Across six sessions from November 2022 – January 2023, The Highlanders’ Museum brought together a brand new group of five Community Curators to take part in: ‘The Sudan Campaign: A Community Curators Exhibition’.

As a museum, we have a responsibility to display our collection in a way that is representative of our community. The project aimed to bring the thoughts and opinions of our community inside the museum space, offering the chance to “have your say in our display”.

The Community Curators attended a six-week course of lectures and workshops, learning about the conflict in Sudan from 1896 – 1899, the display of colonial collections in museums, and how to write accessible labels for museum objects. They selected their objects and produced new, researched labels for the objects in the museum from the Sudan Campaign – out of 21 objects, only one had been on public display within the last ten years. As well as exhibition labels, their research will inform our collections records, creating a long-lasting impact on how we understand and interptet objects from this period. 

The Highlanders’ Museum would like to thank our Community Curators for taking part, and the researchers and museum professionals who helped bring the course to life: Dr Nicole Hartwell, Chris Berriman, and Danielle Sellars.

This project had two primary aims:

1. To produce a community-led exhibition display objects from the museum collection relating to the Sudan Campaign (1896 – 1899)

2. To engage a new audience with the collection, including groups and individuals who may not usually visit the museum.

Scroll through the gallery below to read some of the labels that our Community Curators produced. These labels will be on display in the exhibition, ‘The Sudan Campaign: A Community Curators Exhibition’ until May 2023.

Click to find out more about upcoming Community Curators projects, and how to get involved.