Museum X CIC is delighted to present our September/October takeover edition of Museums Journal, the magazine of the Museums Association. Museum X has guest-edited the edition, commissioning articles from contributors from around the world.  Subscribers to Museums Journal will be able to see it now. For non-subscribers....Museums Journal have kindly given us permission to post articles from it over the next few weeks.

Museums Association Sandra Shakespeare FRSA Dr Tola Dabiri Cheryl Bowen#museums #blackhistory #culture #history #art #design

Arts&Heritage is delighted that British Jamaican artist and photographer Vanley Burke has been awarded a 2022 Paul Hamlyn Award for his contribution to Visual Art.  The £60,000 award recognises Burke’s outstanding dedication to photography and, in particular, his documentation of the UK’s African and Caribbean communities, recording their experiences over the last 50 years. Burke has been recognised alongside visual artists Ntiense Eno-Amooquaye, Trevor Mathison, Libita Sibungu and Alberta Whittle who we warmly congratulate too.

Vanley Burke, Birmingham based artist, frequently described as “the Godfather of Black British Photography”, was also commissioned in 2022 as part of A&H’s Meeting Point programme. As the focus of his Meeting Point commission, Vanley Burke is collaborating with Gary Stewart, an interdisciplinary artist using sound and moving image to explore society and identity. Together they are creating a new sound piece capturing the intangible cultural heritage of Handsworth Park, Birmingham, for Museum X led by founder and Museum & Heritage consultant Sandra Shakespeare. This timely project is currently underway and will be shared publicly in 2023.

We find ourselves at a point in history where we can affect positive change, both within and outside of our sector. It is a deeply lamentable but recognised fact that curators, exhibition staff and collections care specialists in museums and galleries are overwhelmingly White and therefore ethnically unrepresentative of the wider population.

We're asking people to help shape a better sector by getting involved in our campaign. Survey closes 9th July.

Framed as a study and new research piece, our report, ‘What the X?’ will review, investigate, and reflect on the impact and efficacy of previous and existing initiatives to increase ethnic and cultural diversity in the UK curatorial sector. Museum X CIC will take an intersectional approach that considers the double disadvantages from people who are of colour, alongside other protected characteristics or socio-economic backgrounds that are recognised as being under representative in the sector.

I would like to invite you to participate in the research; we are arranging one-to-one phone interviews over the next two weeks, and I would very much value your input. This research builds on previous literature and recommendations, to summarise the gains, but also more problematic areas. We welcome candid opinion and discussion on what you think is working or preventing change.

A project creating Britain's first museum celebrating Black British history, art and culture.