SuccessfullyWorkingInternaonally Success Guides SuccessfullyWorkingInternaonallyFront cover picture Mwanaima Salim Curator of the MeruMuseum Kenya inspects the Abbot Hall Walled Garden atthe Mus ID: 299501
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Success Guides SuccessfullyWorkingInternaonally Success Guides SuccessfullyWorkingInternaonallyFront cover picture: Mwanaima Salim, Curator of the MeruMuseum, Kenya, inspects the Abbot Hall Walled Garden atthe Museum of East Anglian Life. (Museum of East Anglian Life)Jane Weeks Background Britains history through trade,immigraon, diplomacy, colonisaon,war binds us to the rest of the world.Some of the most comprehensive andinternaonally important colleconsare held by UK museums and UKmuseums have a rich history ofworking in partnership with theircounterparts overseas to unlock storiesand share experse. But workinginternaonally is always an exercise inmutual learning, cultural sharing andco-producon. On the one hand, there is respectworldwide for the experse held by theUK museum sector which has a globalreputaon for its experse in advocacy,learning, audience development,curatorial standards, interpretaon andexhibion design and commercialenterprises. Arts Council EnglandsAccreditaon Scheme has been used asa model and source of inspiraon forsimilar schemes overseas, fromAustralia to Zanzibar. But this is not aone-way street. There is much for us tolearn, working with museums whichface similar challenges but have foundimaginave soluons to sharedproblems. The emerging role ofmuseums in other countries andcultures challenges us to consider thevarious forms museums take and themany dierent ways in which museumscan serve communies. Why do it? Working internaonally can bring manybenets, both instuonal andpersonal: Developing skills and knowledge Bringing a dierent perspecve onyour collecons and your instuon Creang a dierent perspecve onshared heritage Bringing an important newdimension by linking to livingcommunies and museums overseas Aracng new audiences, especiallyyoung people who have a moreglobal perspecve Sharing knowledge 3 Successfully WorkingInternaonallyFor many museums across the world, workinginternaonally is not a new phenomenon but, as adimension of Brish museums, it has grownexponenally over the last decade. Following the successof the 2012 London Olympics, we are even more aware ofthe possibilies and potenal for working globally.Though there is sll an erroneous belief thatinternaonal work is only for naonal museums, anincreasing number of non-naonal museums in the UKare working internaonally. Most countries have smalland medium-sized museums looking to make links withsimilar sized museums in the UK, or those withspecialised collecons. This AIM Success Guide exploresthe diverse ways in which the UKs museums are workinginternaonally, both in Europe and beyond, and thefactors they have idened that need to be taken intoaccount when venturing into this area. The emerging role ofcountries and cultureschallenges us toconsider the variousforms museums takeand the manydierent ways inwhich museums canserve communies. Raising your museums prole, bothnaonally and internaonally Raising the awareness of a UKaudience keen to know more aboutthe world around them Developing a broader understandingof the meaning of identy and therole of the museum Developing a potenal new incomestream.Working internaonally is alsoDirector of Museums and Public Engagement at UniversityCollege London, says: Working internaonally can confoundaribuons, overturn assumpons and refocus ambions. Where to do it? Virtually every museum in the UK hassome form of cross-cultural contacts,whether through the collecons theyhold, the heritage they protect, theirlocal community, or contacts withoverseas tourists. Museums withinternaonal collecons have a naturalstarng point for dialogue with sourcenaons, whether it is about loans,sharing experse or repatriaon, butall museums can nd internaonalstories to tell, through notableindividuals, our engineering heritage,agriculture, historic events, the RomanEmpire the list is endless. Manymuseums in the UK are working inmul ethnic communies, soaudiences oer potenal links as wellas collecons. How to do it? Internaonal work can take manyforms: Parcipang in conferences andworkshops Joint research project Touring exhibions Placements and internships Web links with other museums,places and communies Fesvals and events.Working Internaonally Golden Nuggets, an artwork byCameroonian artist Pascale MarthineTayou, in the National FootballMuseums exhibition Moving intoSpace: Football and Art in WestAfricaWe Face Forward:Art from West Africa Todayproject inManchester in 2012. First steps The engagement might be a one-oevent or exhibion, or a casualapproach from a museum overseas.Even so, its important to think throughthe implicaons. The Success Guidewill help you here.Its helpful to develop an internaonalstrategy for your museum, which willkeep you focused on what you want toachieve. This doesnt have to be a longdocument, but its worth beginning bychecking on exisng internaonalcontacts both within your organisaonand in your area. What internaonalpartnerships or contacts already existin your