Eno is based at the Culture& head office this year as the archives and digital media trainee, working to catalogue over 30 years’ worth of Culture& archival material at the London Metropolitan Archives, and helping to curate events and programmes based around them. In 2018, Eno graduated from the University of Manchester in History of Art with an interest in Abstraction, Occultism and the European Avant Garde of the 20th Century. In a quest to find the links between sentiments of the Avant Garde and Music he found himself specialising in Afrofuturism and Hauntology with both theories concerned with time, the social & political constructs we live in today as a result of our collective past, and creating new narratives by using different reference points in history. In his spare time, Eno hosts his own radio show, Universal Library, on Hackney’s Netil Radio, is a regular contributor to Pigalle Paris Radio and plays percussion for artists Forest Law and Julien Gasc.

While studying at the University of Birmingham Faustina was able to develop her interest in arts, history and heritage by undertaking a yearlong internship at the University of Birmingham Research and Cultural Collection in her final year. This allowed her to work on digitisation and research projects, broadening her understanding of the significant work heritage does in preserving and bringing to light different cultural and artistic traditions. After graduating, Faustina was able to build on her experience and aspirations of a career in heritage, by completing a placement at Gunnersbury Park Museum. This involved working closely with the museum’s collections and exhibitions, seeing how local history is used to reflect and inspire communities. Since starting the New Museum School and working in an archive, Faustina is exploring a new and exciting side of heritage. This has included working on the Culture& collection, a compilation of insightful interviews that discuss how music brings together ideas of identity, diaspora and migration.

Hermenia is based at Art UK, working as a ‘Digital Content Trainee’. Art UK is an arts charity that seeks to digitise all of the UK’s public art collections, to make art accessible for all. Hermenia will be working across different departments during her placement at Art UK, including the Marketing Team and Social Management Team. In addition, she will be working with Art UK volunteers to assist and introduce them to the organisation. Whilst studying BA Illustration at the University for Creative Art, Hermenia worked in several arts and heritage site across London, mainly at the Barbican Centre, where she invigilated at the Barbican Art Gallery, and also had the opportunity to host exhibition tours. Hermenia continues to produce art in her spare time, in the near future she plans to start her own charitable arts organisation. Since starting at New Museum School, she’s been inspired by how the arts can have a positive, long-lasting impact on young people, especially through great initiatives such as education programmes in schools.

Denise is our New Museum School trainee, based at Pitzhanger Manor and Gallery for the year. Denise graduated in History of Art at the University of Nottingham in 2018 which led her to working as a realisation intern for a creative design and branding agency, a photography management and production agency and finally a design and art direction organisation. While studying, Denise was head of curation for a student-run curatorial group called The Crop Up Gallery, successfully exhibiting fifteen artworks at the Lakeside Gallery. She was also appointed the Head of Images for the university’s official magazine. As her main aim is to diversify the homogeny that exists within the Art/Heritage sector, Denise gravitates towards institutional critique and politics of display, seeking to demonstrate the value of inclusivity through outreach and engagement of wider audiences. Outside of her traineeship she enjoys political art, creative vision and social realism and fundamentally believes that museums and galleries should be contemplative and reflective spaces.

Anna is based at the Museum of London working in Collections Management, which involves preserving museum objects by environmental monitoring, pest management and other forms of preventative conservation. Throughout her placement, Anna will be involved in a variety of projects framed around the relocation of the museum. Anna has a degree in Social Anthropology from the University of Kent and has a main research interest in the history and lives of the Black British community. At the end of her degree, she produced a dissertation on the shift in Black British careers from manual labourers during the Windrush to creative entrepreneurs in the current day. Outside of academia, Anna is an embroidery artist producing work mainly inspired by Black culture, music and positivity. Her work has recently been featured in an art show which she hopes to do more of in the near future as her business expands.

Molly is based at Polesden Lacey, a large Edwardian house and estate owned by the National Trust just outside Dorking. This is an exciting time at the property as the National Trust is celebrating its 125th Anniversary and Molly will be working in conservation, interpretation and education as well as curating social media platforms. Having recently graduated from the University of Southampton where she studied English and Politics, Molly undertook internships in various arts organisations including a regional theatre and music venues. From here, her interest in increasing accessibility within the arts and heritage sector was fostered and in particular she became interested in the relationship between politics, art & heritage. Outside of her traineeship, Molly also writes articles for various freelance publications, focusing on intersectional feminism and most recently has explored the experiences of Irish women and non-binary people in relation to the restriction of reproductive rights. Molly is looking forward to building her conservation skills as well as gaining more practical experience in interpretation and outreach throughout the course of her traineeship.

Ellieanorah is based at the National Trust with a focus on Marketing and Communications. Coming from a Nigerian-British background, Ellieanorah believes that her heritage is both under-celebrated and underrepresented in western heritage and drives to bring about change and share hidden narratives. To tackle this interactively, she has been working on a Heritage & History card game that aims to celebrate the historically marginalised and highlight parts As well as being part of the New Museum School, Ellieanorah is also one of 25 women selected for the ‘You Make It‘ empowerment programme. She wishes to bring together what she will learn from both sources to push towards her overall ambition of developing a podcast series. Additionally, she believes curators and the powers within Arts & Heritage have the responsibility to stimulate inclusive, broad conversations with a wider range of people to ensure we understand the full scope of our collective human experience.

Edinam is one of 6 New Museum School trainees at the National Trust. Edinam is based within the London Creative Team at the Trust’s regional office in London, and the Garden and Outdoors team at Morden Hall Park, focusing on projects centred around urban greenspace – one of which involves restoring the famous Rose Garden. After graduating with a degree in anthropology at Goldsmiths, Edinam worked at UCL for 11 months where she supported the Community Engagement and Exhibitions teams with the planning, production and delivery of exhibitions and public engagement programmes within and outside UCL. Alongside this, she also spent time volunteering at various heritage sites such as the National History Museum. These experiences have inspired her interest in finding new and innovative ways of presenting the objects, traditions, places etc. that tell the stories, beliefs, histories and values of our society. Now that she’s a New Museum School trainee, she’s excited for the opportunity to do this, using the skills she has in new ways alongside developing new skills and knowledge in horticulture.

Tabitha is based at Keats House in Hampstead. She will be working on a range of projects such as events, archival work and audience engagement in collaboration with the 200^th anniversary of Keats living at the property. As a recent Social Anthropology graduate, discussions around the politics of representation at university sparked her interest in the role museums have in society. After volunteering in several oral history projects, exhibition curation and at the Migration Museum, Tabitha has seen how influential community heritage can be to accessibility and participation in museums. Building on her previous experience, she hopes to try new ideas to bring in new audiences to Keats House and engage more people with poetry. Tabitha is looking forward to working with the other trainees to develop skills and think critically about the future of museums and the heritage sector.

Anika is based at Bletchley Park, a museum dedicated to the codebreakers of WW2. She will be in departments such as the Learning team throughout her traineeship, experiencing first-hand how the teams all help to run an important heritage site. She has taken part in workshops and is looking forward to learning more about the heritage sector. She is interested in museum education and how it is used to learn about the past. Anika graduated from the University of Leicester where she studied History. She is enjoying the New Museum School sessions as she supports the movement to increase representation in the Arts, Culture and Heritage sectors. She also wants more stories to be told about significant and inspiring people from the past, which has inspired her research for a podcast she will create for the NMS. Anika believes that History is not owned by a select few, but rather it belongs to everyone, to learn from and explore.