Coffee Chats: Creating Space for Conversation Across TheMuseumsLab Alumni Network

The idea behind the Alumni Coffee Chat was to create a space where members of TheMuseumsLab Alumni Network could meet, reconnect and hear what others were working on. As the community grows across countries, cohorts and areas of practice, we wanted to explore how informal conversation might sustain the relationships formed through the programme and make room for new ones.

Alongside the network’s announcements, opportunities and formal events, we wanted to make it easier for alumni to stay in touch. The question at the heart of the Coffee Chat was: who will I meet? It offered an invitation to hear about each other’s work and continue conversations across Africa and Europe, while recognising the competing demands on alumni’s time.

We co-hosted the first session on 1 July 2026, around the prompt “Where are we now? Alumni reflections after MLab.” The format was a one-hour conversation built around this single open question, with no presentations or preparation required. The invitation made clear that listening was also a welcome way to participate. Alumni could join from wherever they were in their professional journey, and the direction of the conversation would emerge from those present.

The conversation brought together experiences of community-based museum work, establishing cultural institutions and contemporary art practice. Alumni shared current projects, professional transitions and opportunities within their institutions. They also spoke about the ways they continued to cross paths across the museum and cultural sector, often unexpectedly. There was shared laughter, time to catch up and the chance to meet alumni from other cohorts.

One discussion concerned the relationship between museum-building, heritage and political authority. Establishing cultural institutions raised questions about negotiations with communities, traditional authorities and state structures. The discussion of royal heritage drew attention to the political contexts in which museums take shape and the responsibilities involved in representing the past. Colleagues working in different settings could compare these challenges and consider how they approached them.

The conversation also addressed museum ethics, particularly the relationships between provenance research, restitution, reparations and historical justice. Alumni discussed how the return of cultural objects relates to wider questions about colonial legacies and what meaningful redress might require. The exchange connected debates about decolonising museums and archives with the practical responsibilities and decisions involved in their work.

For us, the value of the session lay in the quality of exchange it made possible. Participants could listen, ask questions and respond to one another without a prepared contribution or a defined outcome to deliver. The desire to remain connected was there; what mattered was providing a straightforward way to do so.

Alumni engagement does not always require a large event or a heavily structured programme. TheMuseumsLab alumni bring knowledge and experience from museums, research, heritage, cultural institutions and related fields. Informal meetings allow these experiences to be shared without reproducing the demands of a full programme. Alumni can arrive with something they are thinking about, working through or looking for, and find others willing to listen and exchange ideas.

A second Coffee Chat is anticipated before the end of 2026. Future sessions could provide space to share collaborative projects, discuss current challenges and learn from colleagues across cohorts and continents. We hope that, over time, these conversations will lead to new collaborations, lasting friendships and continued exchanges of professional knowledge. The aim remains simple: to make time for alumni to meet and talk.

The Authors

Ifunanya Madufor
Alumni Team Coordinator
TheMuseumsLab Alumna 2023

Muthoni Thangwa
Alumni Network Representative in the Steering Board 2026
TheMuseumsLab Alumna 2024