Listening to Alice

I feel like Alice’s piece has reflected the change in the museum that has happened in the museum over the last 10 years. It used to be that we had it drummed into us that being professional meant to put on a good face and be the institution. These stories show that we need to be critical, and show what we think to relate to people in Bradford. Interactions have consequences. I hope in the future we are given the license to have these difficult conversations and work with them. (…) When you are open and vulnerable is when genuine interactions happen.  

Networks are so important. I realised that when I worked on River of Tea with Tim Smith. Tim or Andy Abbot can do what they do because they have these massive networks. Alice knows everyone, she talks to everyone, and is a huge asset for our team. This knowledge needs to broadened out. I would love it if all of us knew people in the city who we could call and find out what is happening in Bradford. If you have those connections already then you can collaborate with people more easily and make their voices heard. A lot of people who work in the museum don’t live in Bradford, and at the moment we of course don’t even see our colleagues. Maybe we can have a set of systems in place to enable keeping in touch, like monthly trips out, have someone who works in the community or creative scene at each of our monthly staff briefings. It would be nice to have workplace support to go out there and talk to people. 

Kate Burnett, Interpretation Developer

Alice Parsons's moment

My involvement with the BNMP began as soon as I joined the museum in 2018. A senior manager told me,...