How users use their own history: Co-creating an inclusive study environment and exhibition platform with students and staff

Following up on the presentation of “Academic Heritage as Boundary Objects in Art and Architecture” at Universeum 2023, I will now introduce the next phase of our process towards bringing the historical collection into a new study hall for chemistry and life science on the campus of DTU, the Technical University of Denmark.

Rethinking traditional exhibition practices played a key role in gaining support for the project, both internally within the institution and from our artistic collaborators. We found common ground in the link between history and identity and formulated a shared vision of a co-created and dynamic exhibition platform to support an inclusive study environment, that should also open to the public. Now that the project has been approved by involved stakeholders and the necessary funding is secured, we can proceed to the next step: involving the users.

In this talk, I will elaborate on our experiences with engaging students and staff in the co-creation of heritage-based narratives to be unfolded in their common space – the place where they work and study. I will present the methods by which we include users in a curatorial process and how they, in turn, relate historical objects to their current activities. I will focus on how, from the users point of view, historical objects can contribute to an inclusive environment that fosters collaboration and dialogue within the university and with the public sphere.