Reflecting on insights from museum professionals and our research from the ‘Materialising the Cold War’ project, we have created the ‘Cold War in Museums’ toolkit. Designed as an informative guide for museum and heritage professionals, as well as volunteers, the toolkit offers advice on collecting, interpreting and displaying Cold War history.
We encourage users to view their collections through a Cold War lens, providing practical advice on addressing this complex history. Whether colleagues have previous experience with Cold War objects or are discovering potential connections within their collections, we hope this toolkit will inspire fresh ideas and new perspectives on presenting this era.
The toolkit includes step by step guidance for identifying Cold War objects and assessing their Cold War connections, offers strategies for addressing collections gaps, and makes recommendations on how to convey this multi-dimensional story in a way that resonates with diverse audiences.
Our five case studies are drawn from curators from across the UK which demonstrate best practise and lessons learnt through their experiences engaging with Cold War heritage. We hope this toolkit inspires and promotes further discussions around the Cold War in the museums.