I’ve been quiet again. This time because I’ve been working across three UCM museums (Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, University Cambridge Museum of Zoology, and the Fitzwilliam Museum) and amongst other things I’ve helped prepare the exhibition in the video below:
Do stop by if you find yourself in Cambridge! Hopefully I can now return to more regular blogging again. 🙂
You may have noticed that I’ve been awfully quiet since November, and the reason for that is that I got a job. I’m currently a conservator at the University of Cambridge Museums, and we’ve been working on an exhibition at Two Temple Place in London. The result is (aside from the actual exhibition!) the little film you see above. Enjoy. 🙂
Hopefully I’ll now be able to carry on blogging once per week, while also continuing my work at UCM. Stay tuned!
I saw a BBC headline today that made me a little sad: “Maritime museum building in Caernarfon to be turned into toilets”
Really? A museum had to close its doors because of funding problems and now it’ll be a lavatory? Charming. Talk about a sign of the times.
But then I tried looking on the bright side.
Adaptive reuse of old buildings is actually a good thing. It’s something museums are actually really familiar with, as many museums are housed in repurposed buildings – my favourite example in the UK is MOSI, housed across several historic buildings, one of which is one of the first railway stations in the world.
Emåns Ekomuseum in Bodafors, Sweden, c. 2006.
My favourite example from Sweden is EmÃ¥ns Ekomuseum, where I worked in 2007. The museum is housed primarily in an old mill, though it also includes a forge and a repurposed barrack. They’ve done some beautiful things with it and the place has really retained its character, even as something completely different to a functioning mill.
Okay, so making a museum into toilets may not be ideal, but at least it’s taking an old building and making it useful to the community.
I’ve been thinking a lot about this lately as I live near a retail park in Cardiff that’s increasingly empty. Businesses have died off rapidly and most of the big commercial complexes are empty, with the exception of Argos and a handful others. It’s depressing walking through the supposed retail hub of the area on my way to Lidl or Sainsbury’s – what are we to do with these empty buildings? They actively decay. Nobody can afford to set up shop in any of them.
Internal shot of Emåns Ekomuseum, where the inner workings of the mill can still be seen.
Wouldn’t it be nice if these areas could be reused as something else? Retail is clearly not working. How about community-based activity hubs? Indoor craft markets, an art exhibit space, or a giant dance studio. Seems to me like these lifeless halls of dead businesses could use with an injection of community adrenaline and a bit of cultural innovation.
My recent austerity post made me think about the value of working for the Little Man.
I hope no one feels offended at the notion of being referred to as the Little Man. To me it’s an endearing term, and one to be proud of in your own right.
Anyway… I enjoy being a part of something. If I was offered the choice of being a cog in a vast institutional machine or a multidisciplinary team member at a smaller museum, I would always choose the latter. I’ve had great experiences with that so far, and I hope I can have many more.
I love my job. 🙂
You get to actually see the changes you put effort into making, in a tangible way that you may not be able to appreciate in the same way at a much larger workplace. Something you alone championed for can come true before your very eyes, and you get to see if it works or not.
At a smaller workplace you also have a smaller pool of people to influence, which I feel can make things more managable. I’d honestly be terrified to tackle a whole department at a national museum, but I could work up the courage to convince the museum team of ten people. Maybe that’s just how I feel as someone who enjoys being face-to-face with the people I want to appeal to. My style is less conference-like and more sit-down-and-have-a-coffee-whilst-talking-about-our-ideas.
Of course, at a small museum you may find that you have to deal with more politics and set ways, as opposed to bureaucracy. But you know what? I think it’s worth that trade-off.
I love working for the Little Man. I’ve watched a museum shop and cafeteria flourish under my lead, and I was ‘just’ a volunteer. I’ve made a world of difference to the objects in a little church in Sweden. I’ve treated many objects in need of TLC through internships and my studies. That’s been so rewarding to see. 🙂
Work for the Little Man, at least once. Give it a try. Maybe you won’t want to go back!
Swabs and Sensibility 