Learning Programmes with Portraits

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• Themes around Portraiture
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• Festivals and National Events
• Acknowledgements
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Talks and Tours

Guided Tours

Guided tours focusing on the portraits of your site is a great way of giving the visitors added value to their visit, gaining repeat visits and pick up new audiences. People almost always prefer another person telling them information to an audioguide or guidebook.

The main problem with guided tours is the cost in time. Training for and then giving a guided tour is time consuming, even if you have volunteers to do them. Guided tours should also be a regular feature to have any impact. They should be quality controlled for the accuracy of the information and delivery.

Short Talks

A short talk on a portrait or collection of portraiture lasting about 30 minutes is another good way of generating repeat audiences and giving added value. Such talks can be adaptable and put on again if demand requires it.

These talks can be an easier alternative to guided tours. People's attention span in one or two places is generally about 30 minutes. It is worth making sure that portable chairs are available for older visitors and those with mobility problems.

Lectures

Lectures can be useful on a public programme and are often popular. They have the advantage that people can sit down, visuals are not limited to your collection and they can generate a discussion. High profile speakers and authors are good for generating interest.

It is important that the lecturers are good communicators and interesting to listen to. Try and get feedback on people's style of delivery and reputation before asking them to speak.

A good example:

The Equiano Exhibition

The Equiano Exhibition at Birmingham Museum (September 2007 - January 2008) was part of the 'The Equiano Project', which celebrates the life and times of the eighteenth-century writer and campaigner Olaudah Equiano. The programme consisted of exhibitions, interaction with local community groups, educational resources, events and a project website. It is a good example of a partnership project.

The exhibition used portraits and reproductions of portraits within the exhibition to illustrate the key players in Equiano's life and portraits, were known, of Equiano himself.

A public programme of activities was planned around the exhibition. Although these activities were not only on portraits, they are good examples of the way in which the biography of a notable person can be used to illustrate a variety of themes. In this case slavery, abolition, travel and the social history of the eighteenth-century were all investigated.

A range of family events were organized at Saturdays and in half-term, such as an Eighteenth Century Weekend.

Equiano Talks were given in the adjacent Gas Hall and included:

• Jim Walvin - 'Who was the Real Equiano?'
• Reyahn King - 'European Portrayals of Slaves and Slavery'
• Joe Aldred - 'Exploring Equiano's Faith'.

The Museum also participated in conferences and study days connected to the Equiano project and held a two day conference with the Equiano Society and Museum of Docklands, 'Celebrating Equiano: His Life and Times', on 16 and 17 November 2007.