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Category: Museum sector

  • Black Country Studies Centre online talks: The Nostalgia Series

    Black Country Studies Centre is hosting a series of free online talks discussing topics around the theme of Nostalgia. The latest talk, “Nostalgia and Oral History”, is now available to book via our website.

    Date: Thursday 24th June, 2021

    Time: 7pm – 8:30pm

    Venue: Zoom

    Introducing the Nostalgia Series

    Nostalgia is a contentious issue. Whilst for some it is a harmless, helpful, rose-tinted view of the past, it has also been viewed critically, as a form of regressive, reactionary and sentimental escapism. Yet there is a steadily increasing body of work that reassesses nostalgia in a more positive, active and empowering light. Through this research network series, we seek to gain a greater understanding of nostalgia, and its impact on museums, regional and local history, lifelong learning and communities.

    The Talk: Nostalgia and Oral History

    At a History Workshop conference held in Leeds, in 1985, Malcolm Chase declared that ‘[o]f all the ways of using history, nostalgia is the most general, looks the most innocent, and is perhaps the most dangerous’ (Chase, 1985, p. 26) . In the C17th nostalgia was considered to be ‘a disorder: a psychic and bodily languish leading to emotional outbursts, melancholy, depression and suicide attempts’ (Hoffer, 1688). In subsequent years both historians and social scientists were warned against the inevitable distortion and pervasive nature of nostalgia – ‘history as loss’ – mourning for a previous era (Tosh, 2015, p. 15).

    Nevertheless, historians and sociologists who utilise oral interviews within their research may well conclude that nostalgic reminiscences can enhance our understanding of the past and the present. Researching into the lives of post-war teenagers means an inevitable encounter with memories/nostalgia, but this can be harnessed to navigate the fluctuating connections between past and present. It is interesting to discern how references to images, diaries, fashion, and music, within interviews, can help respondents to recall incidents, emotions, and occasions that had long been forgotten, revealing fresh insights and helping the narrator (and the historian) to reconstruct autobiographical accounts of self, identity, and belonging.

    Despite warnings of the adverse effects of nostalgia on oral testimony, many oral historians see nostalgia as a means of understanding change and mediating memories. Using interviews with respondents who grew up in the post-war Black Country, this talk will examine the relationship between nostalgia and memory and the utility of nostalgia in mnemonic recall. Images, music, advertisements, memoirs, diaries, social media and a plethora of other aides-memoire can stimulate the senses and contribute to the process of remembering. These, in turn, can contribute to our understanding of the past.

    The event will be held on Zoom and a link will be sent shortly beforehand. It is free to attend.

  • Reopening Week Update

    Although the weather has been less than favourable this week, reopening week has been a success.

    The Museum has received some great press coverage (examples below) and visitors have shown how eager they’ve been to come back to the Museum with some of the wonderful comments we’ve received from them.

    Reopening Day (Mon 17 May)

    On Monday, we hosted a journalist from Heart Radio who filmed the video report below. We think it’s a great testament to the work that staff have done to make the Museum a welcoming and safe place for visitors:

    West Midlands Mayor Andy Street also visit on Monday to celebrate our first day of opening and to advocate for the sector. The visit gained coverage on ITV Central News as well as online:

    #MuseumMoment

    On Tuesday we participated in TikTok’s global #MuseumMoment marathon, which saw 23 museums from across 12 countries – including London’s V&A and New York’s Metropolitan Museum – host a live broadcast from the platform. BCLM participated with a live tour of Old Birmingham Road which saw more 150,000 people tune in to meet our characters and hear about Black Country life from the 1930s. Thank you to everyone who worked so hard to make this possible and for doing the Museum proud by taking the Black Country story global!

    Visitors Glad To Be Back

    The Museum also featured in Tuesday’s Express & Star with some great testimonials from visitors:

    Visitor Profile & Advance Bookings

    We’ve also been fortunate to welcome back some small education groups this week who’ve chosen to come to the Museum as their first trip since lockdown; and, our outreach talks are continuiung to be popular with schools who cannot yet make a visit. The number of enquiries coming through to the Sales & Ticketing team bodes well for the next academic year as we seek to re-engage schools.

    The weather has literally had a dampening effect on mid-week visitor attendance during our first week of opening. However, bookings for the coming weekend (22/23 May) are very positive with 99% of our target bookings achieved in advance at the time of writing. June half-term ‘Loff Out Loud’ is also selling well in advance with bookings increasing sharply (up by 33%) this week upon news of our reopening.

    Upcoming News

    We will launch our first on-sale of ticketed evening events soon with 1940s Evening as part of 1940s Weekend. We’re planning to go on sale to Members on 2 June and the general public on 9 June. An allocation of staff tickets will be available and we will update colleagues on details of this in a subsequent intranet post. However, most importantly and ahead of on-sale, we’ll share a programme preview with colleagues to let people know about plans for this year’s 1940s Weekend (17/18 Jul) and share some exciting news from the D-Day Darlings.

