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Research on major projects topics. According to the theme of the previous article, the retraditionalism of traditional culture in Mongolian culture. I did not discover the disadvantages of cultural hybridization and dilution. In the Major project, I would like adding more information and multiple sections on how to balance the cultural and financial value of traditional culture in the creative industries.

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I saw it as a great opportunity to gain hands-on experience in exhibition planning and curation. However, as I delved deeper into the role, I started noticing a strong connection between retraditionalisation—a concept I had previously explored in my studies. I feel like it will be matching my curatorial strategies being considered for the exhibition.

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I develop my research topic: "The Role of Retraditionalisation in Winterbourne House's First Winter Exhibition and Its Economic Impact." I became particularly interested in how traditional curatorial techniques like historical display methods, storytelling, and interactive cultural elements that could enhance audience engagement and potentially contribute to the financial impact of heritage sites like Winterbourne House.

Through this research, I aim to analyze the impact of retraditionalisation on both visitor experience and economic outcomes. It also exploring how other museums in Birmingham apply similar strategies that can be learnt from. My placement allows me to be directly involved in exhibition planning, \and marketing, giving me firsthand insights into curatorial decision making.

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I plan to interview museum professionals and distribute questionnaires to potential visitors and examine economic data to evaluate how traditionalisation affects museums' cultural and commercial strategies. This research not only aligns with my academic background in art business, but also deepens my understanding of how heritage organisations are responding in today's economic climate.

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Reinventing the Museum: the Evolving Conversation on the Paradigm Shift

Edited by Gail Anderson, this collection of essays on the transformation of museums discusses the changing role of museums in contemporary society.

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The Birth of the Museum: History, Theory, Politics

Author Tony Bennett explores the historical development of the museum as a cultural institution and its changing role in society, contributing to an understanding of the historical context of curatorial practice.

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•Objective:

•Understand visitor expectations for Retraditionalisation in exhibitions.

•Predict potential audience interest and economic impact.

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•Key :

•Demographics: Age, past museum visits, cultural interests.

•Awareness & Interest in Retraditionalisation: How familiar are visitors with the concept?

•Expectations for Winterbourne House Winter Exhibition: Preferred exhibition features.

•Economic Impact: Willingness to pay for tickets, merchandise and memberships.

•Marketing & Outreach: How visitors hear about exhibitions.

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•Methods:

•Distributed online (Google Forms) and in person to Winterbourne House visitors & local residents.

•Collected  data to analyze audience interest and economic potential

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•Objective:

•Explore how Retraditionalisation influences curation and economic strategies.

•Compare Winterbourne House's approach with other Birmingham museums.

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•Target Interviewees:

•Winterbourne House Curators – Exhibition strategy & Retraditionalisation.

•Marketing & Financial Team – Audience engagement & economic considerations.

•Other Birmingham Museum Curators – Comparative insights on similar exhibitions.

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•Key Questions:

•Curation: How is Retraditionalisation integrated into exhibitions?

•Challenges: What are the difficulties in using traditional curatorial elements?

•Economic Impact: How does Retraditionalisation influence ticket sales, sponsorships, and merchandise?

•Best Practices: What lessons can be learned from other museum curators?

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1. Retraditionalisation Theory

Bourdieu, Pierre. (1984). Distinction: A Social Critique of the Judgement of Taste. Harvard University Press.

Explores how cultural capital influences audience perceptions of art and museums, providing a framework to analyze how retraditionalisation strengthens cultural identity.

Smith, Laurajane. (2006). Uses of Heritage. Routledge.

Examines how cultural heritage is interpreted by different groups, useful for understanding how retraditionalisation enhances the cultural value of exhibitions.

Harrison, Rodney. (2013). Heritage: Critical Approaches. Routledge.

Discusses the relationship between cultural heritage and contemporary society, providing insights into the significance of retraditionalisation.

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Museum Curation & Visitor Experience

Falk, John H. (2009). Identity and the Museum Visitor Experience. Routledge.

Investigates how museum visitors shape their experiences based on identity, relevant for analyzing how retraditionalisation enhances immersive engagement.

Hooper-Greenhill, Eilean. (1992). Museums and the Shaping of Knowledge. Routledge.

Explores how museums influence public understanding of history, supporting the study of retraditionalisation as a curatorial approach.

Black, Graham. (2012). Transforming Museums in the Twenty-first Century. Routledge.

Focuses on museum transformation and audience interaction, offering practical insights into retraditionalisation strategies.

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3. Cultural Economics & Museum Sustainability

Throsby, David. (2001). Economics and Culture. Cambridge University Press.

Examines the economic models of cultural industries, helping to assess the financial viability of retraditionalisation.

