Rethinking Relationships
Rethinking Relationships is an Arts Council England funded project that began in September 2024 and runs until December 2026.
We are working in partnership with members of the African Diaspora and people from Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Nigeria and Ghana to explore collections and develop museum practice that better serves their needs.
At the Horniman we will be focusing on collections from Ghana, working with partners and communities to explore the collections.
Collections
The project works across four UK museums:
- Horniman Museum and Gardens,
- Pitt Rivers Museum (University of Oxford)
- Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology (University of Cambridge)
- World Museum in Liverpool
The Museum Ethnographers Group is a partner in the project and we will be sharing the results of our research through them.
Collaboration is at the heart of what we do and our partners include heritage professionals, community members, researchers, artists, diaspora groups and academics. Our work and outcomes are tailored to the specific contexts of the museums and our partners.
Events
We are currently developing events to showcase the collections and inspire potential researchers to get more involved in the project. We are developing our events in collaboration with African partners and they feature experts, practitioners and opportunities to interact with the collections and each other.
6 March
We will be holding an event showcasing the Ghanaian collections on 6 March working with the Ekóma collective to curate an evening dedicated to Ghana and the collections.
People
The team is made up of Nicola Stylianou (Project Co-ordinator) and two Relationship Managers, Tom Fearon and Joel Fagan. You can contact us via RethinkingRelationships@prm.ox.ac.uk or follow us on Instagram.
Rethinking Relationships builds on a previous project of the same name. Led by JC Niala from 2019-2022, it focused on collections from Kenya and Nigeria.
