Learning Programmes with Portraits

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Cultural Heritage

Linked to local and family history is Cultural Heritage. Programmes and events related to the specific histories of Black Minority Ethnic (BME) communities are more likely to attract those audiences.

Your museum, gallery or site may be in an area that is rich in cultural diversity but your portrait collection may not reflect that. This does not mean that you can't run events linked to cultural diversity - in fact it may give you and your colleagues a chance to reflect on your collection.

Even if your site is situated in an area that has little cultural diversity in its ethnographic makeup, revisit the collection. Often there are links between the sitters and the slave trade and its abolition or the expansion of the British Empire in the eighteenth and nineteenth-centuries. These can make for provocative and interesting events.

Be aware of the historical and contemporary controversies you may enter into. It is best practice to have a community partner, advisor or forum to guide you and participate in the programme.

A good example:

Black History in Bute Town

Bute Town History and Arts Centre have run imaginative writing projects reflecting the diverse cultures of the many groups that live in this part of Cardiff. For many black and Asian residents of Butetown born in Wales the origins of their family link with this once bustling coal port was the sea and they came from all over the world.

BHAC is dedicated to keeping the stories of Butetown's multicultural history and achievements alive for future generations. Many stories are retold on their website.

http://www.bhac.org/black_history.html

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