Public history

When publics co-produce history in museums: skills, methodologies and impact of participation

7 Dezember 2022

Public history online symposium
Organised by the Public History as new Citizen Science of the Past (PHACS) project, the 2022 symposium focuses on groups and communities becoming active participants in the production of history in museums

Different publics do not simply consume history in museums (as visitors or users) but may also contribute to preserving, producing, and exhibiting history. The symposium will explore questions such as what groups and communities can bring to the production of history in museums and their impact on historical narratives and on the institutions representing them. It will also delve into the limits and challenges of participatory practices and co-production processes in history museums.

What can public participants (not) do? What skills and knowledge are necessary? What are the examples of collaborative decision-making processes that allow contributions from the different publics and how do they affect the role and functioning of museums?

Join us and our international panellists to discover more and engage in this stimulating and relevant conversation!

Don't miss the keynote speech 'Citizen Science as Public History?' by Dr. Mia Ridge on 6 December at 18.00 (CET) - online.

 

Wednesday, 7 December 2022

09.00 - 17.30

Online

Please register to receive the Webex link.

 

Programme

09.00    
 
Welcome and opening of the Symposium
 
09.15
 
Panel 1: Different expertise and voices in history co-production
 
  Chair: Thomas Cauvin
 
  "Keeping coal mining alive": when eyewitnesses co-produce public histories of mining work
Grace Simpson
 
  Participation at Fondazione Museo Storico del Trentino: A complex set of practices for a complex territory
Elena Montanari
 
  Guraban and Our Journeys Our Stories: Chinese Voices and Aboriginal stories- collaborative community history at Hurstville Museum & Gallery
Claire Baddeley & Vanessa Jacob
 
10.30
 
Coffee break
 
10.45
 
Panel 2: Participation with publics, citizen science and co-creation
 
  Chair: Grace Simpson
 
  Museum Clubs in Poland as tools to facilitate participation in a historical and contemporary perspective
Marta Kopiniak
 
  Leeds Museums and Galleries 200th birthday biography
Catherine Robins
 
  Collecting the Anthropocene Together: Developing a Participatory, Digital and experimental platform on Environmental Transformations
Aurelia Desplain
 
12.00
 
Lunch break
 
13.00
 
Panel 3: Diversifying the narratives through participation
 
  Chair: Camilla Portesani
 
  Co-designing University Museum Together with Students: A Case Study from Keio Museum Commons, Japan
Goki Miyakita & Yu Homma
 
  Community-based, Collaborative Curating with Children in Cape Town
Monica Eileen Patterson
 
  The Fear of Participation in Pakistani Museums
Dr Shaila Bhatti
 
14.15
 
Coffee break
 
14.30
 
Panel 4: Multiple voices in museums and their impact  
 
  Chair: Chris Reynolds 
 
  A community of creators: The multiple impacts of Library of Congress crowdsourcing volunteers
Abigail Shelton
 
  Closing or widening the gap? Participation and super-diversity
Tina de Gendt
 
  Who says communities need museums? Where does the real expertise lie?
Graham Black
 
15.45
 
Coffee break
 
16.00
 
Panel 5: Critical reflections on participation and its principles
 
  Chair: Tina de Gendt
 
  Voices of ’68: The role of co-production in meeting the challenges of the past in Northern Ireland
Chris Reynolds 
 
  Public history and participation: the role of trust in co-creative practice
Lorna Elms
 
  Museum participation as labor: An ethnographic inquiry
Irene Hilden & Andrei Zavadski
 
17.15
 
Conclusive remarks and thanks
 
17.30 End of the symposium

 

More information required? Please contact us at phacs@uni.lu.