Justine Boussard
I am a curator based in the North East of England. As the Amateur Ancestor, I create experiences designed to nurture multigenerational empathy through interaction with our natural, cultural and industrial heritage.
Declaration
I am joining Culture Declares Emergency in declaring that the Earth’s life-supporting systems are in collapse, threatening biodiversity and human societies everywhere, and that culture must play its role in bringing about systems change. I recognise that without changing the dominant worldview within which we operate, with its pursuit of endless economic growth and individualistic fulfilment, we will not avert disaster, no matter how much we ‘green’ our current ways of being.
I will use my privileged access to museums and heritage spaces to help tell new stories about old objects and places, engaging staff and audiences alike in this rediscovery of who we are, were and could be. Reconnecting us to that expanded sense of time we so desperately need to get us out of our nefarious short-termism. I will engage in active hope. The kind of hope that is born out of action, by finding your own courage in the work of those ancestors who shaped the world for the better against all odds, and by joining the brave future ancestors already making a difference today.
Now is not the time to be perfect, now is the time to get a move on. As the wise Maya Angelou said: “Do the best you can until you know better. Then, when you know better, do better.” So here's to being good ancestors!
