Volunteer Run Museums

Today I supported two of my local volunteer run museums Dad's Army Museum and Charles Burrell Museum by visiting them. I had intended on visiting them both for a long time, and took my parents with me aswell.

Particularly at the Dad's Army Museum, it was great to see the dedication of the volunteers in making the museum a success and ensuring that the visitors (of which there were many) had a great time. I would really love to see the Charles Burrell Museum revitalised with better opening hours and joining the other two museums in Thetford as a really positive heritage centre for the town; locals and visitors. Possible volunteering opportunity, perhaps?

Researching museums for my dissertation today, it really surprised me how many museums are purely volunteer run. Now, I've got my feet on the ground and knew that there were a lot but I was still surprised by the sheer volume of them! I wonder how much of the museum sector are purely volunteer run, I should think that they outnumber local authority and national museums. Anybody know? Are there any statistics out there?

Oxburgh Hall

Today I had a quick visit to Oxburgh Hall a local National Trust Property. I have recently become a member and was keen to visit. My dad was taking part in their event 'Boys and their Toys' as an exhibitor and I was also keen to see the property since the last time I visited was three years ago when I was a volunteer.

I was pleasantly surprised at how much had actually changed within the house. Ropes were gone, atmospheric lighting, new furniture, paintings, objects and display panels. So much had changed and the house really had a great atmosphere to accompany the slight but significant changes. It's very easy to think of historic houses as very static places where not much changes, but Oxburgh Hall really showed me today how wrong that is. I only had a very quick look round and will be going back soon to take it all in properly.

What I've realised is that small changes to displays and an institution can make a big difference. You may think that when you've been somewhere once like your local museum or National Trust property then you don't need to visit again, which is NOT TRUE! The heritage and museum sector need to find a way of encouraging local people to support and visit them and after today, I think small changes may be the way forward.

Visit to a few museums in London

So yesterday I visited many London Museums including the British Museum Afghanistan Crossroads of the Ancient World which I can fully recommend. I was interested in this exhibition due to the story that the objects had been hidden by National Museum of Afghanistan staff to ensure their survival. Although this information was on the leaflet I was surprised that it did not feature at all in the exhibition, but it really worked to get me interested in the exhibition and to actually visit! I really enjoyed seeing intricately carved Begram Ivories from the 1st century AD and the displays of the gold jewellery. When this was displayed the colour purple was used which I think was very effective as it suggested opulence and richness. I also think that the end panel of the exhibition ‘Afghan Today’ highlighting projects that are happening to explore and research history, archaeology and culture in Afghanistan was an interesting conclusion to the exhibition.

I also visited the interesting Wives and Sweethearts exhibition at the National Army Museum. Today I have explored the online exhibition and think that this is well worth a look, especially if you cannot make it to the exhibition before it closes. The romantic in me enjoyed reading the love letters, while it was also interesting to see diffrerent styles of wedding in the photographs.

I then visited the Museum of London with particular interest in the recently refurbished modern galleries. I was particularly interested in the ‘World City: 1950s to today’ gallery due to its contemporary nature. It featured many objects which could be called iconic such as Doc Marten boots and communication tools like mobile phones. I thought about the fact that many of the items were not necessarily unique to London but they had been used to say something about London life at that time. Would local history museums be able to include the same objects? Or does the fact that London is the capital mean that the museum can feature more general objects?

The displays featured many fashion pieces and magazines, I wondered what this says about contemporary collecting and objects. The gallery also featured some different topics such as student sit ins, race riots and the change in jobs and the economy.

A very futuristic, interactive element of the gallery was ‘Capital Concerns’ which many children were enjoying, exploring some of the current challenges in London now.

I then had a quick look in the City Gallery which is introduced as being ‘about the ceremonies that reflect the City’s past, but also about the people who live, work and study here in the 21st century.’ I really enjoyed the comparison displays showing objects which were used in the past and more recently used objects, such as a mayor’s collar and blackberry phone, an early 20th Century taxi driver’s badge and a modern train dispatch bat. I think that these displays are a really effective way of showing contrast, comparisons, change and continuity.

 

Overall, I really enjoyed the modern London galleries as they were creative, well displayed, interesting and thought provoking.