Old Tools, New Uses scheme gets underway
Geraldine Kendall, 09.06.2010
Scottish culture minister attends launch of first Effective Collections special project
Old Tools, New Uses, the first special project funded by the MA’s Effective Collections scheme, was officially launched today at Glasgow’s National Piping Centre.
The project is the brainchild of the Scottish Transport and Industry Collections and Knowledge network (STICK) and aims to help Scottish museums make better use of their tool and domestic technology collections.
Scottish minister for culture and external affairs Fiona Hyslop attended the launch. In her opening speech, Hyslop said she particularly admired the scheme because of its potential for “creativity and collaboration”.
As part of the project, STICK will run a series of drop-in workshops where museum staff can bring duplicate or unprovenanced tools and domestic implements to be assessed by an independent advisor. The first of these took place after the official opening today.
Unwanted items may then be donated to Tools for Self Reliance, the organisation’s charity partner, to be renovated and distributed to artisan communities in Africa. A schools resource will be established for objects that remain in the Scotland.
The project’s specialist advisor, David Woodcock, is a social historian and curator with 25 years’ experience and a particular interest in industrial and technological development.
Under the scheme, he is currently reviewing tools, sewing machines and typewriters at National Museums Scotland (NMS), whose world-class collections include the first patented lockstitch sewing machine.
The project has so far been a success, according to Woodcock, with 20 objects already earmarked for potential disposal.
MA collections coordinator Sally Cross said: “The good turnout today shows that this scheme will be really useful to a broad range of museums.
“It is lovely to see people getting involved. We hope people will come to the other three drop-in sessions and that the scheme will become an exemplar for museums across the UK.”
As part of the project, STICK is also putting together a comprehensive catalogue of all Scottish tool and domestic collections, which it believes will save museums time and resources in future acquisitions, retentions and disposals.
All museums in Scotland are invited to submit lists of inventoried objects to the catalogue.
IMAGE: (left to right) MA collections coordinator Sally Cross, Scottish minister for culture and external affairs Fiona Hyslop MSP, NMS director Gordon Rintoul, Alexander Hayward, chair of STICK. Copyright: Shaun Bell, NMS
Click here for more information on Old Tools, New Uses
Click here for the drop-in workshop timetable (pdf)
The project is the brainchild of the Scottish Transport and Industry Collections and Knowledge network (STICK) and aims to help Scottish museums make better use of their tool and domestic technology collections.
Scottish minister for culture and external affairs Fiona Hyslop attended the launch. In her opening speech, Hyslop said she particularly admired the scheme because of its potential for “creativity and collaboration”.
As part of the project, STICK will run a series of drop-in workshops where museum staff can bring duplicate or unprovenanced tools and domestic implements to be assessed by an independent advisor. The first of these took place after the official opening today.
Unwanted items may then be donated to Tools for Self Reliance, the organisation’s charity partner, to be renovated and distributed to artisan communities in Africa. A schools resource will be established for objects that remain in the Scotland.
The project’s specialist advisor, David Woodcock, is a social historian and curator with 25 years’ experience and a particular interest in industrial and technological development.
Under the scheme, he is currently reviewing tools, sewing machines and typewriters at National Museums Scotland (NMS), whose world-class collections include the first patented lockstitch sewing machine.
The project has so far been a success, according to Woodcock, with 20 objects already earmarked for potential disposal.
MA collections coordinator Sally Cross said: “The good turnout today shows that this scheme will be really useful to a broad range of museums.
“It is lovely to see people getting involved. We hope people will come to the other three drop-in sessions and that the scheme will become an exemplar for museums across the UK.”
As part of the project, STICK is also putting together a comprehensive catalogue of all Scottish tool and domestic collections, which it believes will save museums time and resources in future acquisitions, retentions and disposals.
All museums in Scotland are invited to submit lists of inventoried objects to the catalogue.
IMAGE: (left to right) MA collections coordinator Sally Cross, Scottish minister for culture and external affairs Fiona Hyslop MSP, NMS director Gordon Rintoul, Alexander Hayward, chair of STICK. Copyright: Shaun Bell, NMS
Links
Click here for more information on Old Tools, New Uses
Click here for the drop-in workshop timetable (pdf)
