Kate Chatfield Comminity Gallery exhib.
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Kate Chatfield Comminity Gallery exhib.
- 1. The Community Gallery at the People‟s History Museum 28 March 2012 Kate Chatfield, Exhibitions Manager kate.chatfield@phm.org.uk
- 3. A bit of background ‘there have always been ideas worth fighting for’ PHM tells the story of how ordinary working people have organised to improve their lives.
- 4. Community Origins Trade Union, Labour and Co-operative History Society.
- 5. The evolution of the PHM • Late 1980s move to Manchester • In 1994 expanded • Oct 2007 closed for major redevelopment project. • Re-opened in Feb 2010
- 6. Shop, cafe and reception
- 9. Community Gallery We exhibit exhibitions by community groups or artists working with community groups that; • Link to our story • Allow working people & disenfranchised groups to examine & tell their history • Encourage wide access, increase visitor numbers and raise the museum profile, creating new audiences • Are mainly from Greater Manchester • Are good quality
- 10. • Where – engine hall
- 13. How we program the space Application process – Guidelines and simple form – Member of the exhibitions team will meet and discuss ideas before submission
- 14. • Selection process – Yearly programming meeting – Assess every application received – Representative from SMT, Exhibitions, Marketing, Front of House & Learning – Balanced programme is selected – Around 20% successful – Some unsuccessful applicants invited to resubmit
- 15. Duration – Can vary but initially exhibitions changed every 6 weeks – Recently extended to run for aprox 10-12 weeks
- 16. Support for exhibitors • 2 days curatorial time • 2 days technicians time • Display materials • Production of small graphics panels • Flyer/postcard Templates • Marketing support via PHM website, facebook, enewsletter & twitter
- 17. • 20 different groups in last 2 years; Mostly Greater Manchester – eg Manchester, Bolton, Salford, – important to our funders – important in attracting new & local audiences Some from further afield in the north west and occasionally nationally if they link very strongly to our story
- 18. Variety of groups Open Book by Venture Arts
- 20. Mapping Memories by artist Elizabeth Keeley-Morris
- 21. Antifascistas by International Brigades Memorial Trust
- 22. Kings by photographer Sabrina Fuller
- 23. International Women’s Day exhibition
- 24. Voices by MA Documentary Photography Students
- 25. Hands On by Sense Wakefield
- 26. Positives – Relationships with community groups – New & diverse audiences – Boosts visitor figures – PHM is „your museum‟ – Positive responses from visitors – Positive response from exhibitors – Enriches programme – Passion of exhibitors – Events – Mark anniversaries /link to national initiatives – Encourage new talent – Confidence boosting for those involved
- 27. “I am writing to thank you for the amazing experience the students at Sense had coming to see their work up in a national museum ... The chance to see their work displayed in a professional gallery setting was one they haven't experienced ... and the joy was evident as they recognised their own work and kept pulling the staff over to see it....”
- 28. Challenges – Managing exhibitors expectations – Conflict with trading – Lack of financial support – Pressures on staff time – Limited equipment – Lack of control over progress & content – Generating & maintaining PHM staff support – Difficulty in turning proposals down – Visitor perception – Link between exhibitions and PHM collections – Not climate controlled space
- 29. Case Study - Retracing Salford
- 34. “ Excellent, very moving, poignant and utterly unforgettable. Thanks for preserving some of the community” Kath Tarbett, Terry Powell (Glossop) “ A wonderful exhibition showing real people and lives of a COMMUNITY.” Pauline “ Vey important work being carried out here. Only work that I can think of in last few years that involves positive engagement with Salfordian identities. Needs a permanent home in the city” Stephen Leech
- 35. Future plans /development – Improvements to environment, equipment & branding – Community representatives – Programming – Evaluation process – Community exhibition funder – Volunteer programme – Smaller display as support towards a community – Web resources – Strategy meeting
- 36. Contact details Kate Chatfield Exhibitions Manager People‟s History Museum Left Bank Spinningfields Manchester M3 3ER kate.chatfield@phm.org.uk 0044 161 838 9190
Editor's Notes
- Museum situated in Mcr city centre on the border with Salford.
- E.g. struggle for democracy, formation of trade unions, formation of co-operatives, formation of campaign organisations
- From the 1960s the society formed a small collection and between 1975 and 1986 ran a museum in Limehouse Town Hall in London. Lost funding and had to close, collections went in to storage. Small group of w/c men (& 1 woman) – no formal history training. Acquired labour history material at a time before there was much interest – they were passionate about telling real history that was not made by kings & queens but by ordinary working people. Preserved material that would have otherwise been lost.
