Museum Project Day (Heba Abdellatif Mohamed, Egypt, ITP 2024)

Written by Heba Abdellatif Mohamed, Curator & Keeper, Egyptian Museum, Cairo (Egypt, ITP 2024)

Today is the Museum Project Day, which is considered a great opportunity to use our experience and apply what we have learned so far in the ITP programme. The theme of the museum project this year is representations of women. I was so excited when I knew that I would work with my ITP fellows Kang Mengjie, Vinay Singh, and Abdulrhman Al-Khafaji in the same group.

We headed to Westminster where the Tate Britain is located. The Tate Britain is part of the Tate network of galleries in England, which also includes Tate Modern, Tate Liverpool, and Tate St Ives. The Tate Britain was founded by Sir Henry Tate, a philanthropist and grocer, who donated his art collection to the nation.

At the Tate Britain, we started our mission by visiting the special exhibition titled Now you see us: women artists in Britain 1520-1920. The exhibition, spanning 400 years, follows the journeys of women to becoming professional artists. The exhibition sheds light on how women artists such as Mary Beale, Angelica Kauffman, Elizabeth Butler, and Laura Knight championed equal access to art training and academy membership, breaking boundaries and overcoming many obstacles to establish what it meant to be a woman in the art world.

Before our visit, we expected the exhibition to feature paintings only, but we were pleasantly surprised to enjoy a variety of art forms, including sculptures and photographs. After completing our visit to the exhibition, we decided it was time for coffee and discussion, we went to the museum’s café to discuss our impressions, exchange opinions, and prepare our presentation.

After that we went back to the British Museum and enjoyed lunch together, then it was time to listen to the feedback from all the groups who had visited different museums and galleries, such as the Design Museum, Foundling Museum, National Maritime Museum, Serpentine Gallery, and Tate Modern. It was useful to recognize the positive and negative opinions of our fellow museum professionals on the display, interactive methods, community engagement, and other aspects of the exhibitions.

Through this project, we had the opportunity to not only explore different representations of women in art but also to learn from the experiences and perspectives of our peers. The discussions and presentations allowed us to gain a deeper understanding of the challenges and strategies involved in curating and presenting exhibitions that showcase the contributions of women throughout history.