As a part of Student Volunteering Week, a nationally celebrated week to recognise student volunteers and encourage volunteering within local communities, the LSE Volunteer Centre welcomed the Horniman Museum & Gardens onto campus for a seminar to learn more about how they engage with volunteers within the museum, as well as for a mini exhibition.

This event was organised by Student Volunteering Ambassador and Horniman volunteer, Madeline Bryne, and led by Karen Sheldon, the Volunteering Manager for the Horniman and volunteer, Steven. In this blogpost, you’ll be able to read all about our discussion with the Horniman, ranging from topics like their history to their decolonial efforts within the heritage space.

What is the Horniman?

As described in the name, the Horniman constitutes of both a museum and gardens in Forest Hill. Beyond this, the Horniman is also a registered charity that survives from some government funding but mostly the support of members, benefactors, and volunteers. At the museum site, you can have a wide variety of experiences by visiting their anthropological collections which are grouped by continent and theme, their natural history gallery featuring the iconic walrus, the butterfly house, aquarium, and 16 acres of gardens, or temporary exhibitions, the most current one being  茶, चाय, Tea/Chá, Chai, Tea which is an exploration into the tea trade. Their mission, according to Karen, is to respond to human curiosity.

By nature of their expansive offerings, there is a place at the Horniman for every interest and every person and is self-described as “eclectic” by Karen herself.

“The Horniman Museum connects us all with global cultures and the natural environment, encouraging us to shape a positive future for the world we all share.”

The Horniman was founded by Mr. Frederick Horniman, a tea importer and exporter, who collected objects while on his travels around the world. His original intention was to “bring the world to Forest Hill” and make global craftsmanship accessible to Southeast London.

Vitally, the Horniman takes time to recognise both the social impact that Mr. Horniman had—his status as a social reformer and curator of items—as well as his colonial legacy. On their website, they note: “It is however also important to remember that the wealth that enabled [Mr. Horniman] to make his collection, build his museum, and campaign as a social reformer in Britain, was reliant on the exploitation of people living in the British Empire.” The Horniman family built their wealth through the tea trade by taking advantage of their Quaker identity amongst anti-Chinese sentiments in Britain. You can read more about the Horniman family history and legacy on their history page.

The Politics of Heritage

If not a prominent conversation from the Horniman family’s wealth and colonial legacy alone, the heritage sector generally incites discussion surrounding the politics of heritage and memory work. What responsibility do museums have to (re)write history? How is this mediated and communicated, and how does that affect volunteers? Are museums ethical in the first place?  

Karen very clearly articulated the active role that the Horniman takes in negotiating these questions and while there aren’t always clear answers, there is definitive intention behind how the institution implements decolonial acts, as well as works to empower volunteers to do memory work mindfully and ethically.

For example, the Horniman dedicates ample time to consider hard questions that arise in museums, a common one being consideration of where items come from. For the Horniman in particular, Mr. Horniman bought collections from other collectors during his travels and therefore, the museum does not always have all the information about how items were acquired. This also poses further challenges to how one showcases an object when such a critical part of the description is missing. Currently, they do their best to include or recover information about how items were procured, and this information is also stored on a digital database to further ensure the archival integrity of such objects.

Alongside investigations of where objects come from also comes the question: should museums be showing and owning items? Karen spoke of a few different options the museum has taken when carefully interrogating how to answer this question. Sometimes, the museum will have a duplicate or replica of the original object to show. Other times, the museum consults with the original ownership entity and they come to an agreement that the Horniman can showcase the item, often with specific conditions of care. And finally, the museum has also developed processes to return items to the original owners. You can read more about when they have done this specifically with the return of Nigerian Benin Bronzes.

While decolonisation is an ongoing and fluid process, the museum tries to incorporate subversive elements of this conversation into their exhibitions, trainings when it comes to sharing and discussing sensitive topics and continuing to have open conversations, and talks about legitimacy surrounding their role in remembering history and heritage. All of this is bolstered by the Curator of Social Practice at the Horniman, a role which consults with relevant local communities before deciding how to develop an exhibition. There is always space for these efforts to grow, as community members continue to negotiate the question of what ethical obligation do museums have when (re)telling history.

Where do Volunteers fit into the Horniman?

Volunteers are critical to the Horniman and the heritage sector in general. They are often the halfway point between the visitors to the museum and the staff, and therefore, are the glue for the community. Volunteers also symbolise a powerful and potentially subversive entrance point into museums, which are traditionally associated with white, female, middle-class retirees. Karen specifically highlighted the importance of having a variety of people and expertise collaborating at the Horniman to hold their institution accountable; change only happens when new ideas are introduced.

Beyond their help with the museum logistics, Karen also spoke on how volunteering at the Horniman has clear impacts on one’s quality of life. This includes improvement of mental health—being with the butterflies, playing with young visitors—to a lifelong commitment to learning and friendship.

The Horniman has many volunteering opportunities available, which can be done on a placement basis. For example, one individual is currently considering the organisation of collections from an LGBTQ+ angle. The museum is also pioneering a Nature + Love project with the help of volunteers, which redevelops the museum to appeal to younger demographics and responds to contemporary conversations such as how to engage with climate discourse. Finally, the Horniman is recruiting an EDI communications volunteer who can help them further develop their cultural calendar, connecting the heritage sector with faith and social activism.

The Power of Volunteers

Overall, our conversation with Karen, Madeline, and Steven demonstrated the vast power of volunteers in the heritage sector as we considered the role of the Horniman in educating young people and questioning British cultural institutions. Volunteers, who are often tasked with helping make museums fun and interesting, can fundamentally challenge and subvert dominant narratives. When volunteering is playful and personal, cultural spaces can be are nothing less than transformative. To be a volunteer at in a museum like the Horniman, therefore, is to be a lifelong learner.

If Sophie has inspired you to volunteer, check out one of our other ongoing opportunities or book a one-to-one with David Coles, the Volunteer Centre Manager if you have more questions. And why not follow us on Twitter, and Instagram to stay up-to-date with our events and opportunities and read our blog for more volunteering tips and stories.