Kotler, Neil G., Kotler, Philip, & Kotler, Wendy I. (2008). Museum Marketing and Strategy: Designing Missions, Building Audiences, Generating Revenue and Resources. Jossey-Bass.

Discusses how museums use marketing and strategy to increase financial sustainability, relevant for analyzing retraditionalisation’s economic impact.

Klamer, Arjo. (2017). Doing the Right Thing: A Value-Based Economy. Ubiquity Press.

Explores how museums balance cultural value with economic sustainability, supporting the case for retraditionalisation as a long-term strategy.

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I made some changes to my research proposal to make it clearer, more focused and better aligned with the idea of Retraditionalisation as a sustainable curatorial strategy. At first, my proposal mainly focused on how Retraditionalisation could be applied to Winterbourne House’s Winter Exhibition. But after some feedback , I realized I needed to zoom out and think bigger—using this exhibition as a case study to explore larger ideas about museum sustainability and audience engagement.

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My proposal was all about Winterbourne House and its exhibition design. Now, I’ve did it to solve three big questions:

Can Retraditionalisation be a long-term strategy for museums?

How does Retraditionalisation balance cultural preservation and financial sustainability?

Does Retraditionalisation help visitors connect more deeply with cultural heritage?

This shift makes my research less about just describing what’s happening right now but more focus about more analyzing the broader influence

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Bridging Cultural and Financial Sustainability

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Bridging Cultural and Financial Sustainability

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A big change in my proposal was looking at both cultural and economic impacts of Retraditionalisation.

Instead of just treating it as a curatorial choice, I’m now exploring whether it could be a long-term strategy for branding, audience engagement and museum income growth.

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Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery (BMAG)

Ikon Gallery

The Barber Institute of Fine Arts

MAC Birmingham (Midlands Arts Centre)

The New Art Gallery Walsall

Black Country Living Museum

Compton Verney Art Gallery & Park

Herbert Art Gallery & Museum (Coventry)

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I worked on writing interview questions for my major project. My topic is about how museums balance cultural heritage with financial sustainability, especially through retraditionalisation.

I wrote a set of structured questions for museum curators and gallery directors. The questions cover five key areas: institutional background, curatorial strategy, audience engagement, financial models, and views on tradition and innovation.

This process helped me focus my research direction. It also made me think clearly about what kind of answers I hope to get. I want to understand not just facts, but also how professionals make decisions in real situations.

Writing these questions made me feel more prepared for future interviews. I feel more confident as a researcher now.

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Interview with ESEA director  （1）Curatorial Strategy & Retraditionalisation

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Interview with ESEA director  （1）Curatorial Strategy & Retraditionalisation

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As part of my research for the main project, I interviewed the directors of ESEA Contemporary in Manchester. I was struck by their recent exhibition on Buddhist culture - which combined restored Buddha statues with newly commissioned contemporary artworks.

They also organised hands-on workshops and worked with local Buddhist groups. I think this is a great example of re-traditionalisation - blending tradition with modern creativity that resonates with the community.

What struck me most was their focus on emotional impact. The curator said that their goal is not to present information, as the British Museum does, but to create personal, meaningful experiences. This made me think more deeply about how museums can utilise traditional culture in a more personal and accessible way.

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Interview with ESEA director （2）Funding, Community & Sustainability

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Interview with ESEA director （2）Funding, Community & Sustainability

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I also asked about financial sustainability - ESEA is a small team, largely funded by Arts Council England and local government. Each new exhibition relies on fundraising ， they apply for grants, establish partnerships, hire venues and even organise a Lunar New Year fundraiser.

The directors make it clear that quality is more important than quantity. They would rather work on fewer projects than compromise to fill their schedule.

They have also developed strong links with the community. For example, they run monthly cultural workshops for older East and South East Asian audiences in Manchester. This ongoing community engagement has helped to build a loyal and diverse audience.

This interview showed me how small organisations can remain financially stable and culturally relevant through flexibility, transparency and innovation.

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Interview with the director of PEN Museum

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Interview with the director of PEN Museum

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I interviewed the director of the Pen Museum to better understand how small, independent museums approach curation, audience engagement, and sustainability. This was both a reflection on my placement and part of my research for my main project on re-traditionalisation.

Key Takeaways

The museum focuses on preserving the heritage of Birmingham's pen industry and its women workers.

Their strategy is community-based, using approachable pricing, workshops and strong social media outreach.

The curator emphasises starting small, adapting ideas and making realistic choices based on limited resources.

Personal Insights

This interview made me realise that innovation in heritage spaces doesn't always require big budgets - it requires smart planning and incremental change. I was inspired by the open-mindedness and pragmatic approach of the curator. It reminded me to be flexible, patient and confident in my ideas - even if they are not immediately accepted.

