Museumand

{{short description|Group celebrating Caribbean heritage in the UK}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}

{{Use British English|date=February 2023}}

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Museumand: The National Caribbean Heritage Museum is a group that celebrates the contribution of British African-Caribbean people to life in the United Kingdom. The group is a "museum without walls" based in Nottingham, and who work with communities there and elsewhere, including mounting exhibitions in museums, universities and other places.{{cite web |title=Museumand - The National Caribbean Heritage Museum |url=https://www.blackhistorymonth.org.uk/article/profile/section/charity/museumand/ |website=Black History Month 2020 |accessdate=12 November 2020 |language=en |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220526175019/https://www.blackhistorymonth.org.uk/article/profile/section/charity/museumand/ | archive-date=26 May 2022}} It was founded in 2015 by Catherine Ross as the SKN (Skills Knowledge and Networks) cultural museum,{{cite web |last1=Hubbard |first1=Emma |title=Nottingham's first Caribbean heritage museum is here |url=https://nottstv.com/nottinghams-first-caribbean-heritage-museum-comes-to-the-city/ |website=Notts TV News |accessdate=12 November 2020 |date=16 July 2015}} and Museumand is a subsidiary of the SKN Heritage Museum Community interest company.{{cite web |title=Home page |url=https://www.museumand.org/ |publisher=Museumand |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230925055610/https://www.museumand.org/ |archive-date=25 September 2023 |quote=Museumand, The National Caribbean Heritage Museum a subsidiary of The SKN Heritage Museum CIC}}

In 2016, Museumand was invited to be part of the University of Oxford's Oxford and Colonialism Working Group.{{cite web |title=Museumand: Oxford and Colonialism Working Group: Why are we involved? |url=https://oxfordandcolonialism.web.ox.ac.uk/museumand |website=oxfordandcolonialism.web.ox.ac.uk |publisher=Oxford & Colonialism Network |access-date=7 March 2024 |language=en}} In July 2016, as SKN Heritage Museum, they launched an exhibition 52 Genres and Counting at the Splendour in Nottingham festival. The exhibition celebrated Black British music since 1947, and toured to the Bass Festival in Birmingham and Soul Fest in Liverpool.{{cite news |title=Groundbreaking exhibit charts history of black British music |url=https://archive.voice-online.co.uk/article/groundbreaking-exhibit-charts-history-black-british-music |access-date=1 April 2024 |work=The Voice Online |date=19 July 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240401084413/https://archive.voice-online.co.uk/article/groundbreaking-exhibit-charts-history-black-british-music | archive-date=1 April 2024}}{{cite web |title=Exhibitions |url=https://www.museumand.org/exhibitions/ |publisher=Museumand |access-date=1 April 2024}}

In 2017 and 2018, Museumand collaborated in the University of Leicester Centre for New Writing's "Caribbean Journeys" project, resulting in a book Caribbean Journeys (2018, {{ISBN|9781527219212}}), an anthology of the writings of Caribbean elders recording their life experiences.{{cite web |title=Caribbean Journeys |url=https://le.ac.uk/new-writing/projects/caribbean-journeys |website=University of Leicester |publisher=Centre for New Writing |access-date=7 March 2024 |language=en}}{{cite book |title=Research Output: Caribbean Journeys: Travel Writing By Nottingham Caribbean Elders |url=https://research-information.bris.ac.uk/en/publications/caribbean-journeys-travel-writing-by-nottingham-caribbean-elders |publisher=University of Bristol |access-date=7 March 2024 |date=2018|isbn=978-1-5272-1921-2 }}

In 2017, Museumand hosted Caribbean Conversations, a series of 8 programmes on local television station Notts TV.{{cite web |last1= |first1= |title=Caribbean Conversations |url=https://nlha.org.uk/news/caribbean-conversations/ |publisher=Nottinghamshire Local History Association |access-date=7 March 2024 |date=22 May 2017}}

In 2018, the National Trust Museum of Childhood at Sudbury Hall, Derbyshire, hosted an exhibition of "Black Dolls: The Power of Representation" in conjunction with Museumand.{{cite news |title=Black dolls exhibition aims to 'shock' |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-derbyshire-44503674 |access-date=7 March 2024 |work=BBC News |date=16 June 2018}}

In 2019, Museumand's film White Gold; the story of sugar, slavery and settlement in the Caribbean was published in Feast online magazine, in issue #1 on the theme of sugar.{{cite journal |title=Sugar |journal=Feast |date=2019 |url=https://feastjournal.co.uk/issue/sugar/ |access-date=7 March 2024 |language=en |issn=2397-785X}}
{{cite journal |last1=Museumand |title=White Gold; the story of sugar, slavery and settlement in the Caribbean |journal=Feast |date=2019 |url=https://feastjournal.co.uk/article/white-gold-the-story-of-sugar-slavery-and-settlement-in-the-caribbean/ |access-date=7 March 2024 |language=en}}

In 2021, Museumand partnered with the University of Lincoln's "Reimagining Lincolnshire" project to produce a four-day event in Lincoln including a performance "Hidden Stories: From the Caribbean to Great Britain".{{cite web |title=Hidden Stories: From the Caribbean to Great Britain |url=https://www.beinghumanfestival.org/events/hidden-stories-caribbean-great-britain |website=Being Human Festival |access-date=7 March 2024 |language=en |date=11 November 2021}}

