Amy Jane Barnes
Website: http://amyjanebarnes.wordpress.com
Academia.edu profile: https://leicester.academia.edu/AmyJaneBarnes
ResearchGate profile: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Amy_Barnes2
Google Scholar profile: https://scholar.google.co.uk/citations?user=nNK29IMAAAAJ&hl=en
EDUCATION:
2005 - 2009
1998 - 2001
1994 - 1997
PhD Museum Studies (AHRC funded), University of Leicester

PhD thesis - From Revolution to Commie Kitsch: rerepresenting China in contemporary British museums
through the visual culture of the Cultural Revolution’examined the collection, interpretation and display of visual
culture from the Chinese Cultural Revolution (1966-1976) in
contemporary British museums.

Described by examiners as ‘timely’, ‘well-researched’ and of
‘high quality’.
MA Museum Studies (distinction for dissertation), University of
Leicester

MA dissertation: China in Britain: the representation of
Chinese art and culture in contemporary British museums.

Undertook a range of modules covering all aspects of
museum practice and theory, including documentation,
marketing, education, representation, interpretation and
conservation.
BA (Hons) Art History, 2:1, University of East Anglia

Specialism in Asian art history, with a particular focus on
China.
1
SELECTED WORK EXPERIENCE:
October 2015 – ongoing
(until May 2016)
University Teacher (part-time)
School of the Arts, University of Loughborough

October 2015 –
December 2015
BICC Cultural Partnership Researcher
British Library/University of Bristol



April 2015 – September
2015
RA for Affective Digital Histories project, looking at
communities’ sense of place in de-industrialised areas of
Leicester and Glossop.
Programme Manager
School of Museum Studies, University of Leicester


May 2012 – October
2012
Worked on the redevelopment of a new master’s programme
for delivery online.
Research Associate
School of Management, University of Leicester

November 2012 –
October 2013
Catalogued the British Library’s collection of Chinese
propaganda posters.
Wrote blogposts on behalf of BICC and the BL’s Asia and
Africa section.
Produce a report on the copyright implications of digitisation
and public access.
Research Associate, Distance Learning
School of Museum Studies, University of Leicester

November 2013 –
March 2015
Dissertation tutor for third/fourth year graphic
design/textiles/illustration undergraduates.
Lecturer, unit co-ordinator, personal tutor and dissertation
supervisor; temporary programme director for Museum
Studies (distance learning) and Art Museum and Gallery
Studies.
Writer and editor of teaching materials
Research Associate, School of Museum Studies, University of
Leicester

Writer and editor of distance learning teaching materials at
masters level
2
January 2012 – March
2012
Freelance Writer, Nottingham Museums
October 2011 –
November 2011
Lecturer, De Montfort University, Leicester
Jan 2011 – August 2011
Research Assistant, EUNAMUS project, University of Leicester



Jul 2010 – February
2012
In collaboration with Dr Ross Parry, produced a report on
potential future research streams.
Wrote several teaching units on digital heritage research
skills for online delivery.
Research Assistant, ‘Rethinking Disability Representation’,
Research Centre for Museums & Galleries (RCMG)


Oct 2000 – Dec 2001
Research and exhibition development for the exhibition Suits
& Saris, with a focus on British Asian fashion. Part of the
Cultural Olympiad, 2012.
Writer and Editor, Digital Heritage Research Training Initiative,
Universities of Manchester and Leicester

Aug 2008 – Jan 2009
Compiled data showing visually the spread of institutional
collecting of particular artists, across Europe.
Consultant, Tate Research Centre, ‘The Art Museum and its
Future’

Oct 2009 – Dec 2010
Designed and taught a six week block of a third year
undergraduate Arts and Heritage Management module.
Freelance Researcher, Curator and Writer,
New Walk Museum & Art Gallery, Leicester

Jun – Jul 2010
Supported the Illuminate youth panel to produce in-gallery
text for the forthcoming exhibition at Nottingham Castle
Museum, ‘Unravelled’.
Provided research and administrative support for project.
Organised one-day workshop to disseminate findings.
Curatorial Assistant, Percival David Foundation of Chinese Arts,
SOAS, University of London


Undertook curatorial duties as required by Curator.
Research and writing for publications.
3