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A new generation of leaders

This curator has worked at heritage sites such as Back to Backs and Packwood House. Unlike some older museum professionals who prefer to stay in their ‘comfort zone’, he is actively driving change. He believes that social media, interactive programmes and the involvement of young people are vital to the future of heritage. His energy and candour are truly inspiring.

He welcomed me to visit or volunteer in the future, which I really appreciate. As a student, I found it encouraging to connect with someone open to new ideas and willing to support emerging professionals. I hope to stay in touch and learn more through real practice.

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I reviewed key academic references such as Simon's The Participatory Museum and Falk's Identity and the Museum Visitor Experience. This helped me to understand the role of emotional engagement and cultural identity in retraditionalising curatorial strategies.

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I drafted my main project idea, focusing on whether retraditionalisation could improve audience engagement and financial sustainability at a heritage site like Winterbourne House.

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I designed semi-structured interview questions for curators and museum managers. The focus was on curatorial vision, audience interaction, and sustainable economic models in the context of retraditionalisation strategies.

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Stakeholder engagement and early insights

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Stakeholder engagement and early insights

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I contacted curators and directors to arrange interviews. In the meantime, I gathered initial insights into their curatorial challenges and strategies in the post-pandemic environment.

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I officially joined the Hermitage team. I attended site visits and have meetings to learn about the space and subject potential of the winter exhibitions internal briefings.

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After discussions, we formally abandoned our initial ideas involving AR and immersive technologies and moved fully into a handmade, traditional exhibition style. This shift strengthens my theoretical argument for ‘retraditionalisation’.

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Interview Insights from Ashley and Reflection

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Interview Insights from Ashley and Reflection

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This week, I reviewed a detailed response from Ashley, an experienced programme manager at a major museum.

Her perspective focused on the fact that visitor numbers alone do not define success, howeve, cultural impact and emotional resonance are the key measures of success.

Ashley's sharing of how her museum values inclusion, community engagement, and low-barrier forms of interaction (e.g, hands-on workshops) made me think more confidently about Winterbourne's strategy.

I realised that even with smaller budgets and simpler structures and facilities, meaningful experiences grounded in traditional storytelling and craftsmanship can make a lasting impression.

Her reference to integrating technologies such as AR/VR ‘only if they enhance storytelling, not replace it,’ also reinforced my caution about using technology at Winterbourne.

Overall, Ashley's insights convinced me that, with careful consideration, retraditionalisation strategies are no less important than immersive, high-tech exhibitions, and are equally important for creating sustainable, emotionally engaging museum experiences.

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Interview with the director of Barber museums

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Interview with the director of Barber museums

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This week, I completed and reviewed an interview with the Associate Dean of the Barber Institute of Fine Arts.

The Barber Institute of Fine Arts is a university-affiliated but financially independent institution that, in spite of its strong funding base, faces similar challenges in terms of audience diversification.

Their primary audience is retirees over the age of 55, and they are actively seeking to expand audience engagement by engaging student curators and incorporating community voices into the reinterpretation of their permanent collection.

Barber's cautious but open-heart approach to innovation was a big takeaway for me: while preserving the traditional gallery vibe, they're exploring soft technological integrations such as enhanced audio experiences and mobile app-based guided tours, rather than disruptive immersive installations.

This inspired me to think more critically about Winterbourne's long-term strategy , recognising that small, thoughtful digital additions aligned with heritage values can enhance, rather than undermine, traditional exhibition models.

In addition, Barber's emphasis on emotive storytelling, tiered interpretation and participatory learning provides valuable baselines for how Winterbourne can be sustainable while maintaining its original Edwardian character.

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Earlier this week, I reviewed all of my placement notes, interview transcripts, and documentation.

I reorganised the structure of the article around three main themes: cultural and emotional impact, economic sustainability, and the long-term strategic value of retraditionalisation.

This framework allowed me to create a logical, step by step process throughout the report.

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Systematic Integration of Interview Insights

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Systematic Integration of Interview Insights

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Rather than quoting random interviews, I have categorised the findings by theme:

The Pen Museum and Button Factory interviews illustrate low-cost engagement strategies.

The ESEA Gallery demonstrates the power of combining traditional and contemporary practices.

The Barber Institute, on the other hand, offers a model of discreet digital integration without losing curatorial realism.

I carefully matched each set of interviews with the discussion in the appropriate chapter to ensure that professional perspectives strengthened the academic argument.

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Reflection on Research Development Process

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Reflection on Research Development Process

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Looking back on this journey, I realise that my main project has changed significantly.

It has evolved from an initial theoretical exploration to an indepth study, linking practice and theory.

This experience has taught me how to critically process real world data, organise disparate information, and write a coherent academic paper based on fieldwork and literature.

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I checked whether each section logically linked to the next, whether the insights from the interviews were meaningfully imbedded and whether my findings answered the initial research questions.

