The jury’s in: What Birmingham wants from its museums
Stories from behind the scenes of the first citizens’ jury in a UK museum
What happens when a museum lets the citizens decide? How does the relationship of trust change, in all directions – between the museum and citizens, citizens and the museum, and citizens and each other?
Participation, co-creation, and co-curation are all methods that are often used in museums. Despite this common practice, rarely does power actually shift - usually, the museum still calls the shots. What might happen if sustained relationships of trust could be nurtured between a museum and its citizens?
In autumn 2024, Birmingham Museums Trust (BMT) invited 28 Birmingham residents, selected through sortition (a two-stage lottery), to make history by participating in the first citizens’ jury ever held in a UK museum. The question they were asked was: ‘What does Birmingham need and want from its museums, now and in the future; and what should Birmingham Museums Trust do to make these things happen?’
Earlier this year, the jury’s recommendations were revealed at a special event attended by local and national stakeholders.
On 20 October, we invite you to join us for a webinar co-hosted by Lucy Reid (DemNext) and Charlotte Holmes (BMT) with some of the people involved in the process, including some of the citizen jurors, Sara Wajid, co-CEO of Birmingham Museums Trust, Mara Livermore and Rowan Harris from Shared Future, Mathew Beckett from River Rea Films and evaluator Isabella Roberts.
Together, we will reflect on the experience, explore how trust was built, and relationships changed through the process, and what comes next - for the museum, and for the jury members.
RSVP and share with others who are eager to learn from this landmark assembly.
Resources:
Click here to watch a short film about the citizens' jury. And here for the launch event.
Read more about the process, including the final report, here.
Read the full citizens' statement and recommendations here.
Learn more about democratising museums and DemNext's work in Germany, here.
If you're interested in running a citizens' assembly, read and bookmark DemNext's Assembling an Assembly Guide.