Curating complex lives and legacies 

When: 22nd March 2024, 18:00 — 19:30

Venue: Keynes Library, Birkbeck. 43 Gordon Square. Map here.

Cost: Free, but you must book as we have limited availability.

Increasingly museums are required to address the lives and legacies of complex historical figures. They must also adhere to the demands of their key stakeholders – some of whom have a personal interest in the lives of the figures being represented.

In this discussion, Kate Clements (Imperial War Museums) and Frankie Kubicki (Dickens Museum) discuss the unique challenges of representing figures like Winston Churchill and Charles Dickens in the museum space. From appropriately addressing divisive legacies, to having insufficient collections to properly represent personal histories, this event is designed to generate conversation about how museums navigate the challenges and changing expectations of including biographical histories in exhibitions. 

Kate Clements has worked at Imperial War Museums since 2006. She has curated a number of exhibitions at IWM London, including the permanent, award-winning Second World War Galleries, the Victoria Cross and George Cross Gallery, Extraordinary Heroes, and Crown and Conflict: Portraits of a Queen in Wartime.  Kate is the author of Total War: A People’s History of the Second World War and The Royal Family in Wartime. She has also delivered digital historical content, including a popular podcast series, Voices of the First World War. Kate is currently Curator of the Churchill War Rooms.

Dr Frankie Kubicki is the Deputy Director of the Charles Dickens Museum, London. Over the last seven years she has curated exhibitions that explored Dickens’s interest in science, how his novels tracked early air pollution, and his global impact, amongst other topics. Frankie regularly speaks to the media on Dickens’s life and work, and media credits include BBC and ITV news, as well print media including The Guardian and The Times. She previously worked as Senior Curator at Keats House in Hampstead where her interest in literary houses developed.

The event is free but you must book a place to attend and we have limited tickets available. Book here.

Photo by Daniela Muntyan on Unsplash