A list of Publications & Presentations
Apocryphally former Chinese foreign minister Zhou Enlai, when asked about the impact of the French Revolution, noted that it was ‘too early to say’. Likewise we have no real idea of what the world will look like in the aftermath of Covid-19. All societies effected by the lockdown will be aware of the limitations placed […]
Read More →Read how research at Derby Museums informed work into the intrinsic wellbeing of objects. It was a friend of mine that tipped me off to Happy Museum Project and the Derby Museum and Art Gallery. This was in 2016, as I was underway with my research into humans, objects and wellness that would come to […]
Read More →‘The wonderfully named Wellbeing of Future Generations Act requires public organisations to consider the long-term implications of their decisions for people and places, culture and communities. It aims to encourage people to think harder about the future and to consider the triple bottom line of environment and society as well economy. In fact, with its […]
Read More →In early 2018 Happy Museum joined Culture24, 64 Million Artists and Battersea Arts Centre on Lets Get Real 6 as partners in an action research project investigating the impact of digital technologies on social impact in Museums. Inspired by a blog written by Sejul Malde of Culture24 Museums doing digital and museums doing good — can we forge […]
Read More →by Mandy Barnett – Happy Museum Research Associate The Happy Museum project is especially targeted at museums that want to encourage participation and activism. We particularly focus on work with communities and the wider environment, sometimes called ‘place-making’. On 13th June we are holding our annual training day for museums who share our desire to ‘measure […]
Read More →In April 2017 Happy Museum Director, Hilary Jennings, appeared via video at a Canadian Museums Association Panel – Beyond Rhetoric; Beyond Neutrality: Introducing Three Game Changers. The moderator: was Robert R. Janes, FCMA and the other panelists were: Nika Collison, Haida Gwaii Museum at Kay Llnagaay; Beka Economopoulos, The Natural History Museum, Brooklyn, New York […]
Read More →WICKED PROBLEMS At a recent Happy Museum gathering at Woodhorn Museum, Lucy Neal introduced the concept of climate change as a ‘wicked’ problem. Reading from Tackling Wicked Problems, a 2007 policy perspective from the Australian Public Service Commission she noted that the term ‘wicked’ is here used, not in the sense of evil, but rather […]
Read More →In this great short film, Happy Museum Founder, Tony Butler talks about the thinking behind the Happy Museum Project and the innovative work of his team at Derby Museums.
Read More →On a rainy summer afternoon in August 2015 a small group of museum practitioners gathered on a canal boat in Kings Cross for an afternoon session investigating and experimenting with the links between museum collections and our relationship with the material world. We wanted to consider what the benefits and impact might be of activities […]
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