Embracing communities’ creative innovations for museum sustainability

Written by Rodah Kalondu Lange, Curator, Karen Blixen Museum, National Museums of Kenya (Kenya, ITP 2023)

For the six weeks I was at the UK attending the ITP in 2023, I was very keen to learn from the museum professionals at the British Museum and my UK partner placement with North East Museums (formerly Tyne and Wear Archives and Museums). My main interest when applying for the ITP was conservation of objects; curation of permanent and temporary exhibitions; museum education, collections care, documentation; museum management and leadership; and fundraising. However, when the programme schedule was shared I realised it was full of exciting topics including working internationally, membership, social media and marketing, merchandizing, volunteers, scientific research, customers survey, audiences among others. I felt that this was a once in a lifetime opportunity to learn as much as I could, as my work as a curator comes with high expectations from management. As a curator, aside from doing conservation, curation and documentation work, I have other responsibilities including administrative duties and coming up with different ways of raising revenue and financial management of the Karen Blixen Museum.

Every morning during the ITP I passed by the giftshop next to the information desk at the British Museum, I always admired the shop. During lunch break, I would walk through this fully stocked shop looking at the merchandise which were on sale and how busy the shop was throughout the day. I saw the many collections of books on sale with interesting topics but what caught my eye the most was the branded items. I realised there were lot of branded products ranging from keyrings, pencils, pens, mugs, tote bags, umbrellas, containers, bottles and toys, among others, which were branded using interesting collections in the museum. I also had a chance to visit and observe the other shop next to the entrance and was fascinated by the fact that a lot of customers were happy buying branded souvenirs. To add to this, in each of the other museums I visited, including my partner museum, there were lots of branded products which I found interesting.

During the sessions on the temporary exhibition programme by the exhibitions team, and visiting the temporary exhibition China’s Hidden Century, I also learnt how the team raised funds by branding different products based on the exhibition. I learnt that I can use the collections in my museum to brand items which can be sold in the museum gift shop as souvenirs. This answered one of the questions I had on how to come up with new revenue strategies. I remembered visitors to my museum requesting for branded souvenirs which we could not provide since the institution was not financially able to do so. I felt that this was an idea worth exploring in my museum as a way to sustainably raise revenue, especially during the hard economic times.

Coming back to my museum I took time to think about it and how best I can approach this concept. I looked at the collections with a different perspective, trying to understand how we can use the collections to raise more revenue and ensure sustainability. I shared the idea with the giftshop attendants who took it positively. Together we agreed that we needed to have a change in the giftshop by stocking new quality Kenyan products including branded products. We also needed to recruit new inclusive, creative and innovative suppliers (women, men, young people and people with disabilities) to make the local people feel appreciated by the museum. This would also help the local people earn a leaving out of their creativity.

We went ahead and engaged some visitors on what they would want as souvenirs from the museum. Combining all these ideas we came up with a list of proposed items which we felt would sell well in the gift shop.  We called the existing suppliers and had a one on one discussion on what we needed, insisting on unique quality Kenyan products which are not replicas from any other market. To open room for more suppliers, we organised for an art exhibition inviting all local creatives to come and showcase their work in the museum. Over twenty creatives, including women and youth groups, participated in this exhibition.

During this exhibition we sampled some products including ceramics, crochets, key rings, tote bags, tie die, patched fabrics and beadwork for sale in the gift shop. After this we called the individual artists and had a discussion on how we can work together by giving them an opportunity to become our gift shop suppliers on consignment – where the museum sells the products and takes a small commission for every item sold.  We also approached some young people and asked if they were willing to brand products under our guidance for sale in the gift shop. This too was taken positively and within a week’s time several samples of branded products were supplied and approved.

The products were put on display and from the first month there was tremendous increase in the revenue from the gift shop. More branded products were made and today the gift shop has become a hive of activity with both local and international visitors. The sales from the giftshop have increased the revenue for the Karen Blixen Museum and has improved the museum’s relationship with its local communities. And for the communities, they now feel that as well as the educational and entertainment benefits from the museum, there is also financial benefits to be made.

I take this opportunity to thank the British Museum for the opportunity, the ITP team, British Museum staff and the partner museum staff who willingly shared all the information they had. I also thank my sponsor The John S Cohen Foundation for facilitating me to attend the programme. Today I am proudly using the knowledge gained from the ITP to enrich my work.