{"id":9965,"date":"2019-05-17T12:32:16","date_gmt":"2019-05-17T11:32:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.museums.cam.ac.uk\/blog\/?p=9965"},"modified":"2020-09-04T15:20:41","modified_gmt":"2020-09-04T14:20:41","slug":"the-museum-remix","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.museums.cam.ac.uk\/blog\/2019\/05\/17\/the-museum-remix\/","title":{"rendered":"The Museum Remix"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

The University of Cambridge\u2019s historic collections reveal centuries of scholarship and discovery; artistic and technological excellence. They also evidence darker, far more challenging histories: histories of exploitation, colonialism and systematic power imbalances.<\/span><\/h2>\n<\/div>\n
\n

Museums are not neutral<\/strong>.\u00a0Historically, and in the present day, who makes decisions impacts upon which narratives are privileged in our spaces and which are silenced; who is represented and who not; who visits and has access to our collections, and who does not.<\/span><\/p>\n

Museums are also not necessarily the best interpreters of our collections for all audiences. We need help from outside to spot the stories we don’t and push us to be better.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

The Museum Remix<\/span><\/h3>\n<\/div>\n
\n

“Eye-opening, jaw-dropping new thinking experiences!”\u00a0Museum Remix contributor<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

In June 2018, the University of Cambridge Museums (UCM) piloted a new kind of event: the Museum Remix. Part-workshop, part-provocation, part-mystery shop, the Remix challenged 20 contributors from across the museum sector, divided into three teams, to “remix” three historic collections.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

No easy feat. Each museum presented its own challenges of scale, budget and subject matter.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Sedgwick Museum of Earth Sciences<\/h3>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\n

The <\/span>Sedgwick Museum<\/span><\/a> is not just about dinosaurs, although Iggy the Iguanodon is a firm visitor favourite. With a collection that spans 4.5 billion years of geology \u2013 and Victorian icons from Charles Darwin to its namesake Adam Sedgwick \u2013 it\u2019s the oldest of the University of Cambridge Museums. <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

How could the museum show the human stories behind the rocks and minerals?<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\n

The Fitzwilliam Museum<\/h3>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The “Fitz”<\/span><\/a> is the University\u2019s largest museum, with a major collection of art, antiquities and manuscripts. The Remix team focused on the Museum\u2019s porcelain collection. <\/span><\/p>\n

Let’s face it, few would describe ceramic figurines as their highlight. Visitors often walk straight past on their way to the more charismatic Ancient Egyptians.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

What might the team find on taking a closer look?<\/span><\/p>\n

The Museum of Classical Archaeology<\/h3>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\n

The <\/span>Museum of Classical Archaeology<\/span><\/a> holds one of the most important surviving collections of plaster casts of Greek and Roman sculptures in the world.\u00a0<\/span>It\u2019s also the smallest of the University Museums, operating on a modest budget, and embedded in a larger building housing an academic Faculty.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

What are the implications for our understanding of antiquity when all of the sculptures are idealised and glowing white?<\/p>\n

Remixing<\/h3>\n

Over the course of two days, each team of contributors spent time in one of the museums. They explored the galleries, discussed the collections with museum staff, and came together to reflect on their findings. After some thought-provoking discussions as a group, they presented their findings to a gathering of UCM staff at the Museum of Classical Archaeology.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"
Taushif Kara and Team Fitz talk porcelain with Head of Learning Miranda Stearn<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

There was only one rule: that the teams should be as creative, as provocative, and as challenging as they wished to be.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

“It was a really great opportunity to think. I don’t think we get time to think – we’re all so bloody busy.”\u00a0\u00a0Museum Remix contributor.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Some might have found it daunting…<\/span><\/h3>\n