This final review helped to ensure that my main project not only reflected my placement experience, but also provided new perspectives on sustainable curatorial strategies for small and medium-sized museums.

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Theory Strengthening and Critical Reflection

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Theory Strengthening and Critical Reflection

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During this week, I have studied in depth the adaptability of the ‘retraditionalisation’ strategy in different cultural contexts, especially its performance in not-Western museums. Through comparative research, I found that this strategy may trigger different audience responses in different cultures, suggesting that I need to pay more attention to cultural sensitivity and diversity in my curatorial practice.

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Sustainability Analysis of Curatorial Strategies

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Sustainability Analysis of Curatorial Strategies

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I focus on the long-term sustainability of the ‘retraditionalisation’ strategy. By comparing the curatorial practices of different organisations, I realised that this strategy has certain advantages given the limited resources, but there are also challenges in attracting younger audiences and incorporating digital elements. This prompted me to think about how to maintain the traditional elements while introducing innovative means to enhance the attractiveness of the exhibition.

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I have reviewed the whole research and practice process and realised that I have significantly improved my curatorial ideas, research methods and critical thinking. I realise that successful curation requires not only a strong theoretical foundation, but also the ability to flexibly respond to practical challenges. In the future, I hope to combine the strategy of ‘retraditionalisation’ with digital technology to explore more innovative curatorial approaches in order to attract a wider audience.

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I have attempted to understand the adaptability of the ‘retraditionalisation’ curatorial strategy on a financial level by integrating information from the interviews about the organisations' funding sources and operational strategies. By comparing the funding structures of Winterbourne House, Pen Museum, Barber Institute and ESEA Gallery, I have developed a comparative sketch of the funding structures.

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Research Process: complete the collation of all interview recordings and begin to categorise the content (e.g. emotional engagement, economic rationale, community participation) compare it against the theoretical models proposed in the literature (e.g. Falk's identity visitor types, Bourdieu's cultural capital) for analysis.

Reflection: I found that many of the practical experiences in the interview data could not be fully applied to mainstream theories, which forced me to build an explanation bridge between practice and theory, and I also realised that curatorial research could not stop at analysis, but needed to pay attention to the ‘operational details’.

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By extending my reading of the literature on postcolonial curator, such as Phillips (2011) and Smith (2006), I extend the context of my research to non-Western contexts, and try to examine whether ‘retraditionalisation’ is universally applicable, or whether it is a specific curatorial trend in the European context.

I realise that ‘tradition’ itself is a curatorial structure, especially when it is viewed very differently by different communities. This led me to be more careful with the language of ‘universal engagement’ and to think about how to make the exhibition narrative both local and universal.

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She points out that ‘heritage’ is not a static object, but a way of cultural production. This has led me to focus more on the contemporary expression of traditional crafts in my curatorial work.

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Destination Culture : Tourism, Museums, and Heritage by Kirshenblatt-Gimblett, Barbara: Good (1998) | Better World Books Ltd

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ISBN: 9780520209664 - Soft cover - University of California Press - 1998 - Condition: Good - Ships from the UK. Former library book; may include library markings. Used book that is in clean, average condition without any missing pages. - Destination Culture : Tourism, Museums, and Heritage

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Simon emphasises audience participation and believes that museums should be spaces for interaction and community engagement. This inspired me to design an interactive experience area in the exhibition.

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John H. Falk - Understanding Museum Visitors' Motivations and Learning

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John H. Falk - Understanding Museum Visitors' Motivations and Learning

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Falk categorises museum visitors into different types, such as ‘explorers’, ‘experiencers’, etc. This has helped me to think about how to engage different types of visitors in my curatorial work. This has helped me to think about how to engage different types of visitors in my curatorial work.

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Smith's view that heritage is constructed through social practices has led me to pay more attention in my curatorial work to how the audience interacts with the content of the exhibition.

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Janet Marstine - New Museum Theory and PracticewAAAA&w=400&h=400&c=7

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Janet Marstine - New Museum Theory and PracticewAAAA&w=400&h=400&c=7

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Marstine suggests that museums should be reflexive and challenge traditional curatorial approaches. This has led me to experiment with new methods of presentation in my exhibitions.

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In addition, I didn't pay much attention to the economic aspect at first, but after reading some reports from UNESCO and ICOM, I realised that ‘sustainable curation’ is not only about culture, but also about the way of operation. So I added a simulation of Pen Museum's revenue model, made graphs and strengthened the argument from the perspective of ‘how to survive’.

At the moment of finalising the draft, I really felt that ‘curating is not a technical task, but a value choice’. I started to think about ‘what kind of exhibition I believe in’ from just ‘finishing a project’, which is probably the biggest reward of writing this thesis.