Museums & Galleries Edinburgh will be taking part in two groundbreaking equalities initiatives that are starting this month.
Museums & Galleries Edinburgh will be taking part in two groundbreaking equalities initiatives that are starting this month: Museum Transformers through Museums Galleries Scotland, and the Anti-Racist Museums Programme with the Museums Association.
The Museum Association’s Anti-racist Museums Programme encompasses six museums that are actively working towards becoming anti-racist organisations, with Museums & Galleries Edinburgh being the only Scottish Museum taking part in the programme. The programme presents an opportunity to create meaningful change in the UK museum sector through organisational and professional development.
Museums Galleries Scotland is working with 19 heritage organisations from across Scotland on the Museum Transformers programme which will run for two years. The programme aims to empower the museum workforce to make changes to help all people to access culture, in an organisation-wide approach which will include trustees, staff, and volunteers. This aligns closely with the work underway cross-Council to deliver on the Edinburgh and Lothians Equality and Diversity Framework 2021-2025.
In 2020, the City of Edinburgh agreed to address historic racial injustice and stem modern day discrimination by holding an independent review into the city’s historical links with slavery and colonialism.
Between December 2020 and July 2022, the independent Edinburgh Slavery and Colonialism Review Group (ESCLRG), undertook a significant body of work investigating the city’s past and present relationship with slavery and colonialism.
In October 2022, the Lord Provost Robert Aldridge opened the Council meeting by apologising on behalf of the city for its past role in sustaining slavery and colonialism. The civic apology is one of the ten recommendations returned by the Review Group.
Since then the city has also seen the launch of the Edinburgh Slavery and Colonialism Review Implementation Group (ESCLRIG) and recognition of the UNESCO International Day for the Remembrance of the Slave Trade and its Abolition alongside endorsement of the recommendations of the Scottish Government’s Empire, Slavery and Scotland’s Museums (ESSM) Steering Group.
Culture and Communities Convener, Councillor Val Walker, said:
“I’m proud that we are taking steps to continue to educate ourselves and take the opportunity to create meaningful personal and organisational change.
“We recognise the urgency for action and that we need to play our part in that change. We have a duty to examine our collections and ourselves so that we can stand up to racism. Not just today, but in the future.
“We’ve also been clear that the ESCLRIG has our full support going forward as they carry out these key recommendations for our city.
“I’m confident that these schemes will allow us to move forward positively alongside colleagues across Scotland and the UK as our institutions embody the changes we want to see across society.”
Museums & Galleries Edinburgh is a collection of thirteen varied and fascinating venues, 200 monuments and 250,000 artworks and objects owned and managed by the City of Edinburgh Council. Museums & Galleries Edinburgh welcome over 800,000 visitors each year.