Royal Pavilion & Museums Renaissance Programme 2012-15 Arts Council England Report; April - June 2014 Introduction: The following is a summary update of activity against outcomes for the Renaissance Programme for the period April - June 2014. The report is laid out as per the Arts Council England 5 goals and includes data where appropriate. Under the Leadership section, key updates have been added for the Museum Development and Preventative Conservation programmes, as a full report is available from the Museum Development Programme, which is included as part of the submitted documentation to the Arts Council for the reporting period. Please see the Museum Development website for information on the programme: http://southeastmuseums.org/ For further information please contact [email protected] Goal 1: Excellence is thriving and celebrated in museums Agreed Outcomes: RPM’s collections are relevant to contemporary audiences; Knowledge understanding and enjoyment of collections is enhanced through improved access; Creative partnerships strengthen RPM’s work • RPM Director Janita Bagshawe has taken on the role of Museums Association's (MA) representative for the South East region. This is a three year appointment. The role of the regional representative is to act as a conduit between membership and the officers at the MA and represent member’s views to the MA. • Beyond the Mantelpiece , a co-produced display with members of RPM’s Museum Mentors Group (individuals with varied critical social needs) opened at Brighton Museum & Art Gallery, supported by RPM’s Curator of Collections Projects and Community Engagement Officer and inspired by the Willett collection and the theme of Charity • RPM’s Curator of Costume & Textiles has become an Associate Member of the Centre for Fashion Curation at London College of Fashion, and has been invited to co-edit a future special issue (2018, content to be submitted in 2016) of Fashion Theory on ‘Museum Collections and Collectors of Fashion’ • RPM’s Curator of Costume & Textiles was invited to advise Petersfield Museum on the redisplay of its costume collection; the Keeper of World Art was invited to attend a session at Reading Museum on developing a community engagement strategy for its World Collection • 3 RPM curators met with colleagues at the Horniman Museum to exchange knowledge and ideas around the collecting and display of contemporary African dress • RPM’s Curator of Fine Art was on the selection board for the Brighton Festival Artists’ Open House scheme and has been invited to join the selection panel for the Hove Plinth contemporary sculpture commission • After an open and competitive process RPM’s Curator of World Art was awarded a new fully-funded Phd studentship – ‘Fashion Cities Africa’ – jointly supported by RPM and the Sussex Africa Centre, University of Sussex • RPM has submitted an application to the Heritage Lottery Fund Collecting Cultures scheme on the theme of African fashion costume, again linked to the ‘Fashion Cities Africa’ project and exhibition at Brighton Museum in 2016. • Brighton Photo Biennial collaborative project with Hove Museum & Art Gallery: Curator of Toys, Film & Media worked with artist Jan Von Holleben and a group of 6 young carers, aged 10 – 13. The young people looked at the Brighton School of Filmmakers and in detail at a collection of magic lantern and kromscop slides. They used these as inspiration for making new photographic work which will be displayed at Hove Museum in the autumn in a large exhibition as part of the Brighton Photo Biennial. • Contemporary Art Society: Twixt Two Worlds opened at the Whitechapel Gallery, London on 10 June (to 31 August 2014). The display is the result of the Whitechapel Fellowship, supported by the CAS and ACE: researcher Gaia Tedone worked with curatorial colleagues and collections at RPM. The display maps the pivotal moment in cinema history when still photography evolved into moving images. Inspired by the Barnes brothers’ collection of early projection apparatus at 1 Royal Pavilion & Museums ACE Report; April – June 2014 RPM, this shift is explored through objects, printed materials and films, many loaned from RPM’s collections. The display will be shown at the Towner, Eastbourne this autumn. See http://www.whitechapelgallery.org/exhibitions/contemporary-art-society-twixt-two-worlds . • Collaboration underway with the University of Brighton on the CT scanning of animal mummies, cave breccia and ferrous objects as an educational resource • Collaboration with British Museum and Museum Development Service for Sussex and Surrey to scope a free Numismatics training day to be held at Brighton Museum, open to anyone working in museums with an interest in the subject of numismatics. (RPM will facilitate and contribute coin hoards and bring objects from the numismatics collection to the event) • Volunteers trained and engaged in object packing for HLF-funded Whitehawk Community Archaeology project with University College, London, and local partners. • Curator of Collections Management selected for Museum Associations Transformers Programme, a new workforce initiative for people mid-career, running July 2014 to March 2015. See http://www.museumsassociation.org/professional-development/15042014-transformers-radical-change-in- museums • RPM co-hosted the BME Heritage Network showcase event which attracted more than 90 participants from across the city • 68 items loaned in for Keith Vaughan exhibition. 