A new Hunterian project titled 'Curating Discomfort' has received funding from Museums Galleries Scotland, the national development body for Scotland’s museums.

The award offers The Hunterian the chance to work with a facilitation expert to find new, inclusive ways of interpreting contested collections that are sensitive to diverse viewpoints.

Lola Sánchez-Jáuregui, William Hunter Tercentenary Curator at The Hunterian, said:

“Receiving the award from Museums Galleries Scotland to develop the ‘Curating Discomfort’ project represents an exceptional opportunity for The Hunterian. We are living in the midst of agitated times, and museums have the responsibility to adopt more critical approaches to issues of identity, gender or colonial histories. In this context, The Hunterian wants to be an open space for dialogue and transparency, and this grant award will enable us to fund a series of initiatives to address these issues.”

The Hunterian is one of three Scottish museum organisations to receive funding for projects that will challenge traditional interpretations of museum collections.

Other projects to receive Museums Galleries Scotland support focus on digitising collections to make them more accessible to the public and researchers, as well as improvements to buildings that will enable better access to previously restricted or unseen items. A number of awards will also fund the creation of new posts to undertake project management, business development, curatorial, and digitisation roles.

Lucy Casot, CEO of Museums Galleries Scotland, said:

“We are delighted to support Scotland’s museums in achieving their ambitions through these twelve projects. Museums are safe spaces that reflect the world we live in, so it is entirely appropriate that we should invest in ensuring they remain relevant in today’s diverse society and we particularly welcome the projects that are revisiting their collections to explore different perspectives and stories. Lots of the projects involve elements of digitisation which will enable the museums to improve their accessibility, and we are also keen to support the creation of new jobs in the museums sector, which many of these projects will deliver.”

Further details on the fund are available from the Museums Galleries Scotland website.

First published: 5 July 2019

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