museums Archives

Radical Objects: Josiah Wedgwood’s anti-slavery medallion

Georgia Haseldine 20 April 202229 October 2022

In the late eighteenth century Wedgwood’s medallion rallied people to the radical cause of abolition. Can it still inspire radical change today? Georgia Haseldine discusses the medallion’s historic radical power and re-making the…

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The Colonial Money Trail

Isabel Gilbert 10 January 202220 January 2023

To what extent has colonial money helped build Britain's heritage sector? Isabel Gilbert on the importance of publicly and transparently acknowledging the problematic roots of British country houses and their collections.

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Shared Heritage

Matthew Stallard 23 April 202120 January 2023

In our series on 'Radical History after Brexit', Matt Stallard of the Legacies of British Slavery project reflects on the ongoing politicisation of heritage.

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Birmingham Revolutions: Protest in the Museum

Emma McMullen 3 March 202029 October 2022

Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery holds hand-painted banners from the first political union in Britain founded in the 1820s, a plaque made from plaster scraped from the walls of Wormwood Scrubs by a First World War conscientious objector…

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Walking as radical history on the East End Women’s Museum Trail

Charlotte Tomlinson 20 January 202012 January 2023

What does the heritage trail format offer to the communication of radical histories? Charlotte Tomlinson introduces the East End Women’s Museum's (EEWM) Brilliant Women of Whitechapel, Bow and Barking Heritage Trail, which explores…

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Remembering 1968: Children of the New Age at Columbia University

Nancy Biberman 16 July 20184 January 2023

We were an optimistic and righteous generation, many of us conceived and raised by men and women who had survived […]

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Radical Object: A Handmade Rifle Confiscated by British Soldiers during the Mau Mau Uprising

Rachael Minott 23 March 20184 January 2023

A handmade wooden gun confiscated by the British during the Mau Mau Uprising in Kenya made its way into Birmingham's museum collection.

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Radical Objects: Migration and Museums – A Response

Christopher Whitehead 24 January 201813 January 2023

'The lifejacket is a symbol and a provocation', Christopher Whitehead responds to Manchester Museum's acquisition.

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Radical Objects: A Refugee’s Life Jacket at Manchester Museum

Bryan Sitch 7 December 20174 January 2023

How are museums responding to the refugee crisis in Europe? Bryan Sitch on Manchester Museum's acquisition & display of a refugee's life jacket from the Greek island of Lesvos.

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The Heritage Justification: Public Monuments and Uses of History in Charlottesville and Oxford

Laura Leonard 26 October 20171 October 2022

As statues spark controversy, Laura Leonard critically examines how white supremacists in Charlottesville, as well as critics of the ‘Rhodes Must Fall’ campaign, have invoked heritage as a legitimising language.

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‘Fallen Women’ at the Foundling Museum

Fran Bigman 18 July 20163 January 2023

In ‘Fallen Women,’ an exhibition held at the Foundling Museum, curators attempted, rather ambitiously, to explore this depiction of fallen women in period art.

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Memorializing Partition

Ramachandra Guha 31 August 201320 December 2022

Historian and columnist Ramachandra Guha on the memorialisation of the Partition in India

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museums

What

Where

When

Series

Radical Objects: Josiah Wedgwood’s anti-slavery medallion

The Colonial Money Trail

Shared Heritage

Birmingham Revolutions: Protest in the Museum

Walking as radical history on the East End Women’s Museum Trail

Remembering 1968: Children of the New Age at Columbia University

Radical Object: A Handmade Rifle Confiscated by British Soldiers during the Mau Mau Uprising

Radical Objects: Migration and Museums – A Response

Radical Objects: A Refugee’s Life Jacket at Manchester Museum

The Heritage Justification: Public Monuments and Uses of History in Charlottesville and Oxford

‘Fallen Women’ at the Foundling Museum

Memorializing Partition