Heritage-based arts and models of engagement and learning Emily Dawson Art, Culture & Education

Session outline Introductions Small group discussions of readings Emerging models of engagement: Learning, Civic space, Collective memory, Participation Pop-up museum Opportunities and tensions for participatory learning practices in cultural settings Further resources

In small groups…. Discuss the 3 readings & then we will feedback Lynch, B. (2011). Whose cake is it anyway? A collaborative investigation into engagement and participation in 12 museums and galleries in the UK. London: Paul Hamlyn Foundation. Accessed Simon, N. (2010.). The Participatory Museum. Santa Cruz: Museum 2.0. Chapter 1. Principles of participation. Gurian, E. (2006). Civilizing the museum: the collected writings of Elaine Heumann Gurian. Abingdon and New York: Routledge. Chapter 19: The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum: History or metaphor. Questions to discuss 1)What values are they suggesting? 2)What practices are being described? 3)What models of engagement do they discuss? 4)Which of these values/practices/models do you subscribe to? 5)Are there any that you disagree with?

Emerging models of engagement: Historically Heritage and Arts institutions have invoked mixed values ranging from elitism and status (the collections of the aristocracy) to learning (the early V&A) and democracy (the early Louvre) Today: Learning, Collective memory, Civic space, Participation These are all concepts with long histories but also operate within the cultural sector as contemporary trends Learning…what do you remember from Jen’s sessions?

Learning Dominant models in Heritage-based arts is constructivist model of learning Falk and Dierking’s three part contextual model Problem: often underdeveloped as concept & practice

Collective memory & 3 rd /Civic Space Values: Shared cultural heritage (s)? Remembering and honouring the past, whether positive (arts) or negative (genocide) Community building Tensions Spoils of war? (British Museum) Exclusivity and cultural heritage, ‘them and us’ Exclusion: rhetoric of ‘culture for all’, but actually, ‘culture for the few’

Pics/examples

Participation as current ‘trend’ Participation = buzzword Can be found in funding documents, institutional policies, academic research and heritage-based arts practice Currently seems to be cross sector (i.e. science, arts, politics etc) Anyone seen/heard of any particularly interesting participatory projects?

Participation Values: Constructivist learning + participatory democracy ideal = participatory cultural practices (Freire, Cruickshank) Community building Inclusive practice breaks down institutional, curatorial, professional and audience barriers Tensions: Tokenism in power sharing (who makes ‘real’ decisions, and who gets paid?) (Lynch) ‘using’ people for institutional ends Thin veneer of ‘participation’ Assumes participation is what people want (Simon, p. 9)

Pics examples

Participatory Pitfalls Questions How could you design a participatory project? What indicators would tell you it had been participatory? Why would a participatory project be worth pursuing? Does participatory work devalue the professionalism and expertise of those in the heritage and arts sectors?

Further resources Visit: – The Grant Museum, UCL – Museum of London (various galleries) – The Imperial War Museum (any gallery, and then the peace garden) – South London Gallery Read: Bourdieu, P., Darbel, A., & Schnapper, D. (1990). The love of art: European art museums and their public. Stanford, CA.: Stanford University Press. Bourdieu, P., & Passeron, J.-C. (1990). Reproduction in education, society and culture (R. Nice, Trans. Second ed.). London, Newbury Park CA, New Delhi: Sage. Duncan, C. (1993). The aesthetics of power: essays in the critical art history. Cambridge and New York: Cambridge University Press. Gurian, E. (2006). Civilizing the museum: the collected writings of Elaine Heumann Gurian. Abingdon and New York: Routledge. Lavine, S. D., & Karp, I. (1991). Introduction: Museums and multiculturalism. In I. Karp & S. Lavine, D (Eds.), Exhibiting Cultures: The poetics and politics of museum display (pp. 1-10). Washington D.C.: Smithsonian Institution. Lynch, B. T., & Alberti, S. J. M. M. (2010). Legacies of prejudice: Racism, co-production and radical trust in the museum. Museum Management and Curatorship, 25(1), Simon, N. (2010.). The Participatory Museum. Santa Cruz: Museum 2.0.