Audio Frames – Leeds City Museum
“In this smaller exhibition, we are currently using the audio kiosk with a stand to tell the story of Alexa, a blind person. Alexa chose to describe their display through audio, as they are unable to see their own contents on display. The audio therefore makes a powerful statement with regards to access in museums.”.
– Rachael Dilley, Curator of Exhibitions at Leeds Museums and Galleries
Leeds City Museum (LCM) is situated in one of Leeds much-loved civic buildings – the Leeds Institute building on Millennium Square. The Institute is one of the City’s most important historic buildings and was completed in 1862 by Cuthbert Brodrick, who also built Leeds Town Hall and the Corn Exchange. From the 1950s until 2005 it also housed the Civic Theatre where amateur theatrical groups staged public performances. It has been home to the City Museum since 2008.
The City Museum is the flagship site for the service and is home to four floors of interactive and exciting galleries showcasing the story of Leeds, as well as the Designated Natural History collection. In 2022 – 2023, Leeds City Museum attracted over 220,000 visitors.
Curated by the Preservative Party, the Overlooked exhibition aims to relay the many untold histories behind the city.
“The Preservative Party are a group of award-winning young museum volunteers. Aged between 14-24, we meet for two hours every Thursday to curate projects that are meaningful to us. Conceptualised in Lockdown One, ‘Overlooked’ tells the stories of Leeds that haven’t always been shared in books or in museum spaces. This exhibition took us two years to research and curate, so we hope you enjoy learning about some very interesting individuals.”
Overlooked utilised two Audio Frames, outfitted with Hearing Loop Heavy Duty Handsets, to share stories and experiences from autistic people and members of the Age Friendly Steering Group (AFSG).
A year later, Leeds City Museum debuted the Overlooked Legacies exhibition as an extension from the original, co-curated by The Preservative Party and community partners. It tells the stories of more local people which couldn’t feature in the primary exhibition due to a lack of space.
“In this smaller exhibition, we are currently using the audio kiosk with a stand to tell the story of Alexa, a blind person. Alexa chose to describe their display through audio, as they are unable to see their own contents on display. The audio therefore makes a powerful statement with regards to access in museums.”
The Audio Frames, provided by Blackbox-av, were a pubic-facing means of providing audio to visitors. Engagement is encouraged through the act of raising a Heavy Duty Handset to your ear – T-Coil embedded to account for hearing aids – and pressing a button to activate an audio message.
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