Museums for social justice

Sao Paolo, Brazil

2 June 2014

Dr David Fleming OBE

Director

National Museums Liverpool @DrDavidFleming

(International Labour Organisation)

What is social justice?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rtBvQj2k6xo

Liverpool Cityscape © Ben Johnson 2008

Museum of Liverpool

Winner 2013 Council of Europe Museum prize

“The museum traces the social, economic and political history of a city which is one of the most socially diverse in Britain. According to the Committee, the museum has an outstanding capacity to get people of all ages, backgrounds and abilities involved and promotes in such a strong, convincing form the Council of Europe core values.

The Museum of Liverpool provides an exemplary recognition of human rights in museum practice, the Committee underlines. The interaction with local community is excellent with numerous activities involving children, youth, families and elderly. It promotes mutual respect between ethnically and socially diverse parts of the society, addresses human rights through contemporary debates and dialogue and maintains an open and inclusive policy aimed at bridging cultures in every aspect of its work.”

Twitter

I still adore @MuseumLiverpool, even though it makes me ridiculously emotional. A city museum done perfectly @donnamk79

The wonderful @MuseumLiverpool. First museum to ever make me cry. Twice - @Yaz_S

German journalist, February 2013:

"We simply don't have museums like this in Germany. The people here, they go into your museums as if they are going into a pub. There's noise, there's life. People laugh or they cry. It's a place they feel free. I was amazed."

Museum of Liverpool

• People and story-led

• Uses emotion

• Authentic Liverpool voice

• Takes families seriously - places for intergenerational activity

• Variety

• Changeability

• It’s a socially responsible museum, and it fights for social justice

Museums have lots of roles:

1. Research and collecting

2. Economic role

3. Social role • Audience focused

• Educational

• Community orientated

• Democratic

• Open to debate

• Diverse

• Socially responsible

Liverpool context

• Unmatched cultural offer • Most deprived city in England

National Museums Liverpool

April Ashley – Portrait of a lady, Museum of Liverpool

"45 years and four months after I

became the woman I wanted to

be, I had a piece of paper to

prove I really am April Ashley.

I feel free at last.”

David Hockney: Early Reflections, Walker Art Gallery

Family Art Club

ALIVE: In the Face of Death, Walker Art Gallery

Visitor response - ALIVE: In the Face of Death

• Seeing beauty in death was not what I expected to see today. Moving and brilliant.

Rowena

• A truly inspirational exhibition. It really does open your eyes to the beauty of life in

the face of death.

• Extraordinary! A moving experience. the thought, sensitivity and humanity in this

exhibition is world class. It has changed me. Thank you. Joan

• Inspirational and moving. Having a brother who survived cancer I'm just amazed

by and grateful for this exhibition. Inspired by the positive attitudes of all the people

in the photographs. Thanks for this wonderful experience!

• Incredible - if anyone ever struggles to emotionally connect to art - they NEED to

see this.

• This exhibition will give hope to those who didn't know they had any.

From There to Here, Museum of Liverpool

House of Memories Celebration Day

House of Memories

Football in Liverpool

Hillsborough, Museum of Liverpool

Rhys Jones

Museum of Liverpool

International Slavery Museum

Anthony Walker Education Centre, International Slavery Museum

International Slavery Museum

‘Missing’ by Rachel Wilberforce, International Slavery Museum

National Historical Museum of Tirana, Albania

Comfort Women Wanted, Taiwanese Women’s Rescue Foundation, Taiwan

Museum of Democracy, Argentina

Concept development workshop – Democracy means:

Museum of Genocide Victims, Lithuania

Event for the human rights situation

in Belarus, Chechnya and Tibet

Museum of the Romanian Peasant, Romania

Democracy and corruption

Rank

(out of 115)

Country

1 Norway

2 Sweden

3 Finland

4 Switzerland

5 Denmark

10 United Kingdom

44 Brazil

Rank

(out of 175)

Country

1 Denmark

1 New Zealand

3 Finland

3 Sweden

5 Norway

19 UK

72 Brazil

Rank

(out of 115)

Country

115 Yemen

114 Syria

113 Central African Republic

112 Togo

111 Guinea

Rank

(out of 175)

Country

175 Somalia

175 North Korea

175 Afghanistan

174 Sudan

173 South Sudan

Most democratic

Least democratic Most corrupt

Least corrupt

www.cpi.transparency.org www.democracyranking.org

Politics

Queen Mother from the City

of Benin, 16th Century,

World Museum, National

Museums Liverpool

Our mission:

To be the world’s leading

example of an inclusive

museum service

www.sjam.org

Thank you

david.fleming@liverpoolmuseums.org.uk

@DrDavidFleming