- Late 1980s the Greater Manchester authorities made a funding offer. A new trust was created and the museum re-opened in 1990, initially at 103 Princess Street. In 1994 expanded by moving main galleries, changing exhibition and learning service in to Edwardian Hydraulic Power station Oct 2007 closed for major redevelopment project.NMLHThe People’s History Museum is a charity and is a company limited by guarantee with a maximum of 20 trustees. It is independent and has no political affiliation. It is accredited as a national museum by Museums, Libraries and Archives Council (MLA). In 1998 it was awarded designated status by the Department of Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), which recognises the museum as having pre-eminent collections of national importance.
- Changing exhibitions curated internally, usually object heavy from our collections.Change every 6-9 months.
- link to our story - interpreting labour history in its broadest sense ie ‘people’s history’allow working people and disenfranchised groups a chance to examine and tell their historyencourage wide access, increase visitor numbers and raise the museum profile, creating new audiencesare mainly from Greater Manchester are good quality – display details discussed with PHM staff in advance of installationCommunity exhibitions must adhere to the concept of equal opportunities taking into account physical and intellectual access Don’t - The museum will not display the following:Things that are dangerous to the public eg knives and blades or anything with sharp edges, live creatures, strobe lights, naked flamesThings that can be a health hazard eg food and drink, nuts and seedsItems too big or heavy to carry into the buildingThings that may be offensive to some people eg anything we deem to be racist or sexist etc The museum does not host commercial exhibitions. Prices should not be put on any items included in the exhibition unless agreed in advance with the Exhibitions Manager
- engine hall of a hydraulic power station. The station, designed by city architect Henry Price in a fine Edwardian baroque style, opened in 1909. The engine hall was beautifully restored as part of the museums £12.5m redevelopment project which was completed in March 2010. It is a unique space in Manchester city centre, offering an outstanding venue for groups and individuals to exhibit their work for free. Pros – hub of museum (high footfall), large, beautiful, historic, dramatic space, prestigious space, city centre and free of charge, Cons – multi use so exhibitions have to be demountable (creates a lot of work), daylight so can’t display historic objects, some exhibitors find space intimidating
- 64% visitors make it to community gallery – much higher than at other orgs
- Guidelines and simple form sent to interested parties along with next submission deadlineIf requested member of the exhibitions team will meet and discuss ideas before submission
- Unsuccessful applicants that are asked to resubmit can include; ones that were not selected purely on the basis of offering a balanced program, applications that need more work / we didn’t have enough information to make a final decision (eg no visuals, unclear descriptions, awaiting funding decision etc)we felt would be better to have at a different time because of say an anniversary might attract more publicity etc
- 6 weeks – because of uncertainly around quality from experience in old museum (smaller, less visitors, less demand for the space) but now volume of applications means we can be selective and ensure that we only take exhibitions of a certain quality
- Light touch - idea to introduce community voices into the museum
- Mostly Greater Manchester – eg Manchester, Bolton, Salford, important to our funders important in attracting new audience & local audienceSome from further afield in the north west(Preston, Northwich, Wakefield) and occasionallynationally if they link very strongly to our story (eg antifascistas by IBMT)
- Arts organisation working with adults with learning difficulties
- Venture Arts is a specialist in the provision of arts and crafts workshops for people with learning disabilities working across Manchester Tables – for picnics – also used by groups for meetings, space becomes theirs in the run up and during the exhibition
- Artist: Elizabeth Kealy-MorrisThis exhibition explored the experiences of residents from Chorlton-on-Medlock, a former working-class district in central Manchester which was destroyed during the post-war national practice of 'slum clearance' from 1957 to 1975. This exhibition is developed from a collaborative oral history project carried out over two years by the exhibiting artist, Elizabeth Kealy-Morris, who lives in the current council estate built on cleared C-on-M land
- The International Brigade Memorial Trust was formed in 2002 from the veterans of the International Brigade Association, the Friends of the I.B.A., representatives of the Marx Memorial Library, and historians specialising in the Spanish Civil War. Its aims are: "To educate the public in the history of the men and women who fought in the International Brigades and in the medical and other support services in the Spanish Civil War. In particular, by preserving and cataloguing valuable historical material relating hereto and by making such material available to the public." "To foster good citizenship by remembering those who have fallen in the Spanish Civil War by preserving, maintaining and assisting in the construction of war memorials."
