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LBGT+ History Month 2023
This February, Manchester Museum reopens its doors to the public following our £15 million hello future transformation and all our energies and focus are on the preparations for this. And while this has meant that we do not have an LGBT+ History Month event this month, our year-round dedication to welcoming and celebrating lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, and more queer identities remains and is boosted by new displays, initiatives and across the museum – from telling stories of LGBT+ people in our new Belonging Gallery, to pronoun pins worn by our friendly Visitor Team.
This year’s theme 'Behind the Lens' gives us the opportunity to recognise and celebrate the LGBT+ people who work outside of the limelight – not only in the fields of cinema and TV, but behind-the-scenes of Manchester Museum's past and present. Highlights from our blogs include:
Visitor Team members Maxine and Michelle sharing the story of Amelia B Edwards, who had a lasting relationship with another woman and inspired the Egyptian collection at Manchester Museum
Visitor Team member Bryony sharing the story of Alfred Kinsey
Volunteer Sarah taking a closer look at storytelling and gender in the museum
Learning Team member Mattie sharing their thoughts about how museums can tell LGBTQ+ stories
LGBTQ+ Tours and Trails
Challenging the traditional ways in which museums have interpreted objects brings opportunities to create spaces where LGBTQ+ people can see themselves represented. We will continue to add new, diverse voices to our collection.
Check out our digital trail which brings LGBTQ+ voices to the collection. The trail includes some of Manchester Museum’s most iconic objects as well some hidden gems.
For LGBTQ+ History Month we are taking you on a journey through natural history and the ancient world, bringing new voices to the collections and opening up the possibility for multiple interpretations.
Through stories of gender, sexuality and family, we take a look at what is natural and what has been culturally constructed by modern society.
Activities and Resources
Get creative with these fun craft activities and puzzles! Just click on the pictures below to download. These activities are designed for all ages, but please make sure that young children have adult supervision.
Have fun and don't forget to share your creations!
We have put together some links and resources from organisations doing great work with LGBTQ+ people and their families. We will continue adding to this list.
And for a deeper dive... We've brought together some research and writing by staff from across the museum.
Spotlight on the Collection
Manchester Museum is currently closed to the public while we complete our hello future transformation. When we reopen, we look forward to welcoming you to a bigger, more inclusive and more wondrous museum.
Although our doors are temporarily closed, we are still here for you. Manchester Museum exists beyond a building. All our collections are all available online.
Inspired by LGBTQ+ History month, here's a closer look at some of the objects from our collections...
Podcast
How can Museums tell LGBTQ+ Stories
with Dan Vo
Historically, LGBTQ+ people and their histories have been absent from museum displays and narratives, how can museums start to tell LGBTQ+ stories? In this episode we are joined by Dan Vo, an advocate for LGBTQ+ inclusion in museums and the Project Manager for the Queer Heritage and Collections Network, working with museums and heritage sites across the country. Dan is joined in conversation by Mattie Davies from Manchester Museum’s Learning and Engagement team, Mattie is also the Trans Youth Work Coordinator for the Proud Trust.
Mattie and Dan reflect on their own experiences, exploring the power of storytelling and the importance of representation and belonging for LGBTQ+ people in museums.
How do everyday objects tell our stories?
with Dr Denise Kwan
What stories are hidden in everyday objects and why is telling these stories so important? In this episode we speak with Dr Denise Kwan, an artist, writer, and art lecturer whose project ‘Object-Stories of British Chinese Women’ tells the journeys of diasporic Chinese women in the UK through their everyday objects.
The project invited women to present an object of personal significance to explore how questions of belonging and identity are entangled in the most everyday of things. Participants talked about their lives through everyday objects and drawing on these stories as inspiration, the women attended art workshops to explore ways of visualising the significance of their possessions.
Carry on Collecting: Sex, Gender and Ethnography
with Stephen Welsh
In this talk, Stephen Welsh draws attention to the historical ethnocentricity of museum displays and interpretation. Collections assembled in Britain in the late 19th and early 20th centuries were invariably informed by contemporary notions of gender and sex.
Chiefly male collectors misrepresented and misappropriated objects associated with concepts of gender and sex found beyond Europe to fit their own particular colonialist worldview. Sex was inextricably associated with childbirth, women with domesticity and men with warfare and violence.
This talk was part of the Wellcome Collection's Sexology Season. It was recorded on 2 March 2015 at Manchester Museum.