    Thank you again to everyone for their hard work and commitment in enabling reopening to be such a success. It’s been wonderful to see the Museum come alive again with colleagues and visitors as it fulfils its purpose to engage all generations with living history.

  • A letter of thanks from our Honorary Patron, HRH The Duke of Gloucester

    We have recently received the letter below from the Museum’s Honorary Patron, HRH The Duke of Gloucester, expressing his gratitude and admiration for the work everyone has done during these very challenging times. 

    The Duke takes a keen interest in the work the Museum does and is kept up-to-date with all the latest developments.  We hope he will be able to visit soon.

    A Thank You from HRH The Duke of Gloucester, Honorary Patron of BCLM

  • Changes Announced to Board of Trustees

    Museum Board of Trustees elects new Chair and appoints two new Deputies

    We’re delighted to announce that Dr Paul Belford has been elected as the Museum’s new Chair, with Jonathan Badyal and Vikki Jessop appointed as Deputies.

    Formerly Deputy Chair, and a Trustee since 2014, Dr Paul Belford takes on the role of Chair following the retirement of Lowell Williams in December 2020.  Paul is only the sixth Chair in the Museum’s 43 year history.  As a senior heritage consultant with expertise in planning, education, and community engagement, Paul’s knowledge and experience will prove invaluable as we seek to re-engage our current visitors and reach new audiences in the run up to opening the new development in early 2022 and 2023.

    Paul’s appointment as Chair is accompanied by two new Deputies. Serving Trustees Jonathan Badyal and Vikki Jessop each become Deputy Chair to support the Chair and the Board. Having grown up in Wolverhampton, Jonathan is now Head of Communications at Universal Music UK, where he is a vocal champion of British music and culture. Jonathan previously spent five years working for Government’s ministers responsible for the arts, creative industries and tech where he advised them on policy and communications.

    Vikki Jessop grew up in Dudley and Stourbridge and is currently the Art Handling Manager at Christie’s, where she oversees their team of technicians responsible for the movement and installation of artworks. Vikki will work alongside Jonathan to support Paul and the work of BCLM’s Board of Trustees. With a decade of experience gained from organisations including the V&A Museum and Whitechapel Gallery, Vikki is passionate about encouraging women to pursue technical-based careers in museums, and has lectured extensively about this subject at universities across the UK.

    Commenting on his new role of Chair of the Board of Trustees, Paul Belford said:

    “I’m delighted to be able to support the work of the Museum as Chair of the Board of Trustees. The Trustees are an energetic and dynamic group that provide encouragement and a valuable diversity of thinking to the leadership of the Museum. I’m particularly pleased that the appointment of Vikki and Jonathan as Deputy Chairs means we’ll be in an even stronger position to provide support to the Museum team. The new Deputy Chair roles will be regularly rotated across the Museum’s Trustees to give people an opportunity to contribute in different ways to the governance of the Museum as it grows and develops over the next few years.”

    Speaking about his appointment as Deputy Chair of the Board of Trustees, Jonathan Badyal said:

    “The Black Country Living Museum was the first cultural organisation I visited as a kid and some of my earliest memories are sitting on the grass bank of Old Birmingham Road eating fish and chips with my family. So it really is an honour, some 20 years later, to be appointed Deputy Chair and to work alongside Vikki and Paul in supporting the Museum at this crucial time.

    “Working for Government arts ministers gave me first-hand experience of the integral part museums play in their local communities, not just in terms of job creation and the sense of belonging they provide, but also the role they can play in health and wellbeing and also in helping us to better understand the world around us.  I can’t wait for the reopening and getting stuck in to help the team grow and engage new audiences in the Black Country and beyond.”

    Remarking on her new role as Deputy Chair of the Board of Trustees, Vikki Jessop said:

    “I am delighted to be appointed as Deputy Chair, as without the influence of the Museum I would not have pursued a career in the arts and heritage sector. Having grown up on a nearby council estate and benefited from the Museum at a young age, it is therefore a privilege to be supporting it now. Since joining the Board in 2020, I have witnessed an admirable demonstration of creativity and resilience from the Museum team in the face of the challenges presented by Covid-19.

    “I’m excited to be more involved with the Museum’s future projects, including getting stuck into Forging Ahead and the opportunities it gives the Museum to develop its audience relationships.  I’m looking forward to working alongside Jonathan in this role and strengthening my relationships with Andrew, Paul and across the Museum’s incredible team.”

    Andrew Lovett said:

    “I warmly welcome the election of Paul as Chair and the appointment of Vikki and Jonathan as Deputies.  It will be a real honour to work alongside them and the Board in a collective effort to fulfil the potential of the Museum for so many visitors who have come to value it as an important part of their lives.  I am also delighted to have this opportunity to thank Lowell Williams for his exemplary leadership of the Museum and support, including during the most testing of times in 2020.  Thank you, Lowell.”

