“Yasmin brought support, direction, and insightful thought leadership to an innovative and demanding brief. Managing multiple perspectives and stakeholders she provided creativity and challenge that resulted in a professional and inspirational strategy that not only contributed to a successful major application to the National Lottery Heritage Fund (£4.2 M) for Ipswich Museum’s redevelopment but also to the organisation’s long-term decolonisation and inclusion ambitions.”
James Steward, Manager at Ipswich Museum (until April 2022) | Head of Service, Museums & Galleries, Bradford City Council
Ipswich Museum is a Grade II Victorian building in Suffolk with collections spanning Natural History, Archaeology and Social History, currently displayed in archaic galleries that give the illusion of being stuck in time. Some of the World Cultures collections accumulated during the height of the British Empire have artefacts of questionable provenance, many of which have obscure or missing object labels.
REMIT: Mentoring staff at Ipswich Museum to decolonise their collections and operations, scoping a Decolonising Strategy, and working with a team of associates to embed the emerging Decolonising Strategy across the Activity Plan (Julia Holberry Associates and Claire Adler), Design Interpretation Plan (Mather & Co.), and Conservation Plan (PRS Architects).
Outputs I delivered during the development phase include:
- Authoring a Decolonising Strategy comprising of a Strategic Framework, SMART Objectives, Theory of Change, Strategic Implementation Plan, Success Indicators, and language style guidelines.
- The development of a Restitution Policy.
- Toolkits, staff surveys and facilitating training workshops.
- Scoping a new job description to recruit a Senior Curator of Decolonial Practice.
RESULT: Successfully awarded a £4.3m grant by The National Lottery Heritage Fund towards the £8.7m project that will inspire a new generation.
Delivery phase is planned to be completed by 2025 supported by £3.6 m match funding from Ipswich Borough Council.
Ipswich Museum – Decolonisation strategy agreed | Ipswich Star, Jason Noble, 22 June 2021
