- University of Cambridge Museums Activity Update, October- December 2023Covering the period 1 October – 31 December, here is an insight into some of the stories behind our NPO-funded activity. Discover more about the work our museums and collections have been delivering under the main themes of: Social Justice, Our Planet, Creating Opportunities, Health and Wellbeing; as well as the additional delivery underpinning our programme enablement. Activity overview This…
- Creative Health – Age Well Museum ResourcesRuth Clarke, the UCM Inclusion Associate for Learning shares a series of collaboratively produced resources for the mind, body and imagination. Created through partnerships with health and social care providers for adults, the resources are designed to inspire, uplift and absorb, and provide respite and solace when needed. Discover the resources below. Dance into Nature with Art and Poetry –…
- “I tried liquor and got a t-shirt!” Adventures with keywords in the Museum of Archaeology & Anthropology catalogueAt the end of November staff and students at the Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology got together for a pilot workshop on ‘Keywords’, to collaboratively and competitively search the online catalogue for things that aren’t necessarily easy to find. Two of the participants reflect on their experiences. Blog posts on the MAA Digital Lab always start with an object in…
- Power to the Programme: Piloting an Open Call for events and activities on the theme of Power and MemoryOver the last 18 months the UCM Partnerships team have been working to explore the theme of Power and Memory across the consortium. One initiative we knew we wanted to try very early on was an ‘Open Call’ process – inviting community organisations and local creatives to suggest ideas for events and activities that the museums could help make happen…
- Science, Exploration and EmpireScience is often considered to be objective, just about “facts”. However, scientists are people and the way they see the world is affected by the ideas around them. At the Whipple Museum of the History of Science, we wanted to create a schools session that puts science in context and explores the darker side of the history of science in…
- My Science Story- Women’s experiences in the field of science.Women who have worked or work in the sciences were invited to spend a creative afternoon at the Whipple Museum of the History of Science getting hands-on, and exploring their experiences of this field. This workshop was both a pilot for research to develop an artistic residency project, and a way of increasing audience awareness of the Whipple collection, and…
- COLOUR: Art, Science and PowerCOLOUR: Art, Science and Power ran from July the 26th 2022 to April the 23rd 2023. The exhibition drew from across UCM collections and explored how colour influences our understanding of the world, our emotions, creativity and relations with others. It invited visitors to discover different ways that colours are perceived, experienced and given meaning. I worked as a research…
- Curating COLOUR: Art, Science & PowerThe multidisciplinary exhibition COLOUR: Art, Science & Power showcased diverse and exceptional objects from across the University of Cambridge Museums. Colour is all around us. It reflects and influences our understanding of the world, our emotions, creativity and relations with others. The interdisciplinary exhibition COLOUR: Art, Science & Power at the Museum of Archaeology & Anthropology (26 July 2022 –…
- Breaking the Silo: Delivering a Participant Led WorkshopConnections Through Collections is a participatory action research project that has worked with ten local Cambridgeshire residents to interrogate how the Fitzwilliam Museum works. Later this year, we will launch a co-curated display in the Museum. In September, we joined our project colleagues at the Group for Education in Museums (GEM) conference to deliver a collaborative workshop, based on our…
- Collections in Action: Quarter 2 Activity UpdateCovering the period 1 June – 30 September 2023, this post shares key statistics from our 7 museums and Botanic Garden and provides an insight into some of the stories behind our NPO-funded Collections In Action programme themes: Social Justice, Our Planet, Creating Opportunities, Health and Wellbeing, as well as our underpinning programme enablement activity. Key Statistics Audience numbers are…
- University of Cambridge Museums Activity Update, October 2022 – March 2023Read on for a roundup of the activity from the University of Cambridge Museums (UCM) between October 2022 and March 2023, the final six months of our Arts Council England National Portfolio Organisation programme for 2018-2023. It draws on key statistics provided by the seven museums and Botanic Garden; and highlights some of the activity delivered under our new programme…
- A visit from the Reeshe Persian SchoolThe Reeshe (meaning ‘roots’ in Farsi) Persian School supports children to learn all about Persian language, culture, and heritage. Recently they visited the Fitzwilliam Museum to explore some very special Persian objects. Like many Museum activities, the visit was the result of teamwork. Here those involved share their input: Suzanne Reynolds and Monika Stokowiec work in the Department…
- Meet Cambridge University Botanic Garden’s new Artist-in-Residence, Nabil AliOver the next 14 months, Nabil Ali will be working on an exciting project in the Botanic Garden called ‘DYE – nature, myth and climate’ . He will be working with a range of partners and sharing his work with artists, researchers and our visitors. We caught up with him to find out more… Artist-in-residence, Nabil Ali Welcome to Cambridge…
- Facing Climate Change videos go live!The carbon footprint of museums can be extremely high, so what can we do to reduce our impact on the planet? With energy and material costs spiralling, environmental sustainability is not just a ‘nice to have’; it is essential for every cultural heritage institution facing financial pressure. This is the biggest challenge facing museums today, wherever they are in…
- Creating opportunities for young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND)With the start of Collections in Action, our new Arts Council England National Portfolio Organisation (NPO) programme 2023-2026, getting underway, we’re taking the opportunity to talk to colleagues whose work aligns with one of the four main themes of the programme to find out what it means to them and their work. The four themes are Creating Opportunities, Social Justice,…
- Power walking in the museums with our communitiesWhat happens when you have stories, a responsibility and eagerness to share them and an interest in building relationships? Three crucial questions that we found ourselves grappling with at the University of Cambridge Museums (UCM) as we embarked on a year-long programme, Power & Memory, exploring the legacies of empire. An answer for now is the Power Walk series, an…
- Making Connections Through CollectionsMaking Connections Through Collections was a pilot series of workshops exploring how the Fitzwilliam Museum chooses which objects and artworks to collect, and the acquisition process used to obtain them. At the Fitzwilliam Museum, and traditionally in most museums, acquiring objects is handled by a small team of museum staff which is responsible for finding, choosing, and purchasing items for…
- Meet Our ‘Celebrating Black History in Cambridge’ InternsJade Pollard-Crowe and Selena Scott spent February and March 2023 working on a project called Celebrating Black History in Cambridge as part of the University of Cambridge Museums’ (UCM) ongoing work connected to the forthcoming exhibition, Black Atlantic: Power, People, Resistance (Fitzwilliam Museum: 8 September 2023 – 7 January 2024). Funded by Arts Council England and Legacies project funds, they…
- Changes to regional conservation supportThe East of England is home to an astonishing 182 museums within the Accreditation scheme, with a higher proportion of small, independent organisations than the national average. Since 2012, the University of Cambridge Museums (UCM) have been proud to support the regional sector through the work of a dedicated Regional Conservation Officer, funded by Arts Council England (ACE), and working…
- Where in the World is That From?!The Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology (MAA) cares for a collection spanning the whole world, but sometimes all that is known about an object is that it came from somewhere on Earth. The Stores Move project is working through five large ‘miscellaneous’ boxes, filled to the brim with mystery and intrigue. Samantha Daisley describes her work on these boxes, and…
- Creative Adventures for FamiliesBased at the Fitzwilliam Museum, the Creative Families course offers young children and their adults a chance to explore the Museum through stories, songs, artmaking, and play. Museum Educator, Nicola Wallis, discusses the Museum’s partnership with The Fields Child & Family Centre and the impact of the course. Funded by Cambridge City Council, Creative Families is a four-week project that…