What does long-term engagement look like?
Making plans for long-term engagement is a natural progression to the work you have undertaken, whether that means working towards digitisation, launching public exhibitions and displays, or inviting people to interpret and engage with the collection in creative ways. Despite this, the scope and extent of long-term engagement with spontaneous memorial collections will differ from case to case and will depend on practical considerations (space, funding, resources) and ethical concerns (reintroducing potentially traumatic material into the public domain). For the latter, it’s important to continue monitoring public feeling, to gauge what feels appropriate and what doesn’t, and to work (wherever possible) in consultation with the community and/or those most affected.
Digitising your collection
The National Archive have a range of excellent online resources about digitising your collection.
Likewise, The Heritage Fund offer a suite of advice, information and resources on the planning and implementation of digital collections.
Engaging the public through exhibitions
Every spontaneous memorial collection is unique, shaped by its specific context, community, and moment in time. It is important to recognise that the role of archivists goes beyond simple preservation but towards ethical remembrance.
All actions that lead towards engaging people with sensitive collections requires empathy, transparency in decision-making, and a commitment to building and maintaining trust with those most affected.
The National Archive’s Rapid Response Collecting guide provides useful information and advice about long-term management, including using and displaying items sensitively.
Engage the public with a memorial collection
Jan Seidler Ramirez, National September 11 Memorial & Museum, USA
Engaging creatively with your collection
In many cases, creative engagement with spontaneous memorial collections begins early in the process – sometimes during the collection phase, through activities like community craft, photography and filmmaking, creative writing and repurposing certain types of objects.
Regardless of where you are in your work, there is always scope to invite creative engagement with your collection, whether that’s in-house projects or collaborations with freelance creatives, community groups or researchers.
There is a real value to this sort of engagement, even if you are dealing with an unstable or perishable collection. Rather than moving straight onto the disposal phase for degrading items, you might find it’s more appropriate and meaningful to repurpose, reimagine or reconstruct the objects first.
Below are some of ways this has been achieved.
Engaging creatively with spontaneous memorial collections
Tanja Hollander, Artist, USA (right)
Yves Samuel, Photographer, France (below)