Launched on the 13th July 2020, a six-part audio series The Caretakers offers the public a rare glimpse into life for UK museum and gallery security staff and those who maintained buildings and collections during lockdown. Delivered by contemporary artist Eloise Moody, and supported by arts organisation Metal – each episode was broadcast daily by the partner organisations and Metal via social media. 

“I knew that this project had all the ingredients to be good, but I couldn’t know it would be quite so special.  Through the eyes of these Caretakers, we are allowed a rare glimpse, not just into the closed museum spaces, and the quiet collections, but into the lives and reflections of the people who find themselves often the sole inhabitants of these usually thriving places.”

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The Caretakers offers listeners a sneak peek of their beloved collections. Each episode centres on one object, chosen and narrated by a member of a security or maintenance team, offering a reimagined take on the traditional curator led tour format. The series offers rare access into the hidden worlds of museums and galleries and the people that have been looking after them during the Covid-19 pandemic with diligence, passion and deep commitment to our heritage.

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Eloise Moody conceived the idea for The Caretakers as a way to give voice to workers whose knowledge of museum collections and cultural buildings often goes unheard. Six museums and galleries across England participated: 

Southend Museums

Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery

Kettle's Yard

Museum of London

Royal Museums Greenwich

Pitt Rivers Museum, Oxford