‘It wasn’t all bad’: representations of working class cultures within social history museums and their impacts on audiences

This article examines the complexities inherent in creating social history displays which honestly represent communities whilst at the same time remaining sensitive to participant’s needs and fears of exposure. It considers ways in which oral history collecting to inform displays is subject to self-censorship, community collusion in ‘stigma management’ and the curatorial decision making process of local government officers. Drawing on material collected for the People’s Palace Glasgow and elsewhere it analyzes the ways in which individual responses are used to create notions of community identity, within the framework of the social history museum as voice of local government. Lastly it considers the impacts of such histories on local, tourist and diasporic visitors when the context for such memories (and indeed objects) has been changed by their relationship to the museum

Bollywood Dreams? The Rise of the Asian Mela as a Global Cultural Phenomenon

This article will examine some of the complexities inherent in the development of Asian Mela festivals from small-scale community-based events in India, to national celebrations of Diasporic culture in Western countries. Like Caribbean Carnivals, Melas are becoming more popular as a global cultural tourism phenomenon and are increasingly being promoted to white and tourist audiences. This similarly engenders fears of cultural dilution, distortion, and ‘Othering’. The programming of Melas is apparently keeping pace with the exporting, re-packaging and hybridisation of other forms of Asian culture, such as cuisine, music, fashion, and cinema. But does this symbolise a Bollywood dream or just another post-colonial appropriation of indigenous or Disaporic cultures? Cultural protectionism is certainly a contentious issue within Diasporic communities, where inter-generational differences of opinion can lead to conflict and confusion. Identity construction is complex and worthy of further examination in the context of Melas, which traditionally served to celebrate ethnic community and folk cultures and identities, but are increasingly becoming a showcase for global and hybridised cultural forms. The article will examine these issues, as well as providing an analysis of the factors and mechanisms that are driving the development of Melas forward. This will include the role and vision of artistic directors of Melas, the contribution of ethnic communities to cultural continuity, and issues relating to audience and tourism development. A case study of the Edinburgh Mela will be presented, which exemplifies a number of the aforementioned issues, focusing in particular on national and Diasporic identity construction, and the tensions between popular and traditional cultural forms

Occupying whateverland: Journeys to museums in the Baltic

Recent history of Central and Eastern Europe charts multiple occupations, liberations and re-occupations by a variety of states and regimes. Museums of recent history, located across the region, strive to both constitute a memorial shaping narratives of national identity, and to represent the past in a way both recognizable and persuasive for their predominantly international tourist visitors. These visitors come with their own preconceptions and aims towards building both a historical narrative of the past and a personal identity narrative of a cultured, engaged tourist. In this paper, we chart how the historical past is used in contemporary sensemaking processes in the museums, and how tourist interpretations cross organizational and national barriers that the museum-curated historical narratives attempt to create

Orientalism redeployed : art as cultural self-critique and self-representation

This paper looks at special exhibitions and galleries holdings of "Western" Orientalist art of the 19th and early 20th centuries. This was art produced for the "West" in the early stages of its imperialist interest in the Middle East and our project focuses on the conditions under which this art emerged. Taking as our theoretical context the legacy of Edward W. Said’s study, Orientalism, we initially focussed our attention upon nationally legitimated UK museums’ presentation of cultural objects produced in the Middle East to a ‘Western’ audience (see Bryce and Carnegie 2013). Drawing on, for example, recent exhibitions in the UK (Bellini and the East. National Gallery 2006, The Lure of the East: British Orientalist painting. Tate Britain. 2008), and the USA (The Spectacular Art of Jean-Léon Gérôme, Getty) our study now explores the recent reappraisal of this body of art in western galleries as means of self-critique amidst "post 9/11" discourses. We additionally, examine the recent interest in, acquisition of, and display of Orientalist art in Turkish and Middle Eastern collections as a powerful statement of agency and a means to observe the self through the gaze of the Western "other." Our research question is, to what extent are these twin deployments of this problematic genre of art part of a wider, potentially unifying discursive formation

Home and Online Management and Evaluation of Blood Pressure (HOME BP) using a digital intervention in poorly controlled hypertension: randomised controlled trial

Objective: The HOME BP (Home and Online Management and Evaluation of Blood Pressure) trial aimed to test a digital intervention for hypertension management in primary care by combining self-monitoring of blood pressure with guided self-management. Design: Unmasked randomised controlled trial with automated ascertainment of primary endpoint. Setting: 76 general practices in the United Kingdom. Participants: 622 people with treated but poorly controlled hypertension (>140/90 mm Hg) and access to the internet. Interventions: Participants were randomised by using a minimisation algorithm to self-monitoring of blood pressure with a digital intervention (305 participants) or usual care (routine hypertension care, with appointments and drug changes made at the discretion of the general practitioner; 317 participants). The digital intervention provided feedback of blood pressure results to patients and professionals with optional lifestyle advice and motivational support. Target blood pressure for hypertension, diabetes, and people aged 80 or older followed UK national guidelines. Main outcome measures: The primary outcome was the difference in systolic blood pressure (mean of second and third readings) after one year, adjusted for baseline blood pressure, blood pressure target, age, and practice, with multiple imputation for missing values. Results: After one year, data were available from 552 participants (88.6%) with imputation for the remaining 70 participants (11.4%). Mean blood pressure dropped from 151.7/86.4 to 138.4/80.2 mm Hg in the intervention group and from 151.6/85.3 to 141.8/79.8 mm Hg in the usual care group, giving a mean difference in systolic blood pressure of −3.4 mm Hg (95% confidence interval −6.1 to −0.8 mm Hg) and a mean difference in diastolic blood pressure of −0.5 mm Hg (−1.9 to 0.9 mm Hg). Results were comparable in the complete case analysis and adverse effects were similar between groups. Within trial costs showed an incremental cost effectiveness ratio of £11 ($15, €12; 95% confidence interval £6 to £29) per mm Hg reduction. Conclusions: The HOME BP digital intervention for the management of hypertension by using self-monitored blood pressure led to better control of systolic blood pressure after one year than usual care, with low incremental costs. Implementation in primary care will require integration into clinical workflows and consideration of people who are digitally excluded. Trial registration: ISRCTN13790648

‘It wasn’t all bad’: representations of working class cultures within social history museums and their impacts on audiences

This article examines the complexities inherent in creating social history displays which honestly represent communities whilst at the same time remaining sensitive to participant’s needs and fears of exposure. It considers ways in which oral history collecting to inform displays is subject to self-censorship, community collusion in ‘stigma management’ and the curatorial decision making process of local government officers. Drawing on material collected for the People’s Palace Glasgow and elsewhere it analyzes the ways in which individual responses are used to create notions of community identity, within the framework of the social history museum as voice of local government. Lastly it considers the impacts of such histories on local, tourist and diasporic visitors when the context for such memories (and indeed objects) has been changed by their relationship to the museum

Negotiating problematic identities of place within the path-driven elite university: Jefferson, slavery and the University of Virginia

Historic and elite universities need to manage their reputation whilst facing up to problematic aspects of their own history. We determine contemporary readings of place and space require narratives to align with current, corporate thinking and values. In recent years, colonialism and slavery have been at the forefront of campaigns which, while they tend to originate as student-led, have resulted in historic universities having to ‘face up’ to their own role. We here focus on the University of Virginia which alongside nearby Monticello, has symbolic and charismatic hagiographic remembering afforded to the founder Thomas Jefferson. We note how competitively selected student guides are evidencing cultural change in the present as well as forming part of the alumni and present student ‘family’, where pride in place is contingent on such openness. Our study makes a contribution to our understanding of historic universities as heritage businesses