Hastings nominated in ‘Oscars of the museum world’

Hastings Museum & Art Gallery’s What’s in the Box? project has been shortlisted for the Community Engagement Programme of the Year category at the global Museum + Heritage Awards.

A spokesman said: “Widely recognised as the ‘Oscars of the museum world’, the Museum + Heritage Awards have been established to recognise the best museums and heritage organisations across the world.”

Hastings Museum & Art Gallery’s shortlisted What’s in the Box? project was funded by Arts Council England through a National Lottery Project Grant. The community engagement project aimed to give better access to the museum’s collection through working with three local communities: Home educated young people, LGBTQI+ and refugee community groups.

A mixture of workshops were available through the home education part of the project including Carnival of the Deep which was hosted by Idolrich, Theatre Rotto and Strandliners. This enabled families to learn about marine conservation and create puppets inspired by the museum’s collection. At the core of the project was a series of hands-on workshops, at which participants documented the museum’s natural science collection, concluding with an online exhibition.

The LGBTQI+ strand was delivered with the support of E-J Scott, founder of the Museum of Transology, Home Live Art, and New Writing South. This involved exploring the history of LGBTQI+ related collections and stories in museums, leading to the creation of Hastings Queer History Collective and the development of a temporary display as part of Hastings Pride.

Cllr Paul Barnett, lead for Regeneration and Culture at Hastings Borough Council, said: “I am delighted that this new way of working for the Museum and Art Gallery, focused as it is on involving key local communities in all aspects of how their history and culture is portrayed at the Museum, has been recognised in the national category. We are up against the best that three large Yorkshire museums can do and I expect us to win!

“What’s in the Box? enabled residents to come together both in person and virtually to explore culture and history in a new and exciting way. This provided many people with a real sense of community through the opportunity to establish lasting connections with others locally.

“We are pleased that the hard work of all involved has been recognised and that the project has achieved so much, including improving the accessibility of museum’s collections, empowering people to contribute to and share their heritage more widely and increasing the confidence and skills of those involved.”

The Refugee and Migrant section was supported by the Refugee Buddy Project and led by Helen Dodaki, an artist with refugee experience. The museum hosted ten art workshops for local refugee and migrant families. These aspiring artists developed their practice and created work around the British Museum Spotlight loan of the Lampedusa Cross and Dark Water, Burning World. Their work was then featured in the Crossings: community and refuge exhibition at the museum.

The winners of the Museum + Heritage Awards will be announced at a live ceremony in London on May 11, 2022.

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