Application Deadline: July 29, 2024
The Ukrainian Institute, in collaboration with the Museums Association (MA), ICOM UK, ICOM Ukraine, and supported by the British Council, is developing a new museum guide focused on Ukraine, set to be published late 2024.
This guide - created and tested with international partners and subject experts - will feature case studies and examples to help cultural heritage professionals to more effectively catalogue, label and contextualise Ukrainian history and heritage. It aims to serve as a resource for specialists and non-specialists alike, enhancing the accurate identification and description of Ukraine's cultural heritage. The guide will also promote a broader understanding of historical attempts by imperial powers to subjugate Ukrainian history and heritage.
To bring diverse perspectives and insights to this project, we are inviting expressions of interest to join an online focus group during the summer of 2024. The focus group will review the Test Version of the guide and provide constructive feedback to revise and refine the final version. This will be a valuable opportunity to shape the guide by sharing your thoughts and experience of decolonial practices relevant to other cultures.
This open call is particularly aimed at those who work with collections, exhibitions, public programming or digital content in museums, galleries, archives, libraries or other cultural organisations worldwide. We would also like to hear from researchers and other practitioners in the sphere of decoloniality. Participants will be offered a £200 fee for taking part.
Selected participants will be asked to:
- Review and comment on the Test Version of the guide
- Complete an online questionnaire
- Attend 2 online 2-hour workshops to discuss the Test Version of the guide and identify key outcomes.
The following criteria will be used to assess applications:
- Alignment with Current Decolonial Practices: Understanding of and contribution to contemporary discourse and methodologies.Dedication to developing and integrating international decolonial practices.
- Motivation for Participation: Assessed through the candidate's motivation letter.
- Bringing New Perspectives: Contribution of the candidate’s background and experiences to providing fresh insights.
- Diverse range of roles, organisations and levels of understanding of decolonial practices in a cultural heritage context.
- Geographical balance of participants.
Although this particular guidance is focused on Ukraine, we are seeking feedback from a diverse range of potential users of the guide and welcome participants with diverse perspectives on decoloniality practices globally.
To apply, please send a motivation letter and CV titled “Open Call to Join a Focus Group” to art@ui.org.ua no later than 29 July 2023, 11:59 PM, Kyiv time.
All applicants will be notified of acceptance or rejection by August 29, 2024.
For further information, please contact art@ui.org.ua.
For further information, please see the attached announcement:
A New Museum Guide Focused on Ukraine to be Published in 2024
A new museum guide dedicated to Ukraine is set for publication in 2024. Developed and tested in collaboration with a range of international partners and subject experts, the guide will feature case studies and examples on how curators can more effectively catalogue, label, and contextualize Ukrainian history and heritage.
This guide aims to be a valuable tool for both specialists and non-specialists, helping them accurately identify and describe Ukrainian cultural heritage. It will also promote a broader understanding of historical efforts by imperial powers to subjugate Ukrainian history and heritage.
The guidance will offer practical solutions to key questions, such as:
- How do we identify Ukrainian cultural heritage?
- How do we describe historically changing state borders?
- How do we avoid inappropriate language, terminology, and labelling?
- How do we fairly represent contested heritage?
This project, led by the Ukrainian Institute, is being developed in collaboration with the Museums Association (MA), ICOM UK, and ICOM Ukraine, with support from the British Council. The new guide builds on the work of the Museum Association’s groundbreaking publication "Supporting Decolonisation in Museums" (2021). That publication provided extensive resources to address questions about how British imperial and colonial history is represented in museums. This project will extend that work, exploring similar themes and challenges in the context of Ukraine and wider Europe.
The guide will evolve through a series of workshops, focus groups, and independent testing and will be published in digital format. It is scheduled for completion by summer 2024 and will be available for free download.
The Museums Association’s publication has been translated into Ukrainian by the Ukrainian Institute and is also available here.