…standing in front of an audience of museum professionals, telling them – respectfully, but frankly – how to make their beloved museums better. The Remixers, however, were more than up for the task.\u00a0A mix of volunteers, students and museum professionals, from a variety of roles and backgrounds, they came to Cambridge from as far afield as Edinburgh and Manchester.\u00a0Many had been thinking about questions of diversity and representation in their own organisations. Some wished to learn more, and welcomed the opportunity to dig into an unfamiliar collection. <\/span><\/p>\n

\n

“It can be demoralising working in a vacuum or feeling you are alone in trying to tackle difficult issues! This gave me the support to keep going.”\u00a0Museum Remix contributor<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\"\"
Team MOCA begin their tour with Curator Susanne Turner<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Museum Detox<\/h3>\n

Crucially, they had expert guidance in the form of <\/span>Sonya Dyer<\/span><\/a>, <\/span>Cheryl Bowen<\/span><\/a> and <\/span>Thanh Sinden<\/span><\/a> as facilitators. Sonya, Cheryl and Thanh are all members of <\/span>Museum Detox<\/span><\/a>, the network for BAME museums and heritage professionals, and between them have many years’ experience in the sector. Their guidance and support was crucial both for the UCM staff organising the event and the Remixers, with whom they worked closely.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"
Team Sedgwick with Exhibitions and Displays Coordinator Rob Theodore and facilitator Thanh Sinden<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

“Reflections on day one #MuseumRemix @camunivmuseums: hold onto that uncomfortable feeling of things unravelling & boundaries pushed. When something excites and feels radical question is it really, or is it radically comfortable?”\u00a0Tweet from Thanh Sinden, via the Museum Detox Twitter account<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

One of the best things about [working with Museum Detox] was being pressed to confront uncomfortable realities head on. I really value that our facilitator didn’t back away from making me feel the discomfort, even if it wasn’t pleasant.\u00a0Museum staff member<\/em><\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

So, what uncomfortable realities did the teams find?<\/span><\/p>\n

“This is not your grandmother’s porcelain. It’s racism on your mantelpiece.”<\/h3>\n

The Fitzwilliam team discovered a porcelain collection that was far from the chintzy ornaments beloved by nans. Or rather – the figurines <\/span>were<\/em><\/span> chintzy, which made their lack of contextualisation more challenging. The gallery’s narrative at present is focused on Europe rather than the complex journey that saw porcelain spread westwards after its development in China over a thousand years ago. <\/span><\/p>\n

They presented a two-year plan for the gallery, to de-centre Europe and let porcelain’s story begin with China. The plan included co-curation with local communities, allowing them to engage directly with the presentation of the objects – as they put it, “not just opening doors, opening cabinet doors”. <\/span><\/p>\n

The presentation of a plan – although tongue-in-cheek – challenged museum staff to consider what they could achieve if this kind of work was made high priority. <\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"
Jasspreet Theti, Charlotte Stevens and Oona Quigley present Team Fitzwilliam’s two-year plan<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

“There were mainly men I saw there. I felt it was very masculine and there was a certain class and exclusivity.”<\/h3>\n

Team Sedgwick gave themselves a wide-ranging remit, noting the access challenges posted by the Victorian building’s beautiful but steep entrance staircase and the potentially exclusive nature of some of the more traditional geological displays in the museum. <\/span><\/p>\n

They also dug into the back story of the museum’s founder Adam Sedgwick (1785-1873), uncovering his links to the Atlantic slave trade. Adam Sedgwick and Charles Darwin, as great historical scientists, book-end one of the main galleries: but there’s also an opportunity to build on the stories of women geologists, including Mary Anning, who collected many fossil specimens in the collection.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"
Niki Hughes and Team Sedgwick present their findings<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

“The Museum was for people, I felt, who already had a substantial knowledge of the field, and that worried me.”<\/span><\/h3>\n
\n

The Museum of Classical Archaeology team began their work outside<\/em> the building. The Museum is situated on one of the University’s academic campuses, without a main entrance on the road. How might visitors feel better supported to cross that threshold onto University territory? And then, once inside, to enjoy and understand the collection?<\/span><\/p>\n