1 item taken in for pest freezing for local museum. 69 items in total. • 13 items acquired for the accessioned collection. 4 items acquired into unaccessioned collections for use in handling • 41 items loaned to 'Twixt two worlds' exhibition at Whitechapel gallery London; 2 items to the exhibition 'A working class legacy- east London group artists c1928-1936' at, Nunnery at Bow Arts; 1 archaeological model to Archaeology South East for use at 'The Festival of Nature' at Stanmer Park; a proportion of the High Weald Hoard to Eastbourne Museum as part of the High Weald Hoard Tour. Total = 44 items plus proportion of the hoard. Goal 2: More people experience and are inspired by museums Agreed Outcomes: Audiences are increased, more diverse and have a stronger sense of ownership; Visitors have a better quality experience; Learners have high quality engagement and skills development opportunities Digital: Develop a new, enhanced and flexible website; enhance our digital offer on and off-site in collaboration with digital partners and users in the city; • Work complete on discovery phase, reviewing existing web metrics and survey data. Audience segmentation work, using motivation based profiling, has been used to inform initial wireframing. • The Digital Developer Officer is now the RPM representative for the Brighton Digital Festival consortium, and contributing to the Digital Education work group. 3 events have been approved for the festival in September. • Strategy work; on hold, to be revisited following launch of new website in autumn. • 9% growth in Twitter followers and 11% rise in Facebook likes Q1 • In discussion with Epic Learning, Brighton based e-learning company, on developing web-based game for HLF Whitehawk Community Archaeological project. • In discussions with 2 potential commercial partners; agreed projects with animator Dave Packer and Brighton Youth Film Festival for BDF 2014; students from Hove Park School agreed to contribute to Tales of the Pavilion Hospital; agreed drop-in session with Brighton University Cultural Informatics group for BDF 2014. • New interactive content in development for next Spotlight gallery display. Programming: Programmed exhibitions and events developed in collaboration with cultural partners, artists and community groups Brighton Museum: From Downs to Sea: A Slice of Life For the first time ever, Brighton Museum & Art Gallery has worked with local residents from the Portslade and West Hove neighbourhoods to select, display and interpret works for a major exhibition. The paintings, photographs and sculptures on show are drawn from the Arts Council Collection as part of the Select Scheme. They include seascapes by L S Lowry and Jeffrey Camp, rural scenes by Peter Doig and Edward Burra, and urban images by Carel Weight and David Redfern. The residents from Portslade and West Hove were involved in all aspects of the exhibition, from choosing works that resonated with them personally, to creating labels and film to be used in the gallery. They described their experience in the following words: 2 Royal Pavilion & Museums ACE Report; April – June 2014 ‘We were given the opportunity to work with Brighton Museum to choose art work from the Arts Council Collection for an exhibition. We found many works that spoke to us about what we experience in our daily lives, living on the outskirts of a big city. This exhibition helps to tell the story of our home – between the Downs and the sea .’ The project started in April 2013 with the Trust for Developing Communities assisting the museum in assembling a group of people from Portslade and West Hove who were interested in taking part in the experience of curating an exhibition at the museum. The group numbered approximately 16 people, aged from 18 to 81, who were all actively involved in developing the project. Some participants had a previous interest in visual art, while others had no interest in art to start with, but gained a passion for it through their involvement in the project. The exhibition was open to the public from 5 April – 15 June 2014. 77% of visitors rated it as excellent or good, 33 % said the exhibition was one or the main reason they visited Brighton Museum that day, and this figure rose to 50% for visitors from Portslade and West Hove. 86% of visitors said that they thought that collaborative working between museums and community groups is a good idea. Comments included ‘Particularly inspiring to see the work of a community group’. Final project review meetings are still taking place with the community group and an evaluation report will be produced jointly by RPM and the Trust for Developing Communities to review the impact of the project on those who have participated.