Community Action Research Project Coordinator at Horniman Museum and Gardens

By Thomas Fearon, University of Goldsmiths

My role at the Horniman, as part of the Community Action Research project has required me to quickly learn how a project of this kind is planned and implemented within the museum sector. Although the design of the project was already in place at the start of my role, I had to familiarise myself with methods and practice for participatory collections-based research practice. The impetus for the project has been to make collections more accessible to African and Caribbean community members, with a decolonial focus and a willingness to increase Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion at the Horniman, meaning that the planning phase of the project was important to ensure these goals were being met for the museum, Community Action Researchers (CARs) and other stakeholders. The planning process required additional care, due to being entirely online in response to COVID-19, and to ensure the process was ethical, safe, and remained participatory and engaging for community researchers throughout.
My role involved working closely with the project leads and I had freedom and encouragement to work independently on key aspects of the project such as the Community Members Newsletter which was developed in response to Caribbean elders who wanted to be involved and are not active on social media. The newsletter widened participation in the project across age groups and backgrounds.

I provided a major support for the project coordinators in a wide range of capacities that involved liaising with both internal and external contacts, across the cultural and academic sectors. Many of these early tasks were geared toward reaching out to community groups (many of which the museum did not have an existing relationship with), recruiting CARs, and planning the structure and content of high-quality training sessions delivered by a range of experts from across the cultural and academic sectors (in the UK and abroad) so CARs would be supported in their role. Additionally, I was involved in organising various events throughout the project, preparing materials in advance where required. I ran and facilitated a number of online training sessions, which were also open to the public and recorded to provide a legacy resource in the form of a Community Research Hub at the Horniman.

Alongside the Community Action Research project at the Horniman, I was kindly invited by JC Niala to co-produce the Afro Historyscapes podcast, to give a different perspective on the history and material culture in Africa, using objects from the Horniman Collections to tell these stories. We worked collaboratively with Community Researchers to produce research and scripts for each episode, and is an important way for the Horniman to share the collections, as well as ethos and success of the project with a wider audience.

I was also invited to deliver a training session based on my own research carried out with the collections and in relation to my academic background in the anthropology of religion, that focused on anthropological approaches to religion, particularly Christianity, in the Horniman collections, as well as their colonial legacies. My expertise in the interdisciplinary study of religion opened up a needed space for the recognition of lived/everyday religion and the history of religion in the way it can open up various avenues for exploring museum collections. As a response to this the Afro Historyscapes podcast featured three episodes dedicated to major faiths that are represented in the Horniman collections. Further, I understand the importance of recognising faith groups community groups on their own terms, something I feel broadens the scope of EDI agendas, which is often narrowed by recognition along lines of nationality and/or ethnicity, rather than faith.

Once the project was underway, my role consisted of supporting CARs with their research project and as main community liaison. This particular task was one I saw as key to the success of the project. My unique role as an unpaid intern on the project, working between CARs and Horniman staff- also new to the Horniman- meant I was able to build meaningful and supportive relationships with the community researchers, getting to know them and their research projects well, while learning the history and content of the collections alongside the community researchers in an equitable way. This usually involved searching the collections database (MIMSY) for appropriate objects related to their specific research projects. One highlight was a social meet-up, planned and organised by myself, to visit the museum, the first time some of the CARs had been able to view the galleries and meet in-person, which I know from personal feedback, they found extremely valuable and enriched their experience.
As well as directly supporting community researchers I prepared evaluation reports for Critical Friends and consider ways in which the project should be evaluated. I prepared feedback questionnaires for CARs, from which we received excellent feedback and key learnings for future projects. I am proficient in qualitative and quantitative evaluation, both in this role and in my doctoral studies, particularly in this instance, working with critical friends and collecting anonymous feedback. This experience of and ability to analyse evaluation measures will be key in the success of the project at NMS, which I acknowledge is a key component of the project. My experience at the Horniman has highlighted various points of evaluation that might get overlooked in the planning and implementation phases of the project, meaning I will be able to build them into methodology and evaluation at the early stages of a new project, for example, ensuring that there is space for community members to interact outside of schedules sessions and workshops.

Since my initial role with the Horniman Museum and Gardens I have been able to continue working as a paid member of staff on a similar community and collections focused project. The placement has shown me the possibility of careers beyond academia, where the job market continues to becomes less welcoming. Through the placement I have been able develop new interests and skills, as well as putting them into conversation with my research in a sector where there are lots of new exciting projects and important conversations taking place.