Museums experts gather to explore innovative strategies for heritage preservation, community engagement, and sustainable exhibition design.
The Museums + Heritage Show this May will feature a powerful lineup of talks that promise to share challenges to traditional approaches.
On the first day of the two-day event, a series of sessions will cover new ways of approaching cultural storytelling, exhibition design, and institutional management.
From environmental sustainability to community-led interpretation, industry leaders are set to explore how professionals from across the UK are developing innovative strategies for making museums more responsive, inclusive, and impactful.
The diverse range of talks—spanning topics from the restoration of historic buildings to circular economies in exhibition design—will highlight a collective commitment to reimagining heritage not just as a preservative act, but as a dynamic, collaborative process of engagement and growth.
In total, there are more than 70 talks programmed at the Museums + Heritage Show this May, taking place in a packed programme which is available to browse in full here.
Environmental sustainability in exhibition touring will be the first topic of the day. Dana Andrew, Professional Development Manager at The Exhibitions Group will present ‘Using the Rethinking Touring Exhibitions Toolkit to reduce the environmental impact of exhibitions, touring and loans’, and will explain how its ‘Rethinking Touring Exhibitions Toolkit’ is used to “ask questions, make considerations, and take action to reduce the environmental impact of your exhibition, touring or loans project.”
Likewise, a session titled ‘A Circular Economy for Exhibitions’, unveils a new initiative to make heritage interpretation more sustainable, equitable, and circular—reshaping how organisations share stories, resources, and impact, both in the UK and worldwide. Eric Langham, Vice Chair of the Association for Heritage Interpretation and Founder of Barker Langham will ask: ‘Can we revolutionise the way we create and reuse exhibition materials?’
A community-led interpretation of historical monuments will be explored in the second session. ‘Monuments, Empire and Community-led Interpretation at St Paul’s Cathedral’ will be presented by Dr Renie Chow Choy and Simon Carter of St Paul’s Cathedral, Dr Muhammad Ahmedullah of Stepney Community Trust and Jacqueline Roberts FSA od St Vincent and the Grenadines Second Generation.
St Paul’s Cathedral recently worked with two community groups to study and interpret monuments associated with Britain’s commercial and military activities on the Indian sub-continent and in the Caribbean islands. The session will discuss how the outputs and methods have addressed complex historical events, engaged audiences, and supported collaborators’ charitable objectives.
New approaches to museum networking and collaboration will be explored by Sara Yorath, Chair of the London Museums of Health and Medicine. ‘Teamwork Makes The Dream Work’ – how museum networks can lead the way for growth and collaboration’ will explore how museum networks work, and what part organisations need to play to facilitate their success.
In ‘How much ambition can you fit in one year?’ Kiplin Hall’s Director James Etherington, Programming Curator Alice Rose, and Marketing and Communication Manager Samantha Jennings will explain how “the most hectic years in Kiplin’s 400 year history” was dealt with by its staff, and how it successfully “juggled” many different projects and developments.
A heritage restoration and community engagement project will be discussed in ‘Restoring Rochdale Town Hall’. This session will see Vicky Hilton, Heritage Engagement Officer and Cat Jessop, Community and Volunteer Officer from Rochdale Borough Council detail the restoration of the borough’s most iconic building, what it represents to the people of the borough and how Rochdale Town Hall’s innovative programming is contributing to community and economic growth.
Louise Weller, Head of Collections and Exhibitions, Petersfield Museum and Art Gallery will discuss how choosing to go bold can pay off. In ‘Local Story Goes Big. How a Temporary Exhibition Can Make a Permanent Change’ the session will discuss how sharing a local story through a temporary exhibition with national and international loans can positively impact visitor numbers and engage local communities.
To see the sessions in person this May, book your free pass here.