- Sabrina
- Put together by a group of women who are part of a ‘virtual support community’
- Each student was working with a different community, documenting elements of their lives - including sheep farmers, Jewish community in north Manchester, boxers etc
- By sense – an organisation working with adults with visual impairments
- Helps build lasting positive relationships with community groupsBrings in new audiences (those involved, those featured, those interested). Often non-traditional museum visitors attracted eg KingsHelps create the feeling that the museum is their museum – their exhibition/stories of people like them etcPositive responses from visitors (inspiring stories, stories not usually seen in museums etc)Positive response from exhibitors (unique space in city centre)Enriches programme - always something new to see/ to advertise/ encourage repeat visitsPassion of exhibitors communicated to visitors & draws in new press coverage etcEnriches gives a different dimension to PHM events programmeOpportunity to mark anniversaries, link to national initiatives through exhibition programEncourage new talent – artists, photographers etcPositive effect on individuals and groups involved in exhibiting (confidence building)
- Managing exhibitors expectations especially re press coverage and advertising post exhibition Complications of the spaceLack of ability to support exhibitions financially Pressures on staff timeFeeling of lack of control over progress, content etcLimited equipmentGenerating & maintaining support for community exhibitions within PHM staffDifficulty in turning proposals downLink between exhibitions and PHM collections – could be/ should be strongerNot climate controlled space therefore incorporating historic items problematic, not possible to incorp majority of PHM objects.
- Organiser – local artist lawrence Cassidy working with local community2004 – first heard about his projectPhm able to support - advise, contacts & support letter to funderExhibition at phm – summer 2011Lawrence passionate about capturing history from are of Manchester that has been cleared. Based his project on District Six Museum in Capetown.
- Documents a vanishing area of Salford – c 1500 streets demolished. W/c communities broken up & architectural and cultural heritage of these communities is lost. Streets Museum project aims to recapture fragments of those communities through family snaps, street signs, home movies, oral histories and live performance. The exhibition Re-Tracing Salford was an element in this project.
- Used community gallery space as a space for the community to gather, share stories & images – scanned and added to the website there and then. Collections were enlarged, bonds grew, connections made etc.
- Primrose Hill Primary visit to community exhibition @ PHM – children from the area engaging with their heritage – created works shown at the exhibition & then later visited the exhibit “ getting youngsters so enthusiastic about their heritage can only help them take pride in it – and to play a part in deciding what kind of community they want Ordsall to be now and in the future”. 2 miles from PHM not been before
- Specific feedback from LawrencePositives – amazing opportunity to show in such a space – new development, large space, hub of museum. V valuable support from museum in getting funding and planning exhibition. Staff support throughout was great. Having exhibition at PHM has also helped with securing other venues (eg Salford Museum and Art Gallery are now taking the exhibition). Also successful – new contributions were made to the collection (scanned in there and then snaps etc). Sees exhibition as therapy for a destroyed community. Link with district 6 – initially through PHM Director. Director of District 6 came to see exhibition while it was on at PHM.Problems – PHM uses social media rather than physical what’s on leaflets and much of the community he was contacting don’t use social media. Felt strongly an actual flyer was necessary (PHM doesn’t have enough funding for this). Exhibition should be more prominent on websiteLack of fundingCost of refreshments in cafe an issueWould have like to be able to create more of a community atmosphere in the spaceSome v specific feedback about our address Branding of community gallery needs to be strongerWants permanent space.
- 2 years on = good point to stop and reflect Looking for funding to make improvements to the environment, equipment and signage/brandingExploring involving community representatives on selection panelLooking at programming less far in advance (to be able to be more responsive)More formal evaluation process to be implemented (currently being developed by Exhibitions Assistant)Looking for a regular community exhibition funder to enable more of a ‘partnership exhibition’ working particular groupsWill be trialling a volunteer programme to involve exhibitors in maintaining, welcoming, patrolling exhibition – giving work experience & enhancing visitor experienceWorking with group on smaller display as a way of supporting them towards an application for a community exhibition (Pool Arts) through working closely with our Outreach Officer (temp position for 1 year). Pool Arts is run by and for disadvantaged artists in Manchester; providing studios, training, mutual support and opportunities to exhibit. We play an educational role to the public, disseminating information about the work, the organisation and the benefits it brings. Development of web resourcesSMT planning a strategy meeting to discuss how to make the process more manageable