Collecting Shackleton
How do museums add to their collections? The answer varies, and it depends on the type of museum. Generally it’s through some combination of responding to offers of donations* or through projects to make carefully targeted acquisitions in an area where the collection might be lacking. *As I type this I can hear the curators and collections teams shouting at…
“Inspired”: a glimpse behind the scenes with young people
In December 2019, two groups of young people from primary schools across Cambridgeshire made a very special behind-the-scenes visit to the Fitzwilliam Museum. The visit gave them a taster of what goes into making an exhibition, and the opportunity to install their very own artworks in the INSPIRE exhibition. The groups selected were young artists who had their artworks selected for…
Permission to Play
Play and exploration are central to children’s learning. How can museum spaces facilitate this best? Here, we present three case studies we can all learn from. Sara Steele and Kate Howlett, both based in the University of Cambridge Museum of Zoology, ventured up to Birmingham for a museum-based expedition and a Kids in Museums workshop. Here, they share what they…