70 Objeks & Tings is an exhibition and book which tell the story of the "Windrush generation" through their familiar objects and other aspects of their daily lives.{{cite web |title=Museumand, The National Caribbean Heritage Museum launches new book for Windrush Day 2020 on the 22 June |date=22 June 2020 |url=https://www.windrushday.org.uk/news/museumand-the-national-caribbean-heritage-museum-launches-new-book-for-windrush-day-2020-on-the-22-june/ |publisher=Windrush Day 2020 |accessdate=7 March 2024}} Includes online access to "Caribbean Food" chapter{{cite web |title=70 Objeks & Tings - Celebrating 70 Years of Caribbeans in the UK |url=https://www.keepthefaith.co.uk/2020/10/03/70-objeks-tings-celebrating-70-years-of-caribbeans-in-the-uk/ |website=Keep The Faith: The UK's Black and multi-ethnic Christian magazine |accessdate=12 November 2020 |date=3 October 2020}} Includes online access to "Caribbean Hair, Beauty & Dress" chapter The book Objeks & Tings was launched on Windrush Day in 2020, with online publication of its first section, on food, although COVID-19 had prevented the planned programme of workshops to gather and develop material for the book. The exhibition was on display at the Streetlife Museum in Hull in 2021 during Black History Month,{{cite web |last1= |first1= |title=First look at exhibition celebrating 70 Years of Caribbeans in the UK |url=https://news.hull.gov.uk/01/10/2021/first-look-at-exhibition-celebrating-70-years-of-caribbeans-in-the-uk/ |website=Hull CC News |access-date=7 March 2024 |date=1 October 2021}} and at Nottingham Castle when it reopened in 2023, and the book of the same title was available for sale there.{{cite web |last1=Kendall Adams |first1=Geraldine |title=Nottingham Castle prepares to welcome visitors back after eight-month closure |url=https://www.museumsassociation.org/museums-journal/news/2023/06/nottingham-castle-prepares-to-welcome-visitors-back-after-eight-month-closure/# |website=Museums Association |access-date=15 February 2024 |date=23 June 2023}}{{cite web |title=Windrush 75th anniversary marked in opening exhibition at Nottingham Castle |url=https://www.mynottinghamnews.co.uk/windrush-75th-anniversary-marked-in-opening-exhibition-at-nottingham-castle/ |website=My Nottingham News |publisher=Nottingham City Council | date=21 June 2023 |access-date=15 February 2024}}{{cite web |last1= |first1= |title=How UK museums are marking Windrush Day |url=https://advisor.museumsandheritage.com/news/how-uk-museums-are-marking-windrush-day/ |website=Museums + Heritage Advisor |access-date=7 March 2024 |date=22 June 2023}} Twelve episodes of an associated podcast Objeks & Tings were produced in June-September 2023 and were chosen by The Guardian as one of its "podcasts of the week".{{cite news |last1=Duggins |first1=Alexi |last2=Richardson |first2=Hollie |last3=Verdier |first3=Hannah |title=Best podcasts of the week: Celebrating 75 years of Caribbean food, culture and history |url=https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2023/jun/15/hear-here-museumand-objeks-and-tings-podcast |access-date=15 February 2024 |work=The Guardian |date=15 June 2023}}{{cite web |title=Objeks & Tings |url=https://messageheard.com/podcasts/objeks-tings |website=Message Heard |access-date=15 February 2024}}

Museumand's exhibition Pardner Hand: A Caribbean answer to British banking exclusion was displayed at the Bank of England Museum, London in 2023 and 2024, opening on Windrush Day in June 2023,{{cite web |title=Pardner Hand: A Caribbean answer to British banking exclusion |url=https://www.bankofengland.co.uk/museum/whats-on/pardner-hand |website=What's On |publisher=Bank of England Museum |access-date=15 February 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240120010620/https://www.bankofengland.co.uk/museum/whats-on/pardner-hand |archive-date=20 January 2024 |language=en}} and the museum published a series of blogs by Museumand's founders to accompany the exhibition.{{cite web |last1=Ross |first1=Catherine |last2=Burrell |first2=Lynda |title=Community savings and the Pardner Hand |url=https://www.bankofengland.co.uk/museum/online-collections/blog/community-savings-and-the-pardner-hand | date=16 June 2023 |website=Blog |publisher=Bank of England Museum |access-date=15 February 2024 |language=en}}
{{cite web |last1=Ross |first1=Catherine |last2=Burrell |first2=Lynda |title=The Pardner Hand and Black entrepreneurship in the UK |url=https://www.bankofengland.co.uk/museum/online-collections/blog/the-pardner-hand-and-black-entrepreneurship-in-the-uk | date=23 June 2023 |website=Blog |publisher=Bank of England Museum |access-date=15 February 2024 |language=en}}
{{cite web |last1=Ross |first1=Catherine |last2=Burrell |first2=Lynda |title=Beyond the Pardner Hand - how else did Caribbeans manage their money? |url=https://www.bankofengland.co.uk/museum/online-collections/blog/beyond-the-pardner-hand | date=30 June 2023 |website=Blog |publisher=Bank of England Museum |access-date=15 February 2024 |language=en}}

The group's founder, Catherine Ross, who came to the UK in 1958 from Saint Kitts at the age of seven, is its director{{cite web |title=Catherine Ross |url=https://www.museumand.org/?team=catherine-ross |publisher=Museumand |accessdate=12 November 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210507220427/https://www.museumand.org/?team=catherine-ross | archive-date=7 May 2021}} and her daughter Lynda-Louise Burrell is its creative director.{{cite web |title=Lynda-Louise Burrell |url=https://www.museumand.org/?team=lynda-louise-burrell |publisher=Museumand |accessdate=12 November 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210729044205/https://www.museumand.org/?team=lynda-louise-burrell | archive-date=29 July 2021}}