Could the Sensational Museum create a human-centred museum collections database?
- Livi Adu
- 8 hours ago
- 5 min read
Introduction:
The first time I typed a record into a museum database, I didn’t realise I was participating in something so depersonalised. The object had a name, a number, and a date. Maybe the providence. Maybe a donor. All useful, yes. But cold. Lifeless. Devoid of emotion or sensory resonance.
What’s almost always missing?
Us!
Our senses,
Our memories,
Our emotions,
&
Our humanity
As someone working at the intersection of decolonisation, accessibility, and digital practice, I’ve been watching the Sensational Museum project closely. What they’ve achieved isn’t just a toolkit, a demonstrator, or an exhibition: it’s a provocation that asks:
Who do our collections serve?
How are we recording experience?
Whose senses, stories, and needs are centred?
Note for the reader:
You’ll see some terms in bold with an asterisk* throughout this post. I’ve added short definitions at the end for terms that can be confusing or are used in different ways.
What is the Sensational Museum?
The Sensational Museum is a 27-month research project led by the University of Leicester and funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council. It brings together universities, museums, design specialists, and a pan-disability* group of co-creators to reimagine how museums work:
not just what they display, but how they’re organised behind the scenes.
What set this project apart wasn’t just its ambition (which is considerable), but the way it was grounded in a concept called Disability Gain*. This idea flips the script. Rather than treating access as a deficit or an afterthought, it centres disabled expertise as a creative resource. It’s not just about making things “accessible”, it’s about building systems that are more imaginative, more flexible, and ultimately better for everyone. It reminded us that sense is not fixed, it’s cultural, personal, layered. And yet our systems are designed for a narrow band of normative experience.
What would it mean to centre trans-sensory* knowledge?
How can we honour the back-of-house experience and front-of-house visitors equally?
How can we let collections staff use more of their humanity in their work?
What’s wrong with the way we catalogue our museum collections now?
Let’s be honest: museum databases aren’t exactly known for their emotional depth. They’re designed for standardisation and retrieval of 'factual' logic and information. And while these have an important purpose, they can also quietly erase the lived experience of both the people working with objects and the communities of origin those objects belong to. The team at the Sensational Museum pointed out that our current systems are based on ableist, ocular-centric assumptions. The idea that the “core” visitor sees, reads, and understands through sight alone.
The rest?
Additional. Optional. Expensive.
But what if we started from a different standpoint entirely?
The moment that really landed for me was when the new collections management demonstrator was described. Not just a new system, but a new methodological approach: one rooted in co-creation, Disability Gain, and a rejection of ocular-centric bias. One that reimagines how we capture and share knowledge.
Records would no longer just be “oak wood box, c.1890”, but “smells like my nan’s house; reminds me of a silk ribbon and a needle prick that made me cry.
What a difference! What a memory! What a catalogue entry!
It provides an opportunity to open up museums to more meaningful community engagement that will enrich our collections beyond the 'objects', it creates a framework to embed the humanity back into our data.
A new approach to recording museum collections
As part of the project’s Collections Strand, the team developed a prototype Collections Management Demonstrator. It’s a web-based tool (not a full CMS, but a working model) that invites heritage professionals to think differently about how we describe objects.
Instead of stopping at “Object: Sewing Box. Material: Oak,” you might also include:
Functional data - what the object is and what it does
Evaluative data - how it feels, smells, sounds, or looks
Evocative data - personal or emotional associations
Access & safety data - sensory information about the object or environment (e.g. lighting, smells, noise levels, hazards, PPE required)
I spent some time exploring the demonstrator, and it’s remarkable how simple shifts can open up entirely new kinds of meaning. Instead of hiding behind curatorial neutrality, we’re invited to bring our entire human experience into the records: It’s a small act, with big implications.
Tools and resources you can use
Everything the team developed is open access and available via their website:
You’ll find:
The Collections Management Demonstrator – a space to experiment with human-centred cataloguing
Sensory Thinking Resources – practical guides for capturing access and sensory data
A Multisensory Interpretation Toolkit – for designing exhibitions with no one sense privileged over another
Podcasts, transcripts, templates, and visual guides – all built around inclusion, clarity, and co-creation
The demonstrator isn’t just about data, it’s about empathy. One pilot participant described it best:
“This process meant I could bring my whole self. So often we become robotic and depersonalised when we’re cataloguing—but this encouraged me to be human.”
That quote has stayed with me.
What does this new method mean for the future of museum practice?
In practical terms, this work is already happening. Museums across the UK are testing this approach, guided by new toolkits and frameworks. And the pilot results are fantastic!
Staff have said they found it freeing to be personal in their record entries.
Co-creators felt empowered and validated.
Visitors found new ways into stories they’d previously passed by.
If you work in museums, especially in collections, you’ll know how deeply personal our work can be, even when we’re filling in the data fields of our collections management systems. We are the quiet witnesses, the caretakers, and the storytellers behind the scenes.
The Sensational Museum reminds us that we matter too:
Our sensory experiences, our emotional connections, and our access needs all belong in the story too.
More than that, our communities deserve to be reflected in the records too, not only in temporary exhibitions.
Final reflections
I came away from the showcase, not just impressed, but inspired. This isn’t just about digitisation or data. It’s about professional and cultural change, where museums are built and led by care, not compliance. It has inspired me to rethink my approach to collections data. It is a strong solution to creating more person-centred, ethical, and decolonised collections, though there are still some questions I have to ask:
How do we balance evocative data with shared authority?
What happens when access needs contradict each other?
How do we scale this?
If you’re thinking about how to embed decolonisation, access, or community voice into your systems, this is the place to start. The groundwork has been laid. We have a model. And an invitation. Let’s take it!
Your Call to Action - What Now?
If you work with accessioning records, community groups, or museum data management, consider this an invitation to try something new and meaningful:
Reflect on and share this post.
Explore the sensational museum's website, tools, and methods.
Consider how trans-sensory knowledge can be added to your record data.
The approach of relating to all forms of human disability through the recognition of the multifaceted experience of people with disabilities.
All interventions that were originally put in place for people with disabilities actually makes life better for people without disabilities too.
It is multi-sensory experiences that transcend the 5 traditional senses; it is more than physical or sensory experiences, it includes emotions, rhythms, and spiritual sensations.
Links and References:
Sensational Museum Project Showcase (2025). University of Leicester. https://www.sensationalmuseum.org
