Connecting communities at Manchester Museum with Sam Kalubowila

The Digital Culture Podcast is for creative and cultural professionals to get to know the Digital Culture Network team, learn how we can help your digital skills development, and find out what’s happening across the sector.

In this episode, the team speaks with Sam Kalubowila, Head of Learning and Participation at Manchester Museum, about his route into the museum sector and the work of making the museum relevant and welcoming to a wide range of people. Sam explains how the museum combines formal learning, visitor experience, volunteering, public programming and community partnerships.

The conversation explores Manchester Museum’s ambition to take its collection beyond the museum walls, reduce barriers to engagement and respond to what people across Manchester want from the museum over the next decade. Sam also reflects on the museum’s complex histories, its relationship with communities, and how digital opportunities can complement in-person experiences.

They discuss:

• How Manchester Museum’s learning and participation teams connect with schools, visitors, volunteers and community groups.
• Taking collection objects and experiences beyond the museum building to reach people who may face barriers to visiting.
• The museum’s developing ten-year strategy and the public consultation that helped shape it.
• Creating a welcoming space for communities, including through celebrations and events connected to religious calendars.
• How digital engagement can support, rather than replace, the value of in-person connection.