Bradford's National Museum

When the National Museum of Photography, Film and Television opened in 1983 it was at a time of optimism for Bradford. Bradford was the first deindustrialising city to launch a tourism campaign. The new museum was part of that moment. Yet twenty years later a different story was being told. Further severe funding cuts in 2013 indicated the potential need to close one of the group’s northern museums 45,000 people signed a petition to keep the museum open. More than five years on – the museum did not close and it has started to reinvent itself. Bradford’s National Museum explored how the National Science and Media Museum can become locally-rooted and more open, engaged and collaborative. Over 150 people were involved in different ways in shaping the research and the ideas that have emerged. We created this online publicaton for the University of Leeds to communicate their research and findings and to draw out future directions for the Museum in and with Bradford.