transform museum education in Wales. The project’s impact has been significant, sparking tangible change in museums across Wales.

By fostering a deeper understanding of their collections and facilitating meaningful community engagement, this work has enabled museums to become more inclusive, relevant and sustainable for the future. 

What the winner said 

“This award is absolutely amazing,” said Gywn. “As an independent consultant, nothing I do would ever happen without the people who work with me and believe in what I am trying to do, and so the award is a huge thank you to those people. I also want to thank the Welsh government and the museums across Wales who have been on this amazing journey with me. And a massive thanks to the Museums Association as well.” 

Judges’ comments 

The judges selected Marian Gwyn because she has demonstrated such strong leadership and innovative practice in decolonisation, and they were impressed by how she has created very tangible change in museums across Wales. 

Best Project Award | Families of the World, Manchester Art Gallery 

Families of the World is a gallery initiative, with a multi-agency approach, to provide creative activities for families arriving in Manchester from Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq, Syria, Eritrea and Sudan.

The families staying in a local hotel, particularly mothers and young children, participate in weekly art-based and artist-led sessions at the gallery, ending with a meal shared together. 

The initiative was born out of the Afghan crisis of 2021, when the gallery responded within 48 hours to an approach by the council and its Sure Start provision to provide recreation for families who had suddenly arrived in the city.

Since then, the need has increased, with families fleeing other conflict zones. Following a trial period, the gallery has gained funding from the Oglesby Trust to develop the activities with partners, bring other cultural venues on board and to develop an app and toolkit. 

FotW sessions typically attract 35 to 45 family members, who say the visit to the art gallery is helping them to feel confident and adjust to a new city. Many women involved have also shared recipes for Syrian, Kurdish and Afghan meals, which are now served in the venue cafe. And some members volunteer to support the summer programme. 

What the winner said 

“We really weren’t expecting to win this award,” said project coordinator Rabia Begum. “The other nominees, Birmingham Museums Trust and Salisbury Museum, have done amazing work as well and all those in the other categories are incredible, so it’s inspiring to be here. I’d also like to thank my colleagues, who are amazing and inspiring, too.  

“We would not be here without the current crises that we are seeing globally… so it’s really important to recognise those things and what we can do to help, inspire and work with those communities.” 

Judges’ comments 

This project impressed the judges with its wide community engagement and impact. With its focus on refugee families, the gallery’s work with FotW is important and relevant to social issues.  

Best Small Museum Project Award | Illuminating Invisible Histories: Flavours Without Borders, Hastings Museum & Art Gallery 

In partnership with the Refugee Buddy Project, Hastings Museum & Art Gallery is working on a three-year project, Illuminating Invisible Histories: Flavours Without Borders, to bring communities together and co-create meaningful programming that reflects the diverse heritage and histories in Hastings.  

The project sought to raise awareness of refugee experiences in Hastings, increase co-collaboration, and co-produce programming with community organisations to broaden the museum’s offering and draw in new audiences. 

Two dinner parties took place at the museum, where 20 participants brought homemade food and personal objects. Through food and facilitated conversation, an intergenerational and multinational community shared their untold stories of their culture, and their life in Hastings. Their insights were captured on film for viewing during Refugee Week.  

In parallel to the film screening, the guests’ objects were displayed along with testimony about their journeys as told through their objects. 

The project will continue to develop through 2024/25 with two 20-day placements by members of the community who will work with museum staff on reinterpreting the gallery’s permanent display about Hastings life. New objects will be introduced, some of which may come from the dinner parties, and there will also be tours and a panel discussion. 

What the winner said 

“Thanks to the Hastings Refugee Buddy Project, and to all the participants that the CEO of the project, Rossana, worked so hard to gather with us,” said Caf Fean, the projects officer at Hastings Museum & Art Gallery.  

“And thanks to the Museums Association for creating the Small Museums award, it’s really, really special. It’s great to be with all the other hard-hitters in the awards – everybody who was shortlisted is doing excellent work and we are so pleased to be part of this.” 

Judges’ comments  

The judges were impressed and inspired by this project in the way that it raised awareness of refugee experiences in Hastings and created intergenerational engagement through conversation and food. The organisers – Rossana Leal and Caf Fean – were praised by the judges for creating intergenerational engagement.

Championing Social Justice Award  | Unicorn at Perth Museum, Culture Perth & Kinross  

When the new Perth Museum opened in March 2024, the team chose to centre local LGBTQ+ stories and voices in its first exhibition, Unicorn. As part of an exploration of Scotland’s national animal, the exhibition focuses on the unicorn as an LGBTQ+ symbol.

Working in collaboration with community groups, the exhibition includes five newly commissioned artworks by queer Scottish artists, local objects and oral histories, a queer-friendly family space, and a rich engagement programme. 

Unicorn has not only increased representation of LGBTQ+ communities in the museum’s displays but also in its collections by accessioning objects, artworks and oral histories generated through the exhibition.

The museum has embedded new staff training to ensure that it continues to be a welcoming and empowering place for queer workers and visitors alike. 

Unicorn has been a critical and commercial success, and has created a safe, relevant and celebratory space for LGBTQ+ people in Perthshire. The exhibition attracted 10,000 visitors and generated £50,000 in ticket sales in the first four months, and it also enjoyed a five-star review from the Guardian newspaper.  

Through Unicorn, Perth Museum has challenged the assumption that discursive, sector-leading work can only happen in big museums and cities. 

What the winner said 

“Thanks to all the communities who contributed their stories and objects,” said Ashleigh Hibbins, the head of audiences and learning at Culture Perth & Kinross. “They are really brave and are at the centre of the Unicorn exhibition.” 

Judges’ comments  

The judges thought that Culture Perth & Kinross was bold and brave in its decision to make the Unicorn exhibition the opening show at Perth Museum. They agreed the project clearly champions social justice through representing LGBTQ+ stories and voices. 

The shortlist 

Radical Changemaker 

• Marian Gywn (winner) 
• Maria Hussain 
• Phillipa Heath  

Champion Social Justice Award 

• Unicorn exhibition, Perth Museum (winner) 
• Carving Out Truths: Sculpture and Slaver, Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool 
• Jason Wilsher Mills: Are We There Yet? Ferens Art Gallery, Hull Museums and Gallery 

Best Small Museum Project Award 

• Illuminating Invisible Histories: Flavours Without Borders, Hastings Museum & Art Gallery (winner) 
• Recovery Through Ceramics, Shipley Art Gallery, Tyne and Wear Archives and Museums 
• Conflict and Legacy Interpretive Network, Museum of Free Derry  

Best Museums Change Lives Project 

• Families of the World, Manchester Art Gallery (winner) 
• Dynamic Collections, Birmingham Museums Trust 
• Fashioning Our World: Unpicking the Past to Thread Together Our Future, Salisbury Museum