Access To Museums and Art Galleries by Minority Groups

Social Cohesion

Author: ELDERBERRY

Exhibit Painting Display by Ricardo www.pexels.com

Majority of museums and art galleries across Europe and indeed globally are a central feature in the cultural landscape of the country. They offer an institutional expression of our shared identity by preserving and interpreting a common history. Yet too often, most museums, art galleries and other institutional cultural offerings fail to attract certain groups such as those from diverse ethnic communities, disabled people, LGBTQ+ individuals, young people, and those from low socio-economic backgrounds Museums and galleries, in common with many other major cultural institutions, traditionally offered the public – or a limited section of it – an exclusive version of art, culture or science. Visits to museums, galleries, opera houses, theatres and libraries are often serious, exclusive, and even gloomy experiences. Many people probably felt that such institutions had little to offer the "real world" and that few efforts were made to change things. Museums and galleries can make a unique contribution towards addressing issues of social inclusion. Museums have the potential to not only tackle the key indicators of social exclusion (health, crime, unemployment, and education), but also play a wider, and even unique, role in tackling disadvantage, inequality and discrimination.

What’s the activity?

Image from Midlands Today News Bulletin on the launch of A Gift to Birmingham at Ikon

Your task is to set up an photographic exhibition at your local art gallery or if this is difficult you can use your local community hub/library. In your exhbition you are encouraged to take photos of the following unrepresented groups, women (ethinic minority), young people, LGBT, travellers and those from working class backgrounds, You should also take photos of things that matters to these groups such as food, music, objects and places. You need to include a short description (text) why you took that photo and bit of background of the person or objects you photogrpheed (their story).

What am I going to do?

Curating a exhbition is not a easy task, it takes lots of planning and resources. In the resources section there is an excellent 'Pop Up Exhbition' guideline on how to set up temporary low cost exhibition. Read this guidebook and follow some of the instructions provided.

Your main task will be to take photographs of of unrepresented people and things that are important to them. Some ideas for the types of things that would be important includes food, music, places of worship, festivals and objects. In the resources section there are links to four excellent examples of things that are important to unrepresented groups, have a look at these: Saathi House Stories, A Gift to Birmingham, Photography exhibition featuring images of migrant communities to be launched in Birmingham and Capturing The Flavour. These examples are about food, places , people and their aspirations.

Below is an example of how Ikon a mainstream art gallery in the heart of Birmingham city centre held an exhibition of the migrant communities. The exhbition documented the communities contribution to their neighbourhoods and dispeled myths about migration. What this exhbition did was encouraged people from unrepresented groups to attend the gallery and 'see' stories that resonated and connected with them.

Ikon have created a digital scan of the whole 'A Gift to Birmingham' exhibition so you can enjoy it in 3D and VR from anywhere - you can move around the room, zoom in and more: https://www.google.com/url?q=https://my.matterport.com/show/?m%3DBJydSEGnRcD&source=gmail&ust=1665246229923000&usg=AOvVaw2HrkwcKUUnzPAmg-5BEghS">https://my.matterport.com/show/?m=BJydSEGnRcD

What will I learn?

Knowledge Acquired:

Museums have the power to affect social change through exhibitions and programs that validate the heritage, values, and aesthetics of other cultures.
How to work with GLAMM sector to change culture, by being bold, flexible, and open to new ways of working
Exposed to new ideas, working in partnership and securing resources.

Skills Acquired:

Empathy to help each party to stand in each other’s shoes and understand each other’s point of view.
Develop emotional intelligence to understand the underlying emotions.

Attitude Acquired:

Cultural activities can be used as a means of bringing people together from different communities to share positive experiences and gain greater understanding of each other’s ways of life.
Questioning and clarifying skills, to grasp both the facts and the areas of controversy.
Opportunistic, risk taking proactive and stepping forward.

What will I take home?

Once you have completed this quest you will have an excellent insight into why minority groups are reluctant to access musuems, art galleries and other cultural activities. You should be in a position to implement your understand and address the barriers. You have learnt some of the key barriers are:

Cultural differences mean that support aimed at the general population will not always reach or engage some marginalised people.

Providing support that is sensitive to cultural attitudes and practices is important when reaching and engaging with communities that are marginalised, and it enables the support to link to their culture to create a sense of belonging.

A lack of confidence due to language barriers is another factor why marginalised groups do not access cultural activities. Be mindful of this and ensure this is taken into consideration when planning any activities.

Finally, you will have learnt museums and galleries, perhaps uniquely, have the potential to represent the diversity of communities and, in doing so, to challenge stereotypes and promote tolerance and social cohesion

Resources
Click each section below to see all resources available.

Websites (URLs)

Saathi House Stories
https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=FfxbEAAAQBAJ&newbks=0&printsec=frontcover&pg=PA01&dq=saathi+house+stories&hl=en&source=newbks_fb&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=saathi%20house%20stories&f=false

A Gift to Birmingham
https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/whats-on/whats-on-news/gallery/vanley-burkes-gift-birmingham-exhibition-23483958

Capturing The Flavour
https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/midlands-news/gallery/capture-flavour-project-saathi-house-23531662

Photography exhibition featuring images of migrant communities to be launched in Birmingham
https://www.iambirmingham.co.uk/2022/03/22/photography-exhibition-featuring-images-migrant-communities-launched-birmingham/

Videos

The Role of Museums in Today’s Societies

Documents

Outreach Europe SURVEY REPORT; Accessibility and Social Commitment in European Cultural Institution

Outreach Europe CASE STUDY; The Journeys of Appreciation Programme (JOAP)

Pop Up Exhibitions Guidelines (Grandma's Story)

Frontline Worker Toolkit

Aims and Objectives:

Connecting with marginalised groups to reduce barriers in accessing Cultural activities.

Top tips:

Cultural activities can be a powerful tool to engage all sections of the community and break down barriers between them. People take part in cultural activities through choice and when they can connect with it. Marginalised groups are often more willing to engage with activities when it is meanigful and reflects their life, aspirations and interest. Cultural activities can be used as a means of bringing people together from different communities to share positive experiences and gain greater understanding of each other’s ways of life. Arts can also be the main attractions for tourists, and so present opportunities to promote the activities of local communities to the wider world.

Cultural activities also provide an opportunity for ‘joined up working’ with other public and voluntary agencies to address community cohesion. Do not forget you can maximise the cultural activities to address community cohesion by producing a clear strategy reflecting the needs of all sections of the local community.

If using the word ‘culture’ or phrase ‘cultural activities’ be clear in communicating what it includes. Be sensitive to terminology which might discourage parts of the community from participating or could be misinterpreted.