Mapping Museums: The history and geography of the UK independent sector 1960-2020

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Summary: This inter-disciplinary project aims at mapping and analysing the emergence, character, and development of the UK independent museums sector from 1960-2020. Between 1970 and 1989, approximately 1300 new museums opened in the UK. The vast majority of these new venues were independent, were founded by community and special interest groups, and individual collectors, and they differed from public-sector museums to such an extent that that they were judged to have 'revolutionized' the sector. There are now some 1600 independent museums in the UK, but despite the extraordinary boom in their numbers we know very little about them. Regional and national funding bodies and museums associations collect data on independent museums, but it is not cross referenced and is limited to their specific remits and areas of interest. They do not keep records on when museums opened and if they close, small museums often fall from view entirely, and the information that is available cannot be mapped or easily searched.In the first phase of the research we will collate and supplement existing information to establish a dataset of all UK museums from 1960-2020 and, in turn, build a database that is searchable according to factors including location, date of foundation, subject matter, size, type of museums, and combinations of these attributes. This information will be mapped visually and will be freely available in open source format on a project website to be hosted by the Bishopsgate Institute. In the second phase of the research we will use the database to identify patterns in the emergence, development and closure of independent museums and then seek to account for those trends (or anomalies) through the use of further visualisations, a focus group with Arts Council England staff, historical research, and an extensive series of interviews with staff in museums. This research will provide the first authoritative database of independent museums in the UK, and the first history of their recent development. It is important for academics in museum studies, arts management, cultural studies, and cultural and social history in that it will:1. Provide a nuanced historical overview of the independent museum sector. 2. Provide a detailed analysis of a period of massive expansion and change within the museum sector.3. Identify subjects that were or are of local or national concern.4. Bring orthodox histories of the UK museum boom into question. 5. Demonstrate the scale and variety of the small independent museum sector, and hence of non-professional cultural production.6. Generate resources for future researchers.The research will also have benefits for arts funders and policy-makers, and for staff in independent and public-sector museums in that it will:1. Inform our understanding of the factors that underpin the emergence and closure of independent museums.2.Track correlations between independent museums' emergence and specific funding streams.3. Reveal regional differences across the museum sector. 4. Provide a solid knowledge base about their sector and thereby improve capacity for evidence-based advocacy and decision-making.We also anticipate the research being of interest to a general public in that it will:1. Produce an oral history archive that can be used by amateur historians.2. Raise awareness of volunteer-run organisations.3. Offer volunteer-run museums an overview of their sector.