Agnes has wrapped up our offsite exhibition space in anticipation of Agnes Reimagined!
Agnes has wrapped up our offsite exhibition space in anticipation of Agnes Reimagined!
Sunday 16 August
18°C and Broken Clouds
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Ethics and practice of collections deaccessioning for cultural heritage professionals, curators, conservators, artists, creators, and collectors.
Cultivating Sustainable Collections 2025 Event. Photo: Garrett Elliott
Lecture – Free
Workshop –
General – $25
Partner Organizations’ Members – $15 (discount code)
Students -$10 (discount code)
Note: People who cannot pay the fee can send a justification letter requesting the fee registration exemption. For discount codes and letter submissions, contact us here.
Shaping Collections for the Future focuses on the ethics and practice of deaccessioning museum objects and is presented by Dr Jenny Durrant (UK based collection specialist and museum consultant, and Collections Officer at Jane Austen’s House, Chawton).
This lecture and workshop is dedicated to discussing and reviewing why and how cultural heritage organizations resignify their collections through the disposal of objects. This event will also include the book launch/Canadian premiere of Deaccessioning Museum Objects: Transparency and ethics in disposal practice (Routledge, 2025).
Partners:
Shaping Collections for the Future is organized by the Agnes Etherington Art Centre in partnership with the Centre for Sustainable Curating, Western University, and the Department of Art History & Art Conservation, the Department of Film and Media, Vulnerable Media Lab, and Library, Archives and Special Collections at Queen’s University. The Kingston and Area Association of Museums, Art Galleries + Historic Sites, the Ontario Museum Association (OMA), and the Canadian Museum of Health Care provided invaluable support by promoting the event through their channels.
This initiative is funded with the support from The Brockington Visitorship and Chancellor Dunning Trust Visitorship.
Shaping Collections for the Future
9 September 2026
Lecture
Shaping collections for the future.
Object disposal is becoming more common within museums and galleries, as practitioners seek to make collections representative and engaging. This talk will introduce the ethics and practice of object disposal from the UK perspective, explore why shaping collections matters, and what ‘being transparent’ about this work tasks us to do.
9:15 – 9:30 am – Welcome & Registration at Stauffer Library
9:30 – 10:10 am – Lecture
10:10 – 10:30 am – Q&A
Book Launch
10:30 – 11:00 am – Book Launch & Coffee Break
Book presentation, launch and sale with promotional price ($40, cash only)
11:00 am – 1:00 pm – Lunch break
Workshop
Exploring the challenges within object disposal.
The removal of items from public collections can benefit institutions and audiences, but may generate practical, reputational and emotional difficulties. This workshop will introduce the ideas and ethics that underpin collections disposal and explore some of the big questions it raises. Does the mission for museum permanence mean that objects can never be removed? Is it acceptable for items to rest quietly in a collection or do they need an active purpose? How can we create respectful decision-making? Participants will be encouraged to be open to conversation and idea-sharing in a non-judgmental space, where we can all discover new insights from each other.
1:00 pm – 1:30pm – Workshop Welcome & Registration at Stauffer Library
1:30 pm – 3:00 pm – Workshop
3:00 pm – 3:15 pm – coffee break (15 min)
3:15 pm – 4:15pm – Workshop
4:15 pm – 4:30 pm – Close of activities
Dr Jenny Durrant is a specialist in museum collections management and ethics, based in the UK and working internationally. Her doctoral research redefined the ethics and practice of collections disposal and transparency creation. Her book ‘Deaccessioning Museum Objects: Transparency and Ethics in Disposal Practice’ (2025) explores the tensions within removing objects from public collections, and offers practical suggestions for creating meaningful public engagement. Her book chapter “Humanising Collections Disposal” (2024) is endorsed as a ‘rallying cry of hope and imagination’. She has worked in museums and heritage for nearly 25 years, was shortlisted for Museums Change Lives ‘Radical Changemaker of the Year’ in 2025, and is a member of the UK Museums Association Ethics Committee.
