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Since 2007 Tara Hamling has been working in collaboration with the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust (SBT) to embed research within their operations. The partnership has achieved these impacts in the area of Cultural Life to benefit museum professionals, visitors to SBT properties and a global public interested in Shakespeare and his period of history:
Country houses form a key part of our national heritage. As accumulations of goods and windows onto past lives, they are popular visitor attractions. Yet only recently have they begun to be seen as sites of consumption as well as artistic treasure houses. Research by Jon Stobart and Mark Rothery into the consumption practices and material culture in a number of country houses in the English midlands has: (a) heightened awareness amongst curators and the public of the country house as a site of consumption; (b) enhanced the role of academic research in the interpretation of the study houses, and has thus (c) enriched public understanding of historic owners and their houses.
The Centre for Medieval and Early Modern Studies (MEMS) actively promotes cross-sector collaboration and exchange with cultural institutions outside Higher Education. Through these partnerships, MEMS research in material culture and spatial studies by Catherine Richardson and Bernhard Klein has delivered public benefits by changing curatorial practices in the heritage sector and by influencing the content and the form of the education of doctoral students in the Humanities beyond the University of Kent. This research has been used by cultural providers, engaged wide public audiences, significantly enriched the experience of a large number of individuals, and changed the policies of several institutions within and outside the UK.
The multi-sensory, immersive exhibition `At Home in Japan', held at the Geffrye Museum in London in 2011, enabled Western audiences (including the public and school groups) to gain a better understanding of everyday life inside contemporary urban Japanese homes, overturning deep- rooted cultural stereotypes that continue to depict Japan as the quintessential, exotic Other. Through this exhibition, Daniels' ethnographic research has had a wide cultural and educational impact on multiple audiences, enhancing their understanding and appreciation of Japanese culture, and demonstrating the fallacy of the traditional minimalist stereotype with which it is commonly associated. The reach and significance of this impact is substantiated by the large numbers of visitors to the exhibition, the majority of whom responded extremely positively to the experience; the success of the schools' programme, community outreach workshops, curatorial tours, and study days; and the extensive enthusiastic coverage in traditional media and on the internet. Moreover, through its innovative uses of photographs and objects, the exhibition has been able to take museum practice in a new direction, encouraging in other museums similar approaches to enriching visitor experiences.
Queen Mary's research in Renaissance Studies has informed curatorial practice at cultural institutions in the UK and abroad, including the Victoria and Albert Museum in London and the Cini Foundation in Venice, producing displays that have reflected new conceptual approaches to the Renaissance and that have captured the imagination of large, general audiences. Their success was due, in part, to the close synergies between curators and Queen Mary scholars, including shared PhD student supervision through the AHRC Collaborative Doctoral Award scheme and through co-curation. Novel research ideas influenced the conceptualisation and approach to exhibits on Renaissance topics, manifested in new ways of presenting images and objects and their accompanying interpretative materials, such as catalogues, wall texts, events, and engagement with the media.
Warwick's Global History and Culture Centre (GHCC) is internationally renowned for its ground-breaking research into the study of globalisation and global material culture. The GHCC has established unique collaborative partnerships with leading heritage institutions in the UK and overseas, which facilitate sustained exchanges of knowledge and expertise between historians and curators. This has enabled new approaches and methodologies in global history to be utilised in the culture sector, leading to marked changes in practices of interpretation and display of material objects in museums. In addition, sustained dialogue between Warwick scholars and the art world has enriched the tools and analytical skills art consultants draw upon in interpreting objects and collections, enhancing their commercial value.
Northumbria University's research on the eighteenth-century novelist Laurence Sterne and on the literary significance of the Delaval family has had benefits for two arts and cultural organisations in the North East and Yorkshire. The research has secured new audiences and increased business activity and footfall for the Laurence Sterne Trust (LST), changed the emphasis of heritage interpretation at Seaton Delaval Hall (SDH) and expanded the range of activities offered by both organisations. We have developed long-term and sustainable relationships with both of our partners and are now co-designing collaborative projects with them.
This case study demonstrates how through the innovative use of photography and the creation of a multi-sensory, spatial context within the museum, distinctive opportunities are produced for re- evaluating deep-rooted cultural stereotypes and disseminating complex knowledge to the general public. The exhibition `At Home in Japan' focused on everyday domestic life to question popular stereotypes that depict Japan as the quintessential, exotic other. The exhibition had an impact on multiple audiences as substantiated by the large visitor numbers, the success of the schools' programme, community outreach workshops, curatorial tours and study days, the subsequent interest in the use of these experimental techniques by museum/academic institutions overseas, and extensive coverage internationally in the traditional media and on the internet.
This project has disseminated high-quality research through collaborative, curatorial, published, TV and digital outputs with a strong public engagement agenda. It has raised public awareness of the important role of gender in the development of eighteenth-century theatrical culture, influenced the public programmes of national collections, and involved collaborations with disciplines of music, theatre history and drama companies. The research has generated public lectures, a major curated exhibition with the National Portrait Gallery The First Actresses (2011-2012) and a smaller show of modern actress portraits The Actress Now, TV and radio features, linked digital resources on the `Open Arts Archive' (www.openartsarchive.org/oaa), and substantial press interest.
University of Huddersfield research into Lady Anne Clifford and her Great Books of Record has led to wide-ranging new awareness of a key figure in regional history, women's writing and political and cultural engagement. Supported by extensive dissemination efforts, including an exhibition, a series of public lectures and numerous media appearances, the work has helped inform the broader popular debate about the period in which Lady Anne lived, especially in terms of challenging cultural and gender stereotypes, and has generated both local and national interest in her life, her achievements and her continuing significance. The tourism, heritage and culture industries have benefited as a result.