Speaker: Simon Brown, Curator, Newstead Abbey

Black Newstead was a project to interpret the experience and influence of Black people across Newstead Abbey’s 800 year history. Taking an academic report as a starting point, the interpretation was entirely co-produced with Black artists, writers, academics, teachers and members of the community. Each partner chose an object from our collection and produced a creative response, which was displayed alongside the object.

The result was an interventional exhibition across the house during October and November 2021, which has been brought into the permanent interpretation for 2022. At the same time, Newstead have reviewed every area of delivery including developing new school sessions. This has been a new and transformative approach for Newstead, led by a part-time curator with a minimal budget.

Simon Brown is Curator at Newstead Abbey, and a freelance curator and writer. He is also Vice-President of the Museums Association.