Our collaborative project published a national review of African and Caribbean collections held in museums across Scotland, and established a network of interests to encourage engagement with these collections.

African and Caribbean Collections in Scottish Museums

Last updated: 18 December 2024

About the project

Wide-ranging collections from Africa and the Caribbean are held in museums across Scotland. This partnership project will publish a national review of African and Caribbean collections and develop guidance and training materials to support museums and communities to gain the knowledge and confidence to understand, care for and make best use of these collections.

The project will establish a collaborative network to enable collection holders to engage with museums in Africa and the Caribbean and people of African and Caribbean descent in Scotland. These partnerships will explore provenance, colonial histories and legacies and the relevance of the collections to descendent and diaspora community interests today.

It is hoped the legacy of this work will be co-production of exhibitions, events, online resources and outreach activities which will promote wider access to and engagement with the collections.

The project is funded by Museums Galleries Scotland and led by a consortium of National Museums Scotland; Glasgow Life, Museums; The Hunterian, University of Glasgow; and University of Aberdeen Collections. The group will work in partnership with organisations across Scotland which hold African and Caribbean collections, museums in Africa and the Caribbean, and communities in Scotland of African and Caribbean descent.