Tours of the collection for members of the public.
Curated two temporary exhibitions based on the core
collection.
SKILLS
Leadership and Teamwork
Experience of organising all aspects of seminar programmes and international conferences
(‘Material Cultures, Identities and Inclusion’, 2006; NaMu Workshop 5, 2008; ‘Rethinking
Disability Representation’, 2008; ‘Materiality and Intangibility’, 2009; ‘Curiouser and
Curiouser’, 2011; ‘The “China Dream”: Passions, Policies, Power’, 2014).
Mentor for the Research in Translation programme (see ‘Academic Activities’ below).
Information Technology
Competent and confident user of IT, with experience of using Microsoft Office applications,
database management systems, email and the Internet for research; and of administrating
weblogs and authoring website content.
Communication
I have experience of teaching at undergraduate and master’s level, including the marking of
assessed work and the design and delivery of small-group seminars and workshops. I was a
visiting lecturer on MA Art Gallery and Museum Studies programme, School of Museum
Studies, University of Leicester in 2010, and on the semester programme, Asian Art and its
Markets, at the Sotheby’s Institute, London, in 2014.
I undertook part-time tutor training in 2005-6, delivered by the University of Leicester.
Language skills: French (post-A Level) and Mandarin (post-beginners).
AWARDS AND HONOURS:

Awarded a BICC (University of Bristol) Cultural Engagement Partnership Fellowship at
the British Library, to be undertaken October-December 2015.

Honorary Visiting Fellow in the School of Museum Studies, University of Leicester (from
October 2011 – ongoing).

Association of Art Historians (AAH) Reprographics Grant, 2013.

AHRB/C Doctoral Scholarship, 2006-2008.

Certificate of Proficiency, Post-beginners’ Chinese, Languages at Leicester, pass.

Certificate of Proficiency, Beginners’ Chinese Parts I and II, Languages at Leicester,
distinction.
4
ACADEMIC ACTIVITIES:

Member of the AHRC Research Careers and Training Advisory Group (two years from
January 2015).

Member of the organising committee for the Chinese Studies Research Alliance (ChiSRA)
at the University of Leicester. http://www2.le.ac.uk/research/current-research/chisra

Organising member of the AHRC funded programme, Research in Translation: public
engagement through exhibition displays.
http://researchintranslation.wordpress.com/welcome/about

Founder member of Boundary Objects, the network for early career researchers
working with museums and collections. http://www.boundaryobjects.org

Field Editor, Museum Studies Dissertation Reviews, http://dissertationreviews.org/;
editorial assistant for Museum Worlds 2, http://journals.berghahnbooks.com/air-mw/;
China Editor, Modern Art Asia, http://modernartasia.com/; member of editorial
committee, Museological Review (2007-8),
http://www2.le.ac.uk/departments/museumstudies/research-degrees/museologicalreview-1.

Peer reviewer for Museum and Society and the AHRC.

