Research

Object Journeys is a research driven project investigating the impact of a collaborative approach to collections inquiry and community-led display development in large museums. This impact assessment will focus on the museums themselves, the community partners worked with and the visitors who experience the outputs of each project.

The British Museum aims to learn from its partner museums and peers in the sector that have significant experience in co-creation, including critical analysis of the application of participatory practice in national museums in the UK.

Through conferences, blogs and publications the findings of these projects will be shared with the sector.

Some of the key research questions the project aims to address include:

5

How can participatory and community-led collaborative practice influence the ways in which large museums research, display and interpret their collections?

5

What forms of community-led displays are most successful for participants and the visiting public in large museums?

5

What community-based partners should a national museum, like the British Museum, be working with given the scope and scale of its collection and the diversity of its potential audiences?

5

Which stakeholders should museums consult with and in what ways when developing permanent galleries?

5

What should museums be collecting and displaying to maximise their relevance to today’s communities?