During lockdown the University of Cambridge Museums wanted to offer children and young people the chance to complete a Discover Arts Award from the comfort of their own homes for free. We hoped this would be a great way to encourage creativity among young people, keep them busy during school closures and school holidays, and give them a sense of…
The University of Cambridge Museums’ Museum Remix programme has been welcoming fresh perspectives onto our collections since 2018. In 2018, we worked with members of Museum Detox to create a workshop format bringing together students, early career museum professionals, activists and volunteers from across the country to explore and critique the collections. In 2019, we built on that experience, working…
During lockdown the University of Cambridge Museums wanted to offer children and young people the chance to complete a Discover Arts Award from the comfort of their own homes for free. We hoped this would be a great way to encourage creativity among young people, keep them busy during school closures and school holidays, and give them a sense of…
The University of Cambridge Museums’ Museum Remix programme has been welcoming fresh perspectives onto our collections since 2018. In 2018, we worked with members of Museum Detox to create a workshop format bringing together students, early career museum professionals, activists and volunteers from across the country to explore and critique the collections. In 2019, we built on that experience, working…
During the Covid 19 lockdown University of Cambridge Museums wanted to engage remotely and maintain relationships with our pre-existing audience of children with special educational needs and disabilities. According to government statistics in January 2020 12.1% of all school pupils have a special educational need, and we have two main programmes for children with special educational needs and disabilities. Arts…
With their doors closed, staff at home and social distancing the new norm, how did museums continue to play an active and relevant role in people’s lives? Nicola Skipper shares her experience here of developing and delivering a remote session designed to engage the University of Cambridge Museums’ Portals to the World participants: people with a dementia diagnosis or cognitive…
The University of Cambridge Museums’ Museum Remix programme has been welcoming fresh perspectives onto our collections since 2018. In 2018, we worked with members of Museum Detox to create a workshop format bringing together students, early career museum professionals, activists and volunteers from across the country to explore and critique the collections. In 2019, we built on that experience, working…
Last month, we stood in solidarity with Black Lives Matter to express our commitment to institutional change. In a short blog post, we outlined some of the practical steps we are taking to honour that commitment. The principles of dialogue, openness and frankness are central to our approach, and so we were pleased to receive an open letter from the…
On Friday 9 October, the Fitzwilliam Museum unfortunately fell prey to a simple phishing technique that caused the loss of their Instagram account. This post is to explain what happened and to help our colleagues within the sector and elsewhere to avoid the heartache that follows such an event. Last Fri we were devastated to lose our Instagram account. We…
One of the things I love about working with collections is how much I end up learning not just about the collection itself but also about the world. And all without needing to study! The saying: “You learn something new everyday”, really does hold true for collections work and I thought I’d share some of my fun discoveries with you….
Fourteen objects held at the Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology and originating from the First Nations people of the Northwest Coast of North America were analysed as part of a PhD research project by Lenore Thompson. Using a handheld XRF machine (also known as an XRF gun) she determined the elemental composition of pieces of copper used in several types…
Are there fakes scientific instruments hiding in our collections, and if so, how do we identify them? Dr Joshua Nall, Curator of Modern Sciences at the Whipple Museum of the History of Science, introduces a research collaboration between the Whipple Museum and James Hyslop, Head of Department, Science & Natural History, Christie’s, London. The Whipple team included Nall, Professor Liba…
