The project I chose for
this assignment is not quite a typical collaboration but it demonstrates how
organizations can form partnerships and work in conjunction with one another to
cover a certain topic or historical event, by creating their own separate
events and programs. 2014-2018 will see many events around the world commemorating
the 100th anniversary of World War I. The First World War Centenary Programme
and Partnership, established in 2010, is a worldwide project with thousands of
organizations (according to the website, www.1914.org,
there are over 3000 not-for-profits from over 50 countries participating), led
by the Imperial War Museum (IWM) in the UK, that acts as a network to connect
those organizations that want to take part in the commemoration of WWI in the
years between 2014 and 2018.
According to a list of
participating organizations on the Programme’s website, a variety of
institutions are involved in the Partnership, including museums, universities,
historical societies, libraries, archives, theaters, and art galleries. All of
the organizations are commemorating the 100th anniversary of World War
I in their own ways, through exhibits, talks and lectures, educational
programming, artistic performances, etc. The website acts as a sort of portal
and forum for the Centenary commemorations as a whole, and lists these events
and activities happening around the world, as well as news stories about the
events. Active Facebook and Twitter accounts also give the organizations a
platform to advertise themselves and share information about their programming.
Through the website, organizations can also join the First World War Centenary
Partnership for free and access resources and guides provided by the IWM, as
well as network with other not-for-profit organizations around the world.
Because the Centenary Programme
is such a huge undertaking, revolving around a pivotal point in world history,
it is a high profile project with lots of participation. At its core, though, it seems to involve more
conceptual cooperation between the organizations rather than any sort of actual
collaboration for specific events or programs. Each institution has its own
exhibitions, events, and programs that are listed on the website. The
collaborative element comes in more on the website, where the Centenary is
talked about as a conceptual whole, as the world comes together to commemorate
World War I. Actual collaboration may come into play more on specific
anniversary days, when governments and organizations hold commemorative events
in conjunction with one another.
As an
interesting side note, a press release from the IWM about the Partnership
includes quotes from staff members at multiple institutions, and many state
their excitement for opportunities for collaborations with other organizations—actually
using the word collaboration (http://www.1914.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/First-World-War-Centenary-Partnership-Programme-Press-Release.pdf
found at the bottom of the document). The rest of the website, especially the
Events Calendar doesn’t seem to reflect the level of active collaboration
suggested by these quotes. Perhaps these people were thinking more in terms of
the conceptual collaboration I talked
about earlier. Or maybe there is collaboration on certain events in the past,
or that are yet to happen.
On the other hand, some
of the participating organizations are collaborations in and of themselves. For
example, there is Europeana 1914-1918 (http://www.europeana1914-1918.eu/en),
which is an extension of Europeana, a digital database of the collections of
multiple European institutions. The World War I-themed website offers
(obviously) collections related to the War and remembrance, from places like
the National Libraries of multiple countries, universities, cultural
institutes, and personal collections. In the same way the Centenary Partnership
website aggregates the events held by various organizations, the Europeana
website aggregates items from their collections.
Successes, benefits, and drawbacks
Success of the Centenary
Programme and Partnership can probably be measured best by the success of the
individual organizations that are part of the partnership and whether the Programme
and its website bring more attention to their exhibitions and events. This is a
bit harder to track on an individual basis, but the fact that the website is
actively updated and lists so many organizations demonstrates that the idea of
the Centenary Partnership was successful. Leadership and coordination from a
world renowned museum like IWM gives the Programme and Partnership a higher
profile, allows smaller not-for-profits to benefit from the IWM’s resources and
expertise, and gives interested people a central place to find out about all
the commemorative activities happening throughout the world.
One obvious obstacle to
any sort of actual collaboration within the Centenary Partnership is
geographic. Because the First World War was a major international event,
organizations across the globe are interested in commemorating it, including
numerous small not-for-profits that probably do not have the resources to put
together large, collaborative exhibits or programming. They can put on exhibits
and programs at the same time as other institutions, on the specific
anniversaries, but actual collaboration is much more difficult. The conceptual
cooperation is probably the biggest factor in the Centenary Programme, as
organizations can explore the same themes and commemorate the same events as
others, without actively working together on a specific project.
One important benefit of
the Partnership is the heightened profile that the smaller organizations can
gain through association with the project. The website’s Events Calendar allows
any member of the Partnership to advertise their events, programs, and
activities. It is updated constantly and lists all upcoming events. For
example, on the day I am writing this (February 20th), there are 9
pages of listings, including ongoing and temporary museum exhibitions,
lectures, activities and workshops, and film screenings. Besides the official
website, the Centenary Programme’s Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/FirstWorldWarCentenary) and Twitter (https://twitter.com/IWM_Centenary)
accounts also offer information about different organizations’ events and
programs. The IWM runs both but a quick browse through each shows that multiple
organizations are represented in the posts, although each site seems to post
the exact same information.
Another disadvantage is
the obvious bias toward organizations and events in the UK. This is
understandable because the entire project is let by a British organization and
may not be as well known outside of Britain. The fact that the websites that
talk about the Centenary Programme or Partnership all seem to be British,
including various university and governmental sites, clearly demonstrates this.
The biggest exception to all-British participation seems to be the National
World War I Museum in Kansas City, which has done a good job of including its
events on the Calendar. A list of participating organizations on the website
shows that not-for-profits from many countries have joined the Partnership, but
they are not listing their events on the Calendar. Also, the website’s claim of
3000 organizations in 50 countries isn’t exactly confirmed, as only 30
countries besides the UK are searchable options on in the list of participants.
Conclusions
I believe the First World
War Centenary Programme and Partnership demonstrates how cultural heritage organizations
can collaborate by conceptually linking themselves together to address any sort
of topic or historical event. A high-profile, international event like World
War I lends itself well to a worldwide network like this. Geography, time, and
other resources may prevent organizations from physically coming together to
collaborate on an event or program, but a project like the Centenary Programme
allows thousands of organizations to establish a higher profile for themselves and
attract more visitors. The example of the Partnership could be taken on a much
smaller scale, within a single country, or even a state or city, and used to
commemorate local events or topics through a cooperative network Local
organizations would also have an easier time actively collaborating.
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