RUNNING A POP-UP MUSEUM Pauline Cockrill Community History Officer History SA

Pop up

to emerge suddenly or unexpectedly

Pop-up shops

Pop-up bars, cafes and restaurants

But wait there’s more ..

And pop art & craft

What’s new about museums popping up in unexpected places?

The Pop-up Museum as community engagement

• a short-term institution existing in a temporary space. • a way to catalyse conversations among diverse people,

mediated by their objects.

Nina Simon ‘A Radical, Simple Formula for Pop-Up Museums’ (Museum 2.0 blog post, 30 Nov 2011) http://museumtwo.blogspot.com.au/2011/11/radical-simple-formula-for-pop-up.html

Michelle delCarlo’s definition of a pop-up museum

• Pop-Up museums are community events where people share a personal object, based on a theme. The mission is to create conversation between people of all ages and walks of life.

Fool-Proof Guide to the Pop-Up Museum

To create a pop-up museum: • Choose a theme • Invite people to bring an object that is meaningful to them,

based on the theme • Invite them to write a label describing why their object is

meaningful, or a story they want to tell about their object • At the pop-up, people mingle with others, view objects, have

conversation Michelle delCarlo http://popupmuseum.blogspot.com.au/2011/08/fool-proof-guide-to-pop-up-museum.html

Why bother?

It’s cheap & (relatively) simple

Planning essentials

• Theme • Purpose • Location & ambiance • Resources: equipment & people • Promotion • Timing

Choose a Theme

Opt for universally accessible themes eg Childhood, WW1

Right location & ambiance Divide into areas with specific functions

Establish a safe, comfortable space that will encourage meaningful conversation

– similar to “a kitchen table” (Michelle DelCarlo)

Refreshments are important!

Fun to fit food with the theme!

Resources - equipment

Keep equipment simple

Resources – equipment

But you can be creative …

Resources - people Be prepared if lots of people turn up – do you have enough volunteers (with specific jobs) ?

Promotion

Traditional media + social media

[Don’t forget your hashtags!]

Timing • Rule of thumb – 1 ½ to 2 hours

• Or maybe longer if it is part of an event with multiple things to

do (NB Refreshments keep people around longer!)

Some issues • Security & preservation: • What do I write?: • Transient nature: • Did it work?:

Take care

Ideas & templates

• Why did I bring this item in particular? • Why is it special to me • What’s it’s story?

Document

• Film and/or photograph • Take people’s details • Storify

Evaluation

Did it work?

information

affirmation

community engagement

Here’s 7 more good reasons:

• Find new audiences and promote your work • Revitalise the old model • Assist in research for a project • Promote health and wellbeing • Offer opportunities for intergenerational activities • Establish new partnerships • Act as a community builder

Find new audiences & promote your work

Discovery Museum, Newcastle upon Tyne UK WW1 display popping-up in shopping centre

Museum of London’s Archaeological Archive popping up in shopping centres in London suburbs

Revitalise old model Cecil Higgins Art Gallery & Bedford Museum’s “The Thing About Me” pop-up event to launch their new name

Assist in research for a project

Italian market gardeners project

Establish new partnerships

Our WW1 pop-up museum included working with the CWA, RSL, State Library and Artlab

Offer opportunities for intergenerational activities

Promote health & wellbeing

Collaborative project: National Motor Museum, Morris Register & Resthaven Aged Care facility

Act as a community builder or ice breaker

Granville Boys High School at the Australian Museum, Sydney

New England Museum Association Conference at the Hyatt Hotel, Cambridge MA, USA

Our pop-up museum

Theme: “Where have we come from?”

Have fun!