For the second year in a row, I was in receipt of funding from the Museum Association’s Member Support Fund and Saxton Bampfylde, in order to attend the UK’s major museum industry conference, hosted on this occasion at the Royal Armouries in Leeds across four days in November 2024.

The MA conference is an incredibly important opportunity for further professional development, and as an independent freelancer that is something we are not always afforded.

I attended plenaries featuring Tracy Brabin (Mayor of West Yorkshire), Michelle Chambers (Director, International Slavery Museum), and Chris Bryant MP (Minister of State for Creative Industries, Arts and Tourism), whilst also attending sessions on museums in the culture wars, creating joyful exhibitions, and a presentation on the British Library’s ‘Beyond the Bassline’ exhibition.

The location of conference was particularly valuable this year as it allowed me to also visit the city’s Henry Moore Institute, and the organisation’s library and archive. These valuable resources were used in the creation of an installation I was working on.