Shifting Paradigms
Antidote to Anarchy: The Matilda Joslyn Gage House as a Site of Social Justice Dialogue
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Emily Stokes-Rees
The title and inspiration for this paper grew out of Franklin Vagnone and Deborah Ryan’s 2015 manifesto, which begins by asking simply: "Why do house museums suck?" From their observations of traditional historic houses as being "all about objects," to experiences of countless "boring" guided or audio tours, where the focus is placed "stepping back in time," Vagnone and Ryan advocate anarchy, calling for us to react against a museum paradigm that simply isn’t working. Responding to this notion, this paper will present the Matilda Joslyn Gage House (Fayetteville, NY) as a case study embodying the perfect "antidote to anarchy." In her home, this important women’s rights activist is brought back to life through her ideas, rather than solely her life events, and as such the history presented, while historically accurate and authentic, is simultaneously inclusive and thought-provoking, creating a site of civic engagement and reflection. While many visitors enter expecting a traditional historic house experience, with velvet ropes, reenactors offering information, and plenty of "old stuff," the Gage house upsets these expectations in its encouragement of dialogue, its "disrespect" for artifacts (sit on the chairs, play the piano, write on the walls!), and its role as a site of activism as well as of history. The Gage home truly demonstrates how these museums have the potential to become important centers for cultural discourse, reverberating with contemporary audiences in innovative new ways.
Community-Led Research: Realising Relevance and Representation in Collections
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Navjot Mangat
This paper shares learning from the National Maritime Museum based on its pilot community-led research initiative. We share our experience of forming consensus-led research communities to challenge traditional notions of knowledge. We also share how, through this project, we are improving our understanding of narratives that have been historically underrepresented and often misrepresented across the heritage sector. Historically, museums have been perceived as colonial constructs and their histories as displayed through a one-sided Eurocentric lens even though these histories encompass a multitude of cultures, peoples, and nations. This perception can act as a barrier for audiences to access and engage with the Museum. To counter this, we are working with communities on a project where they lead on research questions and methods. In this way, the narratives explored are relevant to communities today. This has prompted new questions: “Who should decide what is relevant and what is not in museums and research?” and “Whose knowledge is valued?” This paper introduces the project, highlights its approach in working with communities, and draws on practical experience in managing and facilitating the project alongside communities. It offers insights from communities that have taken part in the project, highlighting the value of challenging historical narratives and the importance of community ownership of collections, for the benefit of the museums as well as the communities themselves.
Developing a Not-knowing Pedagogy in the Public Art Museum
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Deborah Riding, Catherine Talbot Landers
This paper discusses the importance of creating spaces for not-knowing within the public art museum and, in particular, within the context of the exhibition. Drawing on recent research into inter-paradigmatic encounters and co-creation of knowledge (Riding 2017), the paper presents a current study being undertaken between Edge Hill University and Tate Liverpool exploring a model for schools-in-residence. This model proposes the gallery environment and exhibition context as a site for more democratic teaching and learning, empowering teachers and children and creating a lens through which the institution can learn about its collection in new ways. By developing and embracing spaces for not-knowing, the institution, it is argued, can catalyse new co-created knowledge about artwork. Engaging with this context through a residency, provides an opportunity for teachers and pupils to learn together, exploring ideas, perspectives, and links across the curriculum in personalised and creative ways. However, experiences captured through our study, demonstrate that there are barriers to developing such a pedagogy for both the school and gallery and that these challenges correlate with those identified within international research (Mathewson-Mitchell: 2007,2003, and Griffin:2011) as well as those borne from a national context. The residency opens opportunities to explore and seek ways to overcome these challenges through the creation of a new collaborative pedagogy.
