Collaborating with partners to address colonial legacies and challenge the school curriculum

Collaborating with external partners to address colonial legacies and challenge the secondary school curriculum in Liverpool. Olivia Beavers: National Museums Liverpool, Sonal Mistry: freelance scientific illustrator & Aakhila Fayaz: Art Fund teaching fellow World Museum Liverpool houses extensive historical natural science collections central to research and curatorial practice. However, much of the museum’s decolonial work remains confined to journals and articles. As highlighted by an audience member at a recent Decolonisation Conference, these are not the platforms most audiences access. This raises a critical question: how can natural history museums communicate complex, uncomfortable histories meaningfully within gallery spaces? World Museum partnered with freelance scientific illustrator Sonal Mistry to address these challenges, using scientific illustration as a practical engagement tool. The collaboration explored how scientifically accurate illustration can function as an accessible visual entry point for decolonial narratives. Sonal’s focus on colonial legacies and biological accuracy has helped the museum to introduce sensitive topics often limited in public displays. The Wild World gallery refresh marked the first inclusion of colonial legacies and decolonial interpretation within this family-orientated space. The process exposed challenges around tone, language, and visual communication, particularly when addressing contested histories alongside natural science content. Illustration offered a means to navigate these constraints by prompting curiosity and discussion without overwhelming audiences. By visually reinterpreting sensitive collections, like trophy head specimens, the museum can confront difficult histories more openly. Building on this work, the museum received an Art Fund award, bringing Teacher Fellow Aakhila Fayaz on board to help bridge the gap between secondary education and museums. The project critically examines the science curriculum, addressing whose knowledge is represented and how colonial power has shaped scientific narratives. Outputs include CPD sessions for teachers, lesson plans, student resources, and illustrated museum graphics connecting classroom learning directly to collections. This presentation reflects on how illustration has supported the museum in addressing difficult histories, engaging new audiences, and developing transferable tools for decolonial practices across galleries and education with confidence rather than caution.