museum, your local universityor your local authority? Is your localtown or city twinned with another cityin another country? Are there localdiaspora communies you could buildlinks with? Its important to be clear in yourobjecves, to be selecve and not tobe too ambious. It is all too easy forinternaonal work to expand andabsorb me and resources. If yourmuseum has lile experience ofworking internaonally, you mightwant to start by talking to or workingwith a museum which has experienceof working internaonally (see FurtherSupport at the end of this Guide),aending some internaonal seminarsand conferences, to build up a networkof contacts and get an idea of the sortof projects being undertaken. There aremany exisng internaonal networkswhich you can join, of which the mostimportant is ICOM (see FurtherSupport). Or you could considerapplying to be a minor partner in an EUCulture Fund project, where the lead istaken by another organisaon. The UKCultural Contact Point has adatabase/index of past projects andEuropean cultural organisaons lookingfor partners (see Further Support). Your internaonal strategy shouldfocus on specic areas, such asresearch, projects, and external Luton Cultures Truck Artproject,part of the UK Cultural Olympiad, thework ofa group of young Lutonians,working with arsts from the UK andPakistan. (Luton Culture) relaonships, and you should be clearabout what resources, both in terms ofsta and funding, you have available.What projects do you plan to develop?Which instuons in which countriesdo you see as being potenal partners?How will you develop and supportthese partnerships? Communicaons are obviously crucial.If youre thinking of working in acountry where English is not the rstlanguage, what language skills arethere in your organisaon or whattranslaon support might be available?Does your website provide informaonin more than one language?When developing your strategy, bear inmind signicant global events andanniversaries that might provide animpetus for working internaonally.The 2012 Olympics and the CulturalOlympiad oered a great opportunity.The centenary of the First World Waroers another. The Imperial WarWorking Internaonally Between 2009-2012,the Museum of EastAnglian Life (MEAL) inSuolk developed arelaonship with MeruMuseum, in Kenya.Brokered and fundedMuseums AfricaProgramme, thepartnership exploredhow museums coulduse local culturalheritage as a means ofdeveloping social andcommunity assets. Both Meru and Stowmarket are agricultural centres,and their museums have collecons of local cultural heritage and socialhistory as well as live specimens (cale, sheep and horses at MEAL,crocodiles, monkeys and snakes in Meru). MEAL is known for its work insupporng volunteering, training and skills development for vulnerablepeople whilst Meru Museums gardens are used by local herbalists and actas a medical centre. The partnership shared knowledge to help establishsocial enterprises based around tradional horculture. At MEAL, a smallhorcultural business was set up to develop skills in vulnerable adults,whilst Meru Museum developed programmes teaching tradional farmingmethods to orphans and vulnerable children and people living with HIVand AIDS to reduce dependency on food imports and the use of hybridseeds. The two museums exchanged sta members during the period andshared experse online. The MEAL/Meru programme illustrates thepotenal for partnerships based on resilience, sustainability andcommunity development. Meru Museum, Kenya. (Museum of East Anglian Life) When developing yourstrategy, bear in mindsignicant globalevents andanniversaries thatmight provide animpetus for workinginternaonally. Museum is creang an internaonalpartnership to bring together all theplans and acvies around thissignicant anniversary. To date, there isa network of over 850 organisaonsfrom over 25 countries, including notjust the Allied countries, but alsoGermany, Russia and China. The FirstWorld War centenary websitewww.1914.org provides a meline, arange of digital assets and a series ofHow To guides for partners. Other major events in the next fewyears are the 2014 World Cup in Rio deJaneiro, the 2014 CommonwealthGames in Glasgow, and the 2016Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. Building Partnerships Developing sustainable partnershipswith overseas organisations takes time,commitment and patience. Whendeveloping a project, youll need tobuild in more development time thanyou would for a UK-based project.Never underestimate the impact thatcultural and other differences working practices, food, religion,climate, time zones will have onprogress. For example, duringRamadan, the annual month of fastingfor Muslims, offices and institutions inthe Arab world are only open forlimited hours. Working with China orBrazil can mean early mornings or latenights, and many countries workingweek is not the UK norm of Monday toFriday. Partnerships work best when partnersshare values, are committed tocommon aims and when there is amutual spirit of respect and co-operation. So, its worth taking time atan early stage to research the countryyou want to work with its culture, itspolitics, its history, even its food and itsWhen developing a project, you needto be