PhD Student Representative, 2006-2009.
PUBLICATIONS:
Monograph
Barnes, Amy Jane. 2014. Museum Representations of Maoist China. Ashgate.
http://www.ashgate.com/isbn/9781472416551
Edited volumes
Dudley, Sandra, Amy Jane Barnes, Jennifer Binnie, Julia Petrov and Jennifer Walklate (eds).
2012. Narrating Objects, Collecting Stories. London: Routledge.
http://www.routledge.com/books/details/9780415692717/
Dudley, Sandra, Amy Jane Barnes, Jennifer Binnie, Julia Petrov and Jennifer Walklate (eds).
2011. The Thing about Museums: Objects and Experience, Representation and Contestation.
London: Routledge. http://www.routledge.com/books/details/9780415679046/
Knell, Simon, Peter Aronsson, Arne Bugge Amundsen, Amy Jane Barnes, Stuart Burch,
Jennifer Carter, Viviane Gosselin, Sally Hughes and Alan Kirwan (eds). 2010. National
Museums: new studies from around the world. London: Routledge.
http://www.routledge.com/books/details/9780415547741/
5
Chapters
Barnes, Amy Jane. 2011. 'Displaying the Communist Other: Perspectives on the Exhibition
and Interpretation of Communist Visual Culture’. In Dudley, Sandra, Amy Jane Barnes and
Jennifer Walklate (eds.). The Thing about Museums. Routledge.
Barnes Amy Jane. 2010. ‘Exhibiting China in London’. In Knell, Simon, Peter Aronsson, Arne
Bugge Amundsen, Amy Jane Barnes, Stuart Burch, Jennifer Carter, Viviane Gosselin, Sally
Hughes and Alan Kirwan (eds.). National Museums: new studies from around the world.
London: Routledge. http://hdl.handle.net/2381/31667
Barnes, Amy. 2002. 'Catalogue Entries'. In Pierson, Stacey (ed). Qingbai Ware: Chinese
Porcelain of the Song and Yuan Dynasties. London: Percival David Foundation.
Edited journal
Barnes, Amy Jane, Anna Chrusciel, Mette Houlberg-Rung, Jeong-eun Lee, Christina Lleras,
Jeremy Ottevanger, Anna Woodham (eds.). 2008. Museological Review, 13.
http://www2.le.ac.uk/departments/museumstudies/documents/museologicalreview/MR-132008.pdf
Journal Articles
Barnes, Amy Jane and Malika Kraamer. 2015. ‘Japanese Saris: Dress, Globalisation and
Multiple Migrants’. Textile History. November. Maney.
Barnes, Amy Jane. 2014. ‘Introduction: Forum on Health and Wellbeing in Museums and
Galleries’. In Museum Worlds, 2. https://lra.le.ac.uk/handle/2381/29170?mode=full
Barnes, Amy Jane. 2012. 'A Trojan Horse? An icon of the anti-establishment at the Victoria &
Albert Museum'. In Museum and Society, 10 (2), 69-80.
http://www2.le.ac.uk/departments/museumstudies/museumsociety/documents/volumes/barn
es.pdf
Barnes, Amy. 2003. 'China in Britain: The representation of twentieth-century Chinese art and
culture in contemporary British museums.' In Museological Review, 9.
http://hdl.handle.net/2381/29169
Other articles
Barnes, Amy Jane. 2014. ‘What makes a good museum? The Art Fund knows.’ The
Conversation. 11 July. https://theconversation.com/what-makes-a-good-museum-the-artfund-knows-28750
Unpublished PhD thesis
Barnes, Amy Jane. 2009. From Revolution to Commie Kitsch: (Re)-presenting China in
Contemporary British Museums through the Visual Culture of the Cultural Revolution.
University of Leicester. http://hdl.handle.net/2381/8282
6
Exhibition Catalogue
Pierson, Stacey with Barnes, Amy. 2002. A Collector’s Vision: Ceramics for the Qianlong
Emperor. London: Percival David Foundation.
Reports
Parry, Ross and Amy Jane Barnes. 2010. Proposed research strands, projects and intellectual
framework: consultative report for Tate Research Centre, the Art Museum and its Future.
University of Leicester.
Book Reviews
Barnes, Amy Jane. 2013. ‘Hand-Painted Signs of Kratie’ by Sam Roberts. In Modern Art Asia.
Issue 15, August. http://modernartasia.com/hand-painted-signs-kratie-cambodian-street-artamy-jane-barnes/
Barnes, Amy Jane. 2012. 'Grand Designs: Labor, Empire, and Museum in Victorian Culture' by
Lara Kriegel. In Museum and Society, 10 (1), March 2012.
http://www2.le.ac.uk/departments/museumstudies/museumsociety/documents/volumes/revi
ews28.pdf
Barnes, Amy Jane. 2010. ‘The Comfort of Things’ by Daniel Miller. In Museological Review, 14.
http://www2.le.ac.uk/departments/museumstudies/documents/museologicalreview/MR-142010.pdf
Barnes, Amy Jane. 2009. ‘Championing the twentieth-century Chinese artist’. In Art History,
32 (3).
Barnes, Amy Jane. 2009. ‘Bushell, Yetts and the mystery of the missing photographer: A
Curatorial detective story’. In Art History, 32 (3).
Barnes, Amy. 2005. 'Chinese Silk' by Shelagh Vainker. In Journal of Museum Ethnography.
Exhibition Reviews
Barnes, Amy Jane. 2012. ‘The Spirit of Striving for Happiness in Hard Times, Song Dong:
Waste Not, Barbican Art Gallery, London’. Modern Art Asia, Issue 11, August.
http://modernartasia.com/barnes-song-dong-waste-not-11/
Barnes, Amy Jane. 2012. ‘Rashid Rana, Everything is Happening at Once, New Art Exchange,
Nottingham’. Modern Art Asia. Issue 9, March. http://modernartasia.com/barnes-rashidrana-9/
REFERENCES on request.
7