Documentary Curators

With the support of Arts Council England, here at London Transport Museum we are collecting the exceptional and everyday stories, objects and experiences of transport in London.

The Documentary Curator programme brings more contemporary material to the Museum and enriches the Museum’s historic collections. Documenting transport at the Museum means working with all kinds of material, including photographs, objects, stories, artworks, sound works and oral histories.

As well as our programme of collecting projects we respond quickly to events and collect as situations unfold.

We rely on the help and participation of people to donate their stories and experiences, to create inclusive new collections.

Contemporary collecting involves people making decisions about preserving lived experience, knowledge, stories and objects and as such can venture into complicated ethical territory.

The toolkit aims to be a useful resource for people embarking on contemporary collecting or with some previous experience of the practice. It is also for anyone wishing to learn more about some of the processes. It offers insight from practitioners who have been leading this work and have reflected critically on their practice.

We are keen to encourage the use of the toolkit to prompt discussion, collaboration and support across the sector, and hope that, as practice and dialogue on the topics included evolve, that the toolkit can evolve, too.

If you would like to arrange a meet-up or connect to a reading group meet-up, then please send an invitation or email to the Contemporary Collecting Group mailing list, or contact [email protected] for advice.

London Transport Museum supports the Contemporary Collecting Group network. You can find out more through the mailing list.