{"id":11832,"date":"2021-04-22T10:55:38","date_gmt":"2021-04-22T09:55:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.museums.cam.ac.uk\/blog\/?p=11832"},"modified":"2021-04-22T10:55:38","modified_gmt":"2021-04-22T09:55:38","slug":"a-six-month-snapshot","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.museums.cam.ac.uk\/blog\/2021\/04\/22\/a-six-month-snapshot\/","title":{"rendered":"A six month snapshot"},"content":{"rendered":"

Last month, we marked one year since the introduction of measures to limit the COVID-19 pandemic.<\/span><\/h2>\n

Our last update was published in October 2020, just as the University of Cambridge Museums and Botanic Garden (UCM) were prepared to be fully open to the public again for the first time in six months.\u00a0<\/span>A return to normality? Not quite. Our pandemic journey over the past six months has included more than a few twists and turns. Following Government guidance, the museums have reopened and closed to the public twice as part of England\u2019s national lockdowns, while the Botanic Garden has remained opened throughout in order to provide a green space for walking and wellbeing.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Since October, we have continued to experiment with new ways of supporting our communities through the crisis, to embed what we learned earlier in the pandemic, and, with fingers crossed, prepare for a smooth reopening again from May. Although we’ve been closed, there’s a lot to report. The activity that follows is just a snapshot of the past six months.<\/span><\/p>\n

Research & Collections<\/h3>\n

As with so much of our work, this year saw research – including both the research led by and within the UCM institutions as well as the international research community we support – move into the digital sphere.<\/p>\n

Legacies of empire and enslavement<\/strong><\/h4>\n

The Legacies project is the UCM\u2019s ongoing investigation into the complex histories of our collections<\/a>, examining the impact of colonialism, legacies of enslavement, racial inequality and further challenging topics in dialogue and consultation with our communities and audiences. In 2022\/23, we will share our first findings in a year of public programming, culminating in a major joint exhibition at the Fitzwilliam Museum<\/span> co-curated by Dr Jake Subryan Richards (LSE) and Dr Victoria Avery (Fitzwilliam Museum).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

This period saw some exciting developments for the project, with an Advisory Group of critical friends, chaired by Professor Sujit Sivasundaram, joining us to provide guidance and insight at project management level, and the arrival of Danika Parikh into post as UCM Research & Engagement Fellow. We were also pleased to secure investment from the Esmee Fairbairn Collections Fund<\/a> to support a Communities Coordinator, who will work across the collections and with our communities. Since spring 2020, staff from across the UCM have been sharing ideas and potential lines of inquiry for the investigation, and<\/span> a research framework and long-list of objects for the exhibition have been developed in consultation with the Advisory Group. A dedicated workshop with student representatives was held in December, which will help shape the direction of future consultation activity.<\/span><\/p>\n

In addition to the Legacies project, UCM staff have been actively involved in developing decolonisation practice in the wider sector, particularly in the natural sciences, with the Sedgwick Museum\u2019s Director and Museum of Zoology\u2019s Assistant Director presenting and convening at major sector conferences, including NatSca’s Decolonising Natural Science Collections conference<\/a> in November 2020 – if you missed out, all the talks are available on YouTube.<\/span><\/p>\n