afternoon talks @ 1530

Respect! Caribbean Life in Edinburgh – How a community project has changed our museum practice

In 2021 and 2022 Museums & Galleries Edinburgh worked with Edinburgh Caribbean Association (ECA) to develop the exhibition Respect! Caribbean Life in Edinburgh. ECA used the collections of the Museum of Childhood to explore Caribbean culture and childhoods, living in Scotland and Caribbean contributions to British society.

The project was community led and collections based. This was challenging as Covid restrictions were still in place, meaning access to venues and collections was very limited and meetings were digital. Building trust between museum staff and the group was key, and so the museums had to take risks and try new ways of working, changing processes and exploring the gaps and absences in collections.

The project has prompted the Museums work in new, more equitable and representative ways with communities. The subject matter meant that additional safeguards were needed to support participant wellbeing as well as offering financial recompense for their time.

We would like to present the successes and failures of the project honestly, reflecting on what we have learned from the process, and what we will take forward in our future practice in terms of outreach and collections work.

The project was a part of Exchange, funded by the Arts & Humanities Research Council and managed by partner National Museums Scotland and Royal Museums Greenwich and focused on themes of Empire, Immigration and Living in Britain.

Speakers Bio

Lyn Stevens is Curator at the Museum of Childhood with Museums & Galleries Edinburgh (MGE).

Diana Morton has worked Outreach & Access Manager with MGE since 2010. She also works as Open Museum Curator with Glasgow Life.

Both Lyn and Diana acted-up as Curatorial and Engagement Manager (job share) from 2019-20 during the period which spanned the initial Covid outbreak and the 2020 Black Lives Matter protests in response to the murder of George Floyd. In response MGE issued an anti-racism pledge and carried out contemporary collecting relating to the protests.

The City of Edinburgh Council has also been undertaking a Slavery and Colonialism Legacy Review, has carried out public consultation and created a report with 10 recommendations for action. A civic apology was issued by the Lord Provost in October 2022.

Within the museums Diana now leads the Inclusion group overseeing the development of an EDI policy.