transparent about funding. This isparticularly important if you arethinking of working with museums in A Chinese delegaon on a tour of theScottish National Mining Museum, aspart of the British Councilsprogramme. less wealthy countries that will assumeyou, as a representative of the West,are able to fund the project.Partnerships are developed based onpersonal trust, and its important to bea generous host, when your partnerorganisation visits the UK, and asympathetic and sensitive guest, whenvisiting their country. How to fund it? International working does not have tocost a lot of money. Much can be doneonline, through Skype and socialmedia, though it does help for initialmeetings to take place face to face tobuild trust. Low-cost airlines offercheap flights to Europe and NorthAfrica and for long-haul destinations,there are various sources of grants. Travel grants The Art Fund Jonathan RuerCuratorial Grantsinvite applicaonsfrom UK curators, scholars andresearchers to undertake travel orother acvies to extend anddevelop their curatorial experse,collecons-based knowledge and arthistorical interests www.artfund.org/what-we-do/apply-for-funding/curatorial-grants-aims-and-eligibility For ICOM members, ICOM UK offersTravel Bursary Fundfor ICOMmembers wishing to attend ICOMevents, and the Bursary Fundoffers additionalfunding to extend a visithttp://uk.icom.museum/bursaries/ oers a number of short-term grant schemes for specic countries.Currently, the China UK Connecons through Culture projecthttp://ctc.britishcouncil.org.cn/oers grants for trips to and fromChina to work with Chinese culturalorganisaons. In 2013, thanks to agrant from Arts Council England, theBrish Council oered non-naonalmuseums in England one-o grantsto travel to India. The BrishCouncils Transform project in Brazilhttp://transform.britishcouncil.org.br/,which runs up unl 2016, will alsooer opportunies for building linkswith museums in Brazil. Project funds Various grant-giving bodies andfoundations offer funding towardsinternational projects. Many of theseare for specific areas of the world: EU for the Cultural Fund, but alsofor other sources of funding such asregional Structural Funds, Researchwww.ec.europa.eu/unitedkingdom Headley Trust www.sfct.org.uk/the-headley-trust/ Ford Foundaonwww.fordfoundation.org Gey Foundaonwww.getty.edu/foundation/funding/ Aga Khan Foundaonwww.akdn.org/akf_grantees.asp Though Heritage Loery Fundwww.hlf.org.ukgrants cannot beused to cover work outside of theUK, they can be used for covering theUK-based aspect of an internaonalproject. Can you make money fromworking internationally? At ICOM UKs 2013 WorkingInternationally seminar, Beth McKillop,Deputy Director of the Victoria &Albert Museum, made the point thatworking internationally offered twooptions: business or showcase, iegenerating income or raising theinternational profile of the museum.Dont undertake international work onthe assumption it will make money. It israre for international working to createa sustainable income stream, and itoften takes time and resources todevelop. However, a current success isthe touring exhibition TowardsModernity: Three Centuries of Britishfeaturing paintings, drawings andwatercolours from collections inWorking Internaonally It is rare forinternational workingto create a sustainableincome stream, and itoften takes time andresources to develop. 9 In October 2011, TheLightbox hosted Fromthe Realm of the, an exhibitionof historic andcontemporaryceramics from theZibo Ceramicsimpetus came from aMemorandum ofUnderstanding signedbetween SurreyCounty Council (SCC)and the city of Zibo,and the costs of the exhibition were shared between SCC and Zibo. Zibo isone of the earliest ceramic manufacturing centres in the world; its historyof ceramic production stretches back to 8000 BC. The key challenges werescale and timescale. By UK standards, the Ceramics Museum is very largeand its collections are extensive. Selecting pieces for display from acollection 5,000 miles away was a challenge, as was conveying to thecurators in Zibo the limitations of the exhibition space in The Lightbox. TheLightbox curators also had to be flexible, as the list of pieces available fordisplay was not agreed until the last moment, so text panels could not befinalised until the pieces had arrived in the UK. The Lightbox staff also hadto be aware of the different approach taken to replica items in China,where replicas are revered as a craft tradition, as replicas would notnormally be included in a UK exhibition. The project was demanding butrewarding, both forThe Lightbox staff,who broadened theirunderstanding of thedifferent approachesto historic items andcuratorship in China,and the twoCeramics Museumcurators who spenttime in Wokingsetting up theexhibition, and beingintroduced to UKmuseum practice. Entrance to the From the Realm of the Dragonexhibition at the Lightbox. (The Lightbox) Celadon vase in the From the Realm of the Dragonexhibition at the Lightbox. (The Lightbox) Manchester and the north west, whichis touring six venues in China, includingthe Beijing World Art Museum. Theexhibition was put together by Bury ArtMuseum as an income-generatingproject in response to anticipated cuts. Where to