Addressing the Elephant in the Room: Museums and Class Differences (2024–26) is a participatory research project led by Serena Iervolino of King's College London and Museum as Muck. The project tackles a long-avoided issue in the sector: how class differences shape museum culture, careers and belonging.
Working directly with museum workers, activists and networks, the project centres collaboration and co-production. Through workshops, focus groups and collective dialogue, participants examine how class operates within institutional norms, professional identity and EDI practice. With an aim to develop practical responses rooted in lived experience.
The project is generating sector-wide guidelines and tools to embed class awareness into museum EDI work, shifting class from an unspoken issue to a shared responsibility for action. Shortlisted for the King’s Engaged Research Awards 2026, it demonstrates how research, when done with the sector rather than on it, can drive meaningful structural change. If your museum wants to address the elephant in the room, Museum as Muck welcomes collaboration.