Gendered Interpretations at the Victoria&Albert Museum and the Vasa Museum

In this follow-on funding project the team would like to work with the V&A and the Vasa Museum (and collaborating partners including the Allard Pierson Museum in Amsterdam, Skarhult Kulturmine in Sweden, and a network of Swedish state museums coordinated by Dr Pia Laskar, a Swedish gender heritage consultant) in order to coproduce with museum professionals gendered pathways and interpretation of the collections and permanent exhibitions in both the V&A and Vasa museums. Diversity of narratives of the past is fundamental to people’s sense of self, community and identity and it is imperative that this be reflected in a variety of sites where narratives are made. Modern museums are powerful cultural centres for individuals and communities to undertake life-long learning, therefore in this follow-on funding we are seeking to work with two national beacon institutions in order to have gender better integrated into narratives of the past and present. Transforming curatorial practice is at the heart of this work, and museums are well-placed to engage with new and diverse audiences in order to represent these diverse and significant narratives.