    Please join us in wishing Paul, Jonathan, and Vikki all the best in their new roles.  You can learn more about and read the biographies of each of our Trustees here.

  • An update from Andrew – 24 Feb

    An update from Andrew – 24 Feb

    Andrew has recorded a short video to update colleagues on the latest Museum news.

    In the video below Andrew talks about the beginning of major works on Forging Ahead and gives an initial response to the publication of the Government’s roadmap out of lockdown.

    Further information on plans for re-opening will follow as soon as possible, so please do keep a look out for intranet updates and notifications via PlanDay.

    As a reminder to all colleagues, we’re hosting virtual coffee catch ups every Wednesday between 2.30-4.00pm on Microsoft Teams – via this joining link.

  • Forging Ahead Update

    We’re pleased to share with you that major works for our new development, Forging Ahead, are now commencing! For a refresher on what the project is all about, please take a look at our latest video on the project.

    BCLM has been awarded a Heritage Capital Grant from the Capital Kickstart Fund (as part of the Department for Culture, Media and Sport’s £1.57bn Culture Recovery Fund). We’re one of 22 heritage organisations to have received investment from the Fund today (19 Feb).

    These grants, administered by the National Lottery Heritage Fund (NLHF) on behalf of the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), are for organisations with projects that are already funded; but that have experienced disruption due to the pandemic. Investment from DCMS and NLHF now means that work on the project can begin in earnest.

    Please look out for the Museum on local news, including BBC Midlands Today at 6.30pm on Fri 19 Feb. The public article on our News Page is here.

    Forging Ahead is one development in a much bigger scheme to regenerate Dudley and boost the economy of the wider West Midlands. To find out more about the broader plans for the future in the area, visit Regenerating Dudley’s website.

  • BCLM receives support from Culture Recovery Fund

    BCLM’s application to the Government’s Culture Recovery Fund (CRF) has been successful and a grant of £2.56m has been awarded to further help the Museum face the challenges of the coronavirus pandemic.

    This financial support, administered by Arts Council England (ACE), will help to safeguard the Museum during these most challenging of times.   Since reopening in August, following five months of closure due to Covid-19 restrictions, we’ve been operating with strictly capped visitor attendance – resulting in audiences at less than half of the level seen in previous years.  A lack of demand from educational groups due to Covid has also contributed to significantly lower attendance – particularly during term time week days.   

    As an independent charity which receives 94 per cent of its income from visitors, the temporary closure and reduced visitor numbers have had a serious impact on the Museum’s short and medium-term financial position. Therefore, support from the Culture Recovery Fund will play a vital role in helping us to remain operational and able to serve our community; and while this is obviously fantastic news, we will still need to evolve to meet the challenges ahead.

    Watch a short video statement from Andrew below, or you can directly link to the video on our YouTube Channel here:

    Commenting on the award, Andrew said, “We’re incredibly grateful for the support given to the Museum, ultimately by the people of the UK, as a result of our successful application to the Government’s Culture Recovery Fund.  Prior to the pandemic, BCLM was justly proud of its contribution as an independent heritage business to the region’s identity and economy.  These funds will help us to adapt to survive in the short term, so that we can thrive and grow with our community in the long term. 

    “Prior to COVID-19 this Museum was enormously successful.  This critical funding provides the means to be successful once more.  As Chair of the Association of Independent Museums, I also recognise and welcome the positive impact of the Culture Recovery Fund for hundreds of museums across England and the value attached to them by millions of visitors.”

    Lowell Williams, Chair of the Board of Trustees, said, “This decision is a massive vote of confidence in the Museum. It reflects our value to people and the strength and optimism of the organisation.” 

    The full public press release can also viewed on our website’s News Page here.

    Other Midlands organisations including Ironbridge Museums, Birmingham Hippodrome, THSH, and Birmingham Museums Trust have been awarded grants from the Culture Recovery Fund. Given the support for the region’s cultural sector, it’s unsurprising that there’s a great deal of local media interest. Therefore, it’s likely that the Museum will feature online and in local TV news in the coming days, so please keep a look out. We’ll also post updates on this to the intranet.

  • Culture Recovery Fund – announcement of awards begins

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    The Department of Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) and Arts Council England (ACE) have this week announced details of organisations who have received support from the Culture Recovery Fund after making successful applications to Round 1 of the funding package.

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    Round 1 of the CRF pertains to organisations who have applied for grant funding from ACE of amounts under £1 million. Awards have thus far been made to 1,385 cultural organisations and totalling £257 million of support from a fund worth £1.57 billion.

    A number of our peers from the independent museum sector have successfully obtained funding having applied for Round 1 grants, including Beamish Museum (£970k) and the Charles Dickens Museum (£222k).

