Museum Studies at Leicester
Events
Museum Studies at Leicester celebrates 60 years of global impact
Founded in 1966, Museum Studies at Leicester is at the forefront of museum education, research, and professional practice. Over six decades, it has shaped the global museum sector, training thousands of professionals. Its pioneering research has helped redefine what museums are and what they can do for communities, from advancing inclusive practice to strengthening the role of culture in public life.
To mark this milestone, Museum Studies at Leicester is hosting a programme of anniversary events, including public lectures, seminars and Alumni events. These celebrations will reflect the rich history of research and teaching in museum studies, while looking ahead to the future of museum practice as part of the new School of Heritage and Culture.
Anniversary Events
Museum Studies at 60 Celebrations: 12th June 2026, 5 pm, Sir Bob Burgess Building, Â鶹ÊÓƵ, LE2 6BF
This celebratory event will bring together our alumni, students, staff and friends for a panel discussion and an opportunity to reconnect with our international community.
Six alumni, marking six decades of global impact, will come together in conversation:
- Aysha Afridi, Interim Director (Museums), Arts Council England (MA Museum Studies)
- Xiaoxin Li, Curator of Chinese Collections, V&A (MA Art Museum and Gallery Studies)
- Jennifer Walklate, Lecturer, University of Aberdeen (MA Museum Studies and PhD Museum Studies)
- Darren Milligan, Head of Digital Operations and Strategy, Archives of American Art (MA Digital Heritage)
- Cesare Cuzzola, Research Associate, Research Centre for Museums and Galleries (PhD Museum Studies)
- Kostas Arvanitis, Senior Lecturer in Museology, University of Manchester (MA Museum Studies and PhD Museum Studies)
Together, they will reflect on how their experiences at Leicester shaped their intellectual and professional journeys, explore how approaches to Museum Studies research and practice have shifted over time, and consider the challenges and opportunities likely to shape the next decade.
The discussion will be facilitated by Professor Ross Parry. This is a free event open to alumni of the Â鶹ÊÓƵ.
You can choose to attend either in person or online. Please contact alumni@leicester.ac.uk
An on-site drinks reception will follow the panel discussion, while online attendees will be able to continue the conversation in dedicated Teams chat rooms.
Museum Studies at 60: Public Talks and Seminars
This page will be regularly updated with Anniversary event throughout the Summer and Autumn 2026.
National Museums, Minorities and Epistemic Justice in Asia
Join us for a one-hour online webinar bringing together an international group of scholars and practitioners to explore how museums across Asia engage with questions of minority representation, inclusion, and epistemic justice. Drawing on perspectives from India, Vietnam, Korea, China, Malaysia and Myanmar, the discussion will reflect on the shifting role of
national museums in shaping narratives of social justice.
Date: May 27
Time: 11:00–12:00, BST (Zoom)
Exploring and sharing creative research methodologies in practice with artist Remiiya Badru
Date: 1 June 2026
Time: 5:00-6:45pm, BST
Belvoir Lounge, 2nd Floor, Charles Wilson Building, Â鶹ÊÓƵ.
Please join us for a presentation followed by an informal workshop led by artist Remiiya Badru. Remiiya will share her work as creative research fellow at the Royal Museums Greenwich where she worked at mapping narratives around black and indigenous women at sea from the 17th century onwards. She developed an approach using rhumblines (the lines on maps) to bring complex narrative threads together exploring the life of Jamaican born, 18th century, map maker Penelope Steel.
“As an artist, research is integral to my process. However, this process involves a variety of tributaries of exploration from conversations with key people, accessing a range of archives and critical fabulation to name a few.”
In the workshop element of the evening Remiiya invites us to view her large scale mapping collage and to play with materials, considering how mapping and collage processes can be used as research tools.
Learn more about Remiiya’s work here
This free event is part of Museum Studies at Leicester’s 60th Anniversary, and Museum Studies Post Graduate Research Week.
To register your attendance please book here:
Co-curation of A Sacred Tibetan Thangka from Kedleston Hall
This seminar explores an innovative collaborative project centred on a Tibetan thangka at Kedleston Hall, a sacred religious painting with uncertain provenance and limited historical documentation. Bringing together heritage science, museum anthropology, conservation ethics, and British-Tibetan community collaboration, the project reconsiders how culturally significant objects can be researched, conserved, and displayed with sensitivity and shared authority. Through non-invasive scientific analysis, co-curation workshops, and inclusive interpretation practices, the project develops a holistic understanding of the thangka’s material, artistic, spiritual, and emotional dimensions. The seminar highlights new approaches to ethical heritage practice, plural voices, and culturally informed museum display.
Date: 24 July 2026
Time: 2:00-4:00pm, BST
Leicester Institute of Advanced Study Conference Room, Hybrid (online link tbc)
Film Screening and Workshop: Disappearing Voices of the Lotud High Priestesses in Sabah, East Malaysia
Join us for a screening and workshop of Disappearing Voices of the Lotud High Priestesses, a documentary exploring the endangered ritual poetry of the Lotud, an Indigenous community in Tuaran. Passed down through generations of Lotud priestesses, this sacred oral tradition preserves cosmology, creation stories, environmental ethics, and cultural values now at risk of disappearing, with fewer than four knowledgeable priestesses remaining. Combining film and a workshop discussion with the producers, the event highlights collaborative efforts to document, translate, and revitalise this fragile heritage for younger generations. This production is funded by the British Council's Connections Through Culture programme.
Date: 15 October 2026
Time: 12.30-2.30pm, BST
Attenborough Art Centre Main Hall, Hybrid (online link tbc)
Launch of Two-volume Special Issue on Provenance Research in Museums in Museum International
Celebrate the launch of the special double volume Provenance Research in Museums in Museum International, edited by Njabulo Chipangura, Yunci Cai, and Sophie Delepierre. This landmark publication brings together innovative international perspectives on provenance research, restitution, colonial collections, ethics, and collaborative museum practice. Featuring critical reflections from scholars, curators, and source communities, the volumes explore how museums can address contested histories through transparency, shared authority, and new methodologies. Join us to discuss the future of provenance research and its transformative role in reshaping museums globally.
Date: June 2026, TBC
Time: TBC, Online event