public engagement

‘Momentum’ 2024: Advancing Digital Innovation in Memory

By Dr Victoria Grace Richardson-Walden There is a tension between digital innovation and presenting difficult, sensitive and traumatic histories and memories. Here we report on the impact of the workshop we held in Tartu, Estonia, encouraging museum practitioners to consider how to navigate this tension. We were grateful to be invited to contribute to the major international conference of the International Committee of Museums (ICOM) Exhibitions, not least because it gave us the opportunity to take our research beyond Holocaust organisations for the first time. ‘Momentum: Exhibitions and Memory’ (29 September – 2 October 2024) took place in Tartu, Estonia and was hosted by ICOM Exhibitions, along with ICEE (International Committee for Exhibition Exchange), ICSC (International Coalition of Sites of Conscience) and the Eesti Rahva Muuseum (the Estonian National Museum). Tartu is this years’ European Capital of Culture, which bolstered the quality of exhibitions and tours we were welcomed to attend as part of the conference programme. The conference had three themes: memory and the future of museums the intersection of memory, innovation, and exhibitions how do exhibitions shape memory? Our workshop engaged with the second of these themes, focusing on the intersection of digital innovation and difficult, sensitive and [...]

Addressing Our Research Recommendations: Funding Bids and Policy Guidelines

by Dr Victoria Grace Richardson-Walden Lab director Dr Victoria Grace Richardson-Walden details how we came to run a workshop together with the United Nations and the Holocaust Outreach Programme earlier this summer. The event provided a forum for world-leading Holocaust commemoration organisations, international funders, and UK Parliament to explore the impact they could have on the future of global digital Holocaust memory. Between 2022 and 2023, the Lab’s current research team – Dr Kate Marrison and me – ran a series of online co-creation workshops with our project partners. The project led to the publication of 6 recommendation reports providing guidance on digital interventions in Holocaust memory and education. The workshops were composed of more than 120 diverse stakeholders, from Holocaust organisations, the wider heritage sector, creative and technical professionals, and academics from broad range of disciplines. A recurring theme emerged: there was a lot of enthusiasm and imagination for developing digital work in the Holocaust sector, but funding bids and a lack of (inter)national policy guidelines hampered development. Representatives from Holocaust organisations expressed many frustrations including a lack of coherent digital strategy; long-term, project funding; and permanent staff with digital expertise. Problems which many felt could be tackled at [...]