go for advice? www.britishcouncil.orgThe British Council is the UKs culturalrelations agency, and createsinternational opportunities for the UKand other countries, in the Arts, English and Education and Society. Ithas offices in over 100 countriesaround the world. The British Counciloffers advice and support to UKmuseums looking to work overseas,through their Museums and HeritageAdviser, a post part-funded by ArtsCouncil England. Contact Jane Weeks,the Museums & Heritage Adviserjane.weeks@britishcouncil.org. ICOM UK http://uk.icom.museumICOM UK is the only UK museummembership organisaon for museumprofessionals with a dedicatedinternaonal focus. It provides agateway to the ICOM network of30,000 museum colleagues throughoutthe world. ICOM UK also acts as anadvocacy body, a leader in industrystandards, and a forum for professionaldevelopment. It holds an annualWorking Internaonally meengwhich brings together museumprofessionals from all over the UK toshare their experience and experse. UK Culture Contact Pointfor theEuropean Union in the UKwww.culturefund.euoffers workshopsand online seminars on bid-writing andmaintains a database of EU culturalorganisations looking for partners forEU funded applications. Cultural Attaché Networkincludes all the cultural attaches forforeign embassies in the UK, ismanaged by Embassymagazine,www.embassymagazine,which runsbriefing events for UK based embassyrepresentatives.Working Internaonally Summary and Top TipsWorking internationally can provide museums with a fascinating andvaluable experience, and most museums can develop the capacity to workinternationally, providing they approach it in a systematic way. It will helpto bear in mind the following Top Tips:Sck a toe in the water by aending an internaonal seminar orworkshopBuild a network of contacts and learn from other peoples experienceBe paent and allow sucient me to develop partnershipsTake me to understand cultural dierencesKeep up to date with changing polical situaons Dont overstretch your resources and allow for a conngency budget Beware of mission creepEvaluate your projectCelebrate your success Further Support ICOM UKhttp://uk.icom.museumNational Museum Directors Councilwww.nationalmuseums.org.ukIncludes details of the internationalwork of national and major non-national museums, including thepublication World Collectionswww.nationalmuseums.org.uk/media/documents/images/world_collections_final_report.pdf. For more informationabout national museums internationalwork, see their websites:www.britishmuseum.org/about_us/skillssharing/international_training.aspxNational Museum of Scotlandwww.nms.ac.uk/making_connections/international_connections.aspxTatewww.tate.org.uk/about/our-work/international-partnershipsVictoria & Albert Museumwww.vam.ac.uk/content/links/our-international-work/www.artscouncil.org.ukACE now has the national developmentrole for museums in England andrecognises the importance ofinternational working. ACE hassignificant experience of workingabroad with artists and is a potentialsource of advice and support. Culture360.orgwww.culture360.orgis an onlineplaorm connecng Asia and Europethrough Arts and Culture. Heritage Without Borders, a UniversityCollege London social enterpriseworking in developing countries tobuild capacity in heritage skills, andprovide work experience for studentsand heritage professionals.http://heritagewithoutborders.org/Foreign & Commonwealth Officehttps://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice.The FCO website hosts regularlyupdated travel advice for everycountry. Europe UK Cultural Contact Pointwww.culturefund.euNetwork of European MuseumOrganisations (NEMO) http://www.ne-mo.org. NEMO is madeup of museum organisations within the EU, and supports networking andco-operation amongst museums inEurope.European Museum Forumhttp://www.europeanmuseumforum.info/is an agency committed to raisingthe standard of museums throughoutEurope and showcasing excellence. It runs the European Museum of theYear Award. Acknowledgements The author would like to thank CarolScott, Chairman, ICOM UK, Katie Childs,Policy and Project Manager, NationalMuseum Directors Council, andTimothy Mason, Timothy Mason Artsand Heritage Consultancy, forreviewing a draft of this Guide andTony Butler, Director, Museum of EastAnglian Life, and Marilyn Scott,Director, The Lightbox, for contributingcase studies. AIM would like to thank the BritishCouncil and ICOM UK for contributingtowards the costs of producing this Jane Weeks is a museumconsultant specialising instrategic planning and projectmanagement. She has workedin Poland, Germany, Bahrainand Bulgaria, and, since 2000,Heritage Adviser at the BrishCouncil. During that me, shehas developed museummanagement projects in Iran,Oman, Bahrain, Kenya, Russia,China, India and Brazil and hassupported UK museums to workaround the world. She is amember of the Board of Visitorsof the Pi Rivers Museum andis a co-opted member of theICOM UK naonal commiee. Working Internaonally AIM Associaon of Independent Museums3 Chestnut Grove, Ludlow, Shropshire SY8 1TJRegistered in England No. 1350939 | Charity No. 1082215Copyright © 2013 Jane Weeks and Associaon of Independent MuseumsAIM Editor Diana Zeuner