Curatorial service-learning : collaboration between Lingnan University and the Hong Kong Maritime Museum

According to the International Council of Museums, A museum is a non-profit, permanent institution in the service of society and its development, open to the public, which acquires, conserves, researches, communicates and exhibits the tangible and intangible heritage of humanity and its environment for the purposes of education, study and enjoyment. Curators and educators traditionally play active roles in fulfilling such professional duties through exhibitions and public programmes. In 2014, the Hong Kong Maritime Museum adopts a community-based approach to exhibition design and for the first time invites local students and scholars to join the curatorial team of the Made in Hong Kong: Our City, Our Stories, a new exhibition to be opened in March 2015. Through the partnership with museum and media agency, this curatorial service-learning project allows students from Lingnan University to link their classroom learning to real-life experiences in the community, facilitate public dialogues, and address the issues and needs of the community. It also inspires students to tackle issues involved in the design and research for museum exhibitions. This paper reviews the methods, process and outcomes of the Made in Hong Kong service-learning project embedded in the survey course Understanding Museums at Lingnan University. Students from different disciplines have collected over 120 interviews from about 30 ethnic groups across three generations. The interviews, data analysis and interpretive materials derived from the project will be edited into interactive displays for the exhibition. Interviewees\u27 responses inform diverse views on Hong Kong in the past, present and future, especially its social, economic and political changes as well as the Hong Kong spirit. As with the project, the exhibition guides students, interviewees and audiences to rethink the meaning of Hong Kong in their life. Based on questionnaires, reflective interviews and visual documentation, this paper will further explain the impact of real-life experiences on deepening students\u27 understanding of museums and their relationship with the community. It will also reveal the benefits and challenges of developing curriculum-based collaboration between universities and museums