Strategy and participatory framework workshop, Sunbury House, East London, 2023. Photo: Yinka Shonibare Foundation.
King’s College London
Serena Iervolino, Senior Lecturer in Critical Museology, King’s College London; Deborah Potter, Director of Collection Care, Tate; and Mark Miller, Director of Learning, Tate
October 2024 –
As custodians of the national collection of British art from 1500 to the present day, as well as an international modern and contemporary art collection of global significance, Tate holds the profound responsibility of caring for artworks on behalf of the British public. Innovations in collection care are focused on responding to the changing nature of collections, global and societal drivers such as climate change and public health crises, and new opportunities afforded by advancements in science and technology. However, in the wake of rapidly evolving geopolitical and social landscapes across the United Kingdom, there is a greater urgency to consider the role that museum collections play in articulating our collective memory and broader sense of identity/ies.
This practice-based, collaborative PhD will explore how the notion of ‘relevance’ as outlined by Nina Simon in The Art of Relevance (2016) can be meaningfully inserted into the everyday work of collections-based practitioners, particularly those in collections management and conservation, to fortify the intrinsic value of artworks, positing the United Kingdom’s diverse communities more deeply within the very collections held in their name to forge new, meaningful connections to them. The research proposes transforming the role local communities and the wider British public play within the realm of collections care to become key decision makers in the legacy building practices of publicly funded museums like Tate.
About Ann Marie Peña
Ann Marie Peña is a curator, cultural producer and policy advisor with a particular focus on social justice and community engaged artistic practices. She is Chair of the Curatorial Programme and a Founding Trustee of the Yinka Shonibare Foundation, and Curator of Special Projects (at large) for the National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa. Formerly Director of Frith Street Gallery, London, and Lecturer in Visual Studies at University of the Arts London, she initiated the Artist-in-Residence programme at the Art Gallery of Ontario in Canada in 2011.
From 2019–24 Ann Marie was Strategic Head of Culture and Heritage for Barking and Dagenham Council in the East End of London where she led on key projects including the development of the Women's Museum and A House for Artists.
Instagram @ms.a.m.pena