A History of Northampton in 100 Objects: Curating Emotions

This project seeks to make a KE and CPD intervention in a pre-existing project being undertaken by Northampton Museum and Art Gallery entitled ‘A History of Northampton in 100 Objects.’ That project in some ways mirrors the British Museum project ‘A History of the World in 100 Objects’.

The NMAG project involves inviting guest curators from across the county to work with the Museum to select, research and tell the stories of significant objects to be included in the exhibition. The exhibition, scheduled for September 2025-February 2026 will be the culmination of a three-year Arts Council funded Histories of Northamptonshire programme which is engaging individuals, groups and communities across the county to celebrate and share diverse stories of Northamptonshire’s heritage through exhibitions, events and digital activities.

‘Curating emotions’ will feed knowledge exchange and CPD into this pre-existing project, primarily by consulting on the ways that emotions might be interpreted in a selection of chosen objects and by providing expertise on the objects as material culture. We will work with the relevant NMAG staff as well as a selection of their guest curators. The project will involve two workshops at UON.