    Announcements of the funding round for which BCLM applied (ACE grants of more than £1 million) have yet to be made, but we expect to receive news about our application from Fri 23 Oct onwards.  As soon as we have news, we will inform colleagues – so please keep a look out for an intranet update.

    Andrew, as Chair of the Association of Independent Museums (AIM), has recorded a statement supporting news of the Round 1 awards and highlighting the positive impact this funding will have in helping independent museums to remain viable and able to serve their communities. 

    You can view the video here.

  • Forging Ahead Update – 14 Aug

    Forging Ahead Update – 14 Aug

    We’re delighted to announce that work on Forging Ahead will re-commence from w/c 17 August.  Work on the project was put on hold in March due to the Covid pandemic, but we are now in the fortunate position where the work associated with the Pre-Contract Services Agreement can now begin again.

    The most visible sign of work at the early stage of the project will be the construction of hoarding around Cast-Iron Houses as part of their re-location to make way for the new Visitor Centre.

    We will publish a further update on the new schedule for the development in due course, but in the meantime we wanted to let you know that plans to bring the Museum’s story up to the 1960s now have renewed momentum.

  • An update from Andrew – 7 Aug

    As we head into the second weekend following reopening, I wanted to take a moment to reflect on the fabulous feedback we’ve received from visitors since we’ve been able to welcome them back, and to share my personal thanks with you all for your efforts to bring the Museum to life following a long period of lockdown.

    Throughout our 136 days of closure, I was heartened to see so many messages of affection and support for the Museum.  Many of the people wishing us well told us what they missed most about BCLM – its stories, its people, being able to spend time reminiscing with their loved ones, and, dare I say it, the fish and chips.

    This notwithstanding, I’ve been both surprised and delighted by the degree of positivity and enthusiasm visitors have displayed towards us since reopening.  This reaction is a testament to working together successfully as one Museum team.  Visitors have embraced the new programme and how it takes them to parts of the site that they may never have visited before; they love hearing new stories delivered passionately by historic characters; they love the variety of the food and drink offer; and they feel safe with the distancing measures in place and a highly visible cleaning team working hard to maintain hygiene standards. 

    All of these things and more have been mentioned by visitors – many in long and heartfelt social media reviews and emails to the Museum.  I would encourage you to visit our social channels to see for yourself what people are saying about the work many of you have been doing to ensure the Museum succeeds. 

    The Museum has also hosted some notable visitors in its early stages of opening.  In what may sound like the beginning of an old joke, an MP, a Minister, and a Bishop walked into the Museum… But, in all seriousness, over the past seven days we’ve seen Dudley North MP Marco Longhi – impressed from his visit on Saturday – returning on Wednesday having invited the Minister of State for Digital and Culture, Caroline Dinenage MP, to visit the Museum in order to show her first-hand what a remarkable community asset it is.  The Rt Revd Martin Gorick, Bishop of Dudley, has also visited to show his support for the Museum.  These visits are not just important for the media coverage they can generate, but they’re also an opportunity to put the Museum front-and-centre with decision-makers who have a real influence over the future of the cultural sector. 

    Despite the success of our reopening, these are still very uncertain times for many businesses and charities and, not least, the Museum.  Our recent award from the Arts Council Emergency Response Fund and the strong demand for tickets means we’ve been able to begin trading again and generate much needed cashflow.  However, visitor numbers for this August will likely be around fifty per cent of the level achieved in 2019 and, as an organisation which is more than 90% dependent upon visitor income, reopening does not yet mean recovery.  The challenge of operating in a financially-sustainable way in the era of social distancing remains.  Therefore, it would be wrong of me if I did not mention here there are likely to be some difficult decisions ahead.

    The £1.57bn Culture Recovery Fund – currently the only sector-specific government fund – is evidence of the Government’s recognition of the importance of the cultural sector to people’s lives and the need to support organisations during this moment of crisis.  The Museum’s Leadership Team is currently looking at the best ways to apply for financial support from the Fund to enable us to operate effectively in the short term and give the organisation the best chance of survival in the long term.   It is still too early to tell what the long-term impact of Covid will be on consumer confidence and its influence on how people will choose to visit the Museum in the future.  Consequently, the future is uncertain.  Nevertheless, the Leadership Team and I are working hard to protect the Museum, its people, and livelihoods as we navigate this ‘new normal’.

    In this last of weekly comms updates, I wanted thank you all for your hard work and the way you have supported each other through these most difficult of times.  A living museum is no such thing without its people – both colleagues and visitors.  Our reopening has proved how vital the Museum is to the cultural life of the area, and as an agent of community cohesion.  Therefore, I’m incredibly proud of the experience we’ve put together and the positive impact it’s made for our visitors and for the reputation of the Black Country more widely.

    Thank you all,

    Andrew