In April, seven British Museum staff from different departments came together with seven practicing artists to participate in a one-day workshop exploring long-term partnerships between artists, communities and the museum.
Through presentations, provocations and much discussion, the group considered how artists might meaningfully engage with museum activity, with emphasis on long-term partnership and collaboration.
The day was structured to encourage free discussion and creative thinking, including group work, and walk and talks in the galleries. This allowed each participant, often coming from different angles with different experiences, to share their ideas.
The discussions on the day exposed the wide-ranging relationships that the British Museum has long had with artists – as creators of its collections, audience members, trustees, donors, and staff and freelancers.
The workshop identified a myriad of ways in which the British Museum and artists might work in partnership, and the potential opportunities, benefits and challenges of long-term engagement between artists and museums.
For museums, there are opportunities in the way artists can open museums, collections and their stories up to people and offer a voice that is not automatically one of institutional authority.
A key point identified several times during the day was that artists have often been approached to work with museums within museum-defined parameters.
The workshop participants considered how greater levels of creative autonomy for artists could be facilitated, resulting in the creation of more equal partnerships based on two-way exchanges, collaboration and mutual benefit.
One outcome of this workshop has been the establishment of the Artist: Museum collective, which will advocate for a more flexible and embedded working relationships between artist and museum.
Lorna Cruickshanks is the community partnerships coordinator at the British Museum
Through presentations, provocations and much discussion, the group considered how artists might meaningfully engage with museum activity, with emphasis on long-term partnership and collaboration.
The day was structured to encourage free discussion and creative thinking, including group work, and walk and talks in the galleries. This allowed each participant, often coming from different angles with different experiences, to share their ideas.
The discussions on the day exposed the wide-ranging relationships that the British Museum has long had with artists – as creators of its collections, audience members, trustees, donors, and staff and freelancers.
The workshop identified a myriad of ways in which the British Museum and artists might work in partnership, and the potential opportunities, benefits and challenges of long-term engagement between artists and museums.
For museums, there are opportunities in the way artists can open museums, collections and their stories up to people and offer a voice that is not automatically one of institutional authority.
A key point identified several times during the day was that artists have often been approached to work with museums within museum-defined parameters.
The workshop participants considered how greater levels of creative autonomy for artists could be facilitated, resulting in the creation of more equal partnerships based on two-way exchanges, collaboration and mutual benefit.
One outcome of this workshop has been the establishment of the Artist: Museum collective, which will advocate for a more flexible and embedded working relationships between artist and museum.
Lorna Cruickshanks is the community partnerships coordinator at the British Museum