Queer(y)ing Museums: Amelia Smith

In the second episode of Queer(y)ing Museums, BCMA’s Desirée Hall and Tanya Pacholok chat with Amelia Smith, a transgender lesbian emerging museum professional who holds a Master of Museum Studies from the University of Toronto.

In this episode, Amelia shares with us about her approaches to exhibition design and community engagement; how cisgender privilege shows up in museum spaces and in how we talk about trans histories; thinking about audience engagement and who we are designing exhibits for, and more.

Amelia's work seeks to bridge the gap between transgender studies and queer museology. Upon finding little addressing this topic, she took it upon herself to create it. Her website "Not Your Average Cistory" has grown into a home for exploring the various ways that museums can be viewed through a transgender lens. Check it out here:  http://www.notyouraveragecistory.com/

You can also find Amelia on Twitter: @NTURAvrgCistory 

If you would like to take action against the anti-trans bills that Amelia mentions in this episode, the American Civil Liberties Union is doing great work to fight for the rights, health, safety, and wellbeing of trans people in the midst of ongoing anti-trans legislation: https://www.aclu.org/issues/lgbtq-rights/transgender-rights

References in this episode:

Framing Agnes
https://www.framingagnes.com/

Nina Simon, The Participatory Museum https://www.participatorymuseum.org/

Mary Weissman
Toward a Transgender Archaeology (in the Transgender Studies Reader)

Clare Sears
Arresting Dress (Duke University Press)