Co-Creation That Works: How to Involve Communities Without Losing Curatorial Integrity

Co-Creation That Works: How to Involve Communities Without Losing Curatorial Integrity

An expert guide for museum curators and managers seeking to build inclusive, meaningful, and high-quality co-created exhibitions.

Can museums truly share authorship without losing quality? This in-depth guide offers museum professionals the frameworks, case studies, and practical strategies needed to lead successful co-creation projects with integrity and impact.

Introduction: Co-Creation Is No Longer Optional

The days of the curator as sole interpreter of cultural knowledge are behind us. In their place stands a new paradigm: the museum as platform, not pipeline. From repatriation debates to decolonisation, and from LGBTQ+ representation to climate justice, today’s museum audiences expect, and demand a more inclusive, participatory, and dialogic approach to storytelling.

At the heart of this shift is co-creation: the process of creating exhibitions, displays, or programs in meaningful collaboration with communities of relevance.

But what does that actually look like in practice?
Can curators still uphold academic rigour and interpretive clarity?
How do we avoid tokenism while sharing real decision-making power?

This guide offers clear, research-informed answers.

Why Co-Creation Matters Now More Than Ever

Relevance, Trust, and the Public Mandate

Museums face a critical relevance gap. According to research by ICOM (2020) and the UK’s Museums Association (2022), many communities - particularly younger, racialised, neurodivergent, LGBTQ+ and working-class groups feel museums do not represent their lives, voices, or values.

“If museums are to survive, they must serve. Not just as keepers of memory, but as co-authors of futures.” Dr. Viv Golding, University of Leicester

Co-creation helps address this gap. It enables museums to build:

• Public trust through power-sharing

• Narrative equity by platforming marginalised voices

• Creative innovation by challenging curatorial silos

• Audience growth through relevance and representation
  
  
  

Academic Foundations of Co-Creation

From New Museology to Participatory Practice

The New Museology (Vergo, 1989) ushered in a shift from collections to communities, emphasising experience, interpretation, and dialogue. This gave rise to:

• Hein’s Constructivist Museum Learning Model (1998) – which posits that knowledge is created, not consumed

• Nina Simon’s The Participatory Museum (2010) – promoting museums as platforms for collaboration, not top-down knowledge transfer

• Lonetree’s Decolonising Framework (2012) – challenging institutional authority and advocating for Indigenous self-representation
  
  

Together, these models argue for museums to be active sites of cultural negotiation, not passive guardians of “official” truths.

Understanding the Spectrum of Co-Creation

The Co-Creation Ladder

Not all participation is equal. Borrowing from Arnstein’s Ladder of Participation (1969), museums can assess their co-creation ambitions across five levels:

Best practice is not always about reaching level 5, it’s about being clear, consistent, and ethical about what level of influence the community has at every stage.

Practical Strategies for Successful Co-Creation

Start with Purpose, Not PR

Don’t pursue co-creation as a performative gesture or marketing strategy. Begin with:

• A relevant theme that touches on lived experience

• A critical gap in current representation

• A willingness to listen and learn, not just guide
  
  

Choose the Right Community Partners

Avoid the trap of assuming that one person or group “represents” a community. Build partnerships with:

• Grassroots groups

• Local leaders

• Community researchers

• Activist networks

• Artists, elders, educators
  
  

These groups should not just be “invited” but co-commissioned, co-paid, and co-positioned.

Design the Process, Not Just the Output

Great co-creation projects succeed because the process is just as considered as the product. Plan:

• Decision-making frameworks (who decides what, and when)

• Credit and compensation structures

• Facilitation methods

• Feedback loops

• Archiving and legacy planning
  
  

"The process is the pedagogy. That’s where the museum transforms." Dr. Sandell, University of Leicester

Support Skill Exchange

Curators and community partners both bring valuable skills. Create opportunities for mutual learning:

• Community partners get access to collections, interpretation tools, research training

• Curators gain insight into lived experience, vernacular language, emotional nuance
  
  

Budget for Equity

Co-creation is not free. Budget for:

• Honoraria and salaries

• Transportation and accessibility

• Childcare and food for community meetings

• Production resources (AV, design, translation)

• Aftercare and feedback sessions
  
  

Global Case Studies of Co-Creation Done Right

Manchester Museum – “Hello Future”

Goal: To centre South Asian, Black, and LGBTQ+ voices in the redesign of permanent galleries.

• Paid community “Change Makers” embedded in project teams

• Co-created exhibitions like “South Asia Gallery” and “Queering the Museum”

• Exhibitions incorporated spoken-word poetry, protest ephemera, and intergenerational perspectives
  
  

Impact:
Increased visitation from underrepresented audiences by 35%.
New community governance structures created lasting change.

Museum of Vancouver – “The City Before the City”

Goal: To tell the Indigenous Musqueam story of Vancouver’s founding, through Indigenous voice and authority.

• Content, design, and interpretation developed by Musqueam First Nation

• Use of Musqueam language, worldview, and protocols

• Shifted museum role from “owner of story” to “host of knowledge”

Impact:
National recognition for decolonial practice.
Model adopted by other institutions.

National Museum of African American History and Culture – “A People’s Journey”

Goal: To crowdsource the African American experience across time and geography.

• “Save Our African American Treasures” programme invited public to share objects, stories, and voices

• Led to major acquisitions and co-authored interpretation

• Oral history collection built through community events and listening circles
  
  

Impact:
Over 40% of early collections were community-donated.
Helped build emotional equity and authentic connection from day one.

Addressing Common Curatorial Concerns

Evaluation and Legacy

How do we measure the success of co-creation?

Qualitative Tools:

• Emotional response interviews

• Visitor story capture

• Staff reflection sessions

• Community feedback loops
  
  

Quantitative Tools:

• Demographic diversity metrics

• Repeat visitation by target groups

• Co-created content usage

• Media/social engagement
  
  

Also assess legacy:

• Did the relationships continue?

• Did internal practice change?

• Did the institution’s voice evolve?
  
  

Final Section: The Future Is Co-Curated

The museum of the future will not speak in a single voice. It will resonate with many. As trust in institutions declines, the ones that endure will be those that share power, not just collections.

Co-creation is not a threat to curatorial excellence, it’s its 21st-century evolution.

“If we truly believe museums are for everyone, then they must be built by everyone.” Elaine Heumann Gurian

Further Reading & Resources

• Simon, N. (2010). The Participatory Museum

• Lonetree, A. (2012). Decolonizing Museums

• Sandell, R. (2007). Museums, Prejudice and the Reframing of Difference

• Vergo, P. (Ed.) (1989). The New Museology

• ICOM (2020). Museums, Society and Inequality

• MA UK (2022). Power and Participation: A Museum Framework