Team workshops and museum visits in the UK (March 2025)

- by Jo Kreft

The final week of March was a busy and eventful period for our Cultural Dynamics research team, as we criss-crossed the UK for a series of museum site visits and came together in Newcastle for a two-day team workshop—finally meeting in person again to reconnect and reflect on our research.

The week began with several team members spreading out into different directions across the UK to conduct museum site visits for our project. Our two German researchers Carla-Marinka and Federico travelled from Germany and spent several days in London exploring a range of museums and heritage sites, including the Design Museum, the Imperial War Museum, and the Museum of London Docklands. They also walked the East End Women’s Museum Heritage Trail, which led them through the historic neighbourhoods of Whitechapel, Bow, and Barking.

Simultaneously, our UK-based researcher Jo set off towards the north of England and to Scotland. In Glasgow, she visited The Hunterian to explore the stimulating “Curating Discomfort” intervention, as well as the Glasgow Women’s Library to learn about their decades-long dedicated engagement to foregrounding women’s histories, perspectives and achievements.

The next day, Carla, Federico, and Jo reunited in Edinburgh for a day of museum visits across the city. The People’s Story Museum stood out for its attention to historical detail and its strong connection to working-class histories and community stories. At the Museum of Childhood, participatory elements sparked lively conversations about our own upbringings and school experiences. At the National Museum of Scotland, we were in awe of the expansive architecture and the breadth of subjects covered, making room for extensive and detailed permanent collections as well as dynamic temporary exhibitions. A quick visit to Edinburgh Castle and the National Monument on Calton Hill, followed by some souvenir shopping, rounded off our stay. The city was welcoming and warm, made even more special by startlingly blue skies and steady spring sunshine.

In the second half of the week, we gathered in Newcastle, now also joined by our Newcastle-based project co-lead and principal investigator, Susannah, for two days of workshops focused on sharing updates and moving the project forward.

Our first morning centred on a comprehensive round of research updates. Federico presented his progress and the challenges of his research on “Values and Narratives,” particularly around the complexity of democratic values in cultural contexts. One key difficulty lies in the fact that the values associated with democracy are not only perceived differently in Germany and the UK but also vary in number and definition depending on disciplinary perspectives. Different academic fields emphasise different values, while also trying to determine which, if any, might be considered “universal” democratic values remains an ongoing task. These complexities shape how values are expressed and negotiated within cultural institutions, as well as how trust and belief in these institutions evolve over time and across different national contexts. Carla shared experiences from extensive fieldwork in 2023 and 2024, discussing how democracy can be constituted and made tangible through specific sites, figures, and moments. Susannah and Jo also discussed some updates on their empirical work on contemporary changes in UK and German museums related to democracy and outlined a broad spectrum of new forms of museum work and newly evolving grassroots (museum) initiatives.

As our project had seen some team changes over the first couple of years, this was a valuable opportunity, especially for Jo and Federico as the newer members, to learn more about each other’s research trajectories, fieldwork, and early findings. Nourished by delicious cookies and lentil soup (courtesy of Susannah), a variety of hot drinks and some extraordinary Earl Grey (brought from Portugal by Federico), we had many stimulating conversations in which our differing perspectives enriched each other’s plans for upcoming outputs.

In the afternoon, we travelled to Sunderland, just south of Newcastle, to meet with the team at Sunderland Museum and Winter Gardens to discuss potential collaborations. During a detailed tour of the museum, we were struck by the palpable passion and dedication of the small team of staff and volunteers, and the museum’s vibrancy as a real community hub, frequented by diverse parts of the local population. The museum will soon undergo a large-scale renovation, and we were honoured that the team, led by Collections Care Development Manager Anneke Hackenbroich, shared some of their future plans with us.

Our visit to Sunderland Museum was also an opportunity to discuss the toolkit our team are developing as one of the project’s outputs. While preparations are still in early stages, the toolkit will aim to address challenges faced by museum practitioners in the UK and Germany when engaging with (cultural) democracy. Practitioner dialogue is key to this process, to help us better understand their challenges and experiences navigating difficult topics and community co-curation. Therefore, we spent the rest of the afternoon in the cosy museum café, having many rich conversations with staff and volunteers who shared insights that were deeply informative for our work on cultural democracy work in the sector.

The week concluded on Friday with another team workshop day, held on campus at Newcastle University. We continued the focus on our toolkit work, drawing together notes and reflections from the previous day’s visit to Sunderland, sketching out initial ideas, and discussing dissemination plans and potential formats. Our Würzburg-based project co-lead and principal investigator, Guido, joined us via Zoom to stay up to date and offer his input. Concluding our time together in Newcastle on Friday afternoon, we felt stimulated by many rich research discussions, which are always more nourishing when held in hybrid or in person, rather than only over Zoom.

While Carla and Jo travelled to their respective homes, Federico, as the newest member of the team, took the opportunity for some further field visits across several UK cities. In Manchester, he visited the People’s History Museum, the Manchester Jewish Museum, and Manchester Museum, before continuing to Liverpool, where the Museum of Liverpool offered valuable insights into how local identities and histories are presented within broader narratives of national culture. Returning to London, he visited the Migration Museum, as well as Queer Britain as well as the Museum of Transology, both of which provided rich material for his research and upcoming presentations.

Each of us concluded the week with an individual set of memories from the week; including riding into the sunset from the front seats of the overground metro, tasting what may have been the best fish & chips of our lives, being refreshed by a windswept prom walk in Whitley Bay after a long research day, picking up thoughtful souvenirs for loved ones at home, and, in Federico’s case, a repeat visit to Mamma Mia! in London, because, as he put it, ABBA is always a good idea.

Last modified: Tue, 13 May 2025 11:47:49 BST