More Project Updates
Friday 20 November 2026
Royal Museums Greenwich, Lecture Theatre
10.30am–4.00pm (doors open 10am)
Tickets are now sold out. A waiting list is open.
What changes when descendant communities move from participating in museum interpretation to helping shape the research and practice itself?
Over the past year, Museum X, Royal Museums Greenwich and Black Beyond Data have worked with seven descendant-community co-researchers to test approaches rooted in shared authority, lived and community knowledge, dialogue, care and independent research.
The symposium brings together descendant co-researchers, artists, researchers, academics and museum practitioners to share what has been learned, where the work has challenged existing practice, what remains unresolved, and what more ethical and accountable approaches to collections might require.
The day will follow the project’s Call / Response / Return approach and will include:
Reflections and research spotlights from the seven descendant-community co-researchers
Invited contributions from JC Niala and Aïcha Mehrez
Sharing from Museum X’s emerging Learning Towards an Ethical Framework
Film and creative practice from across the research programme
A filmed conversation between descendant-community co-researchers and collector Michael Graham-Stewart
Reflections from Black Beyond Data on Black data, research and stewardship
Reflections from Royal Museums Greenwich on institutional learning, collections practice and change
Creative contributions from Jemilea Wisdom-Baako
Reflective and care-led facilitation with Malcolm Phillips
Collective discussion on what responsibility remains after a project ends
Black Beyond Data asks us to think beyond representation.
What happens when descendant communities help shape not only the interpretation of museum collections, but the questions, methods, relationships and decisions that sit behind museum practice?
And, once that knowledge has been shared:
what must museums and research institutions return?
