The comfort of a good read
In response to Timothy Mason struggling through Museum Materialities, I would suggest he buy a copy of The Comfort of Things by Daniel Miller, the professor of anthropology at University College London.
It’s a book that I have on my bookshelf. I really enjoyed reading about the objects which people choose to surround themselves with. The book visits a typical street in London but it could be almost anywhere. It focuses on things that matter to ordinary people and we can begin to see the relationship between objects and personalities.
According to Miller: “Things are not random collections. They have been gradually accumulated as an expression of that person or household. Surely if we can learn to listen to these things we have access to an authentic other voice. Yes, also contrived, but in a different way from that of language.”
This book is stimulating and slowly reveals, chapter by chapter, the way in which we live today, not as a community or even a neighbourhood but as a strange and amorphous selection of individuals. It shatters our preconceptions of our society. It helps us to understand and realise the importance of objects in relation to our lives and how they make our lives meaningful. It should be a book that all social history students and museum workers read.
As Miller says: “The closer our relationships are with objects, the closer our relationships are with people.”
Stuart Evans, designer, Ceredigion Museum, Aberystwyth
Museums Journal January 2010, p54
Widening access
The two letters from Marcus Weisen raise serious questions, not only for the Natural History Museum and the Ashmolean Museum but also about the museum sector’s commitment nationally to the principles of accessibility and inclusivity.
Now that we have also been reminded of the importance of the agenda, perhaps Museums Journal, when commissioning reviews of new displays, exhibitions, galleries and museums, might seek to include more comment from the perspective of visitors with disabilities.
It would also be interesting to find out about new and inspiring good practice, which is often quietly going on without being widely recognised. Perhaps more discussion of the issues could also be generated and we might identify strategies needed to continue to break down the barriers that still prevent or hinder us from the shared cultural experience that we should all enjoy.
Jocelyn Goddard, independent consultant
Museums Journal December 2009, p18
Museums Journal January 2010, p20
Conservation help
It is ironic that museums say that one of their most important functions is education yet there is a real decline in the programmes designed to educate museum conservators.
This is a problem that my school (Bucks New University in High Wycombe) has been wrestling with.
Despite the fact that most other programmes in the UK have closed over the past few years our student numbers have continued to decline. Bucks New University has an excellent teaching staff, our school (Design and Craft) has a strong working relationship with many museums and we have excellent facilities. And yet the numbers continue to fall.
As a concerned student, I am both disappointed and frustrated because I see the need to continue training people to help preserve the UK’s heritage, by which I mean preserving both the objects of our past, as well as the skills that were used to make those objects.
While we fully support on-the-job training, we feel that it is essential that there is a certain amount of intensive training that only a classroom setting can provide.
One of the ways in which the university is addressing this is to launch the Bucks Furniture Forum to re-engage with the furniture industry.
We are also working with the Institute of Conservation and the British Antique Furniture Restorers Association. And we want to know what professionals, like you, want from such a programme.
We aim to develop a well-rounded programme that would work for both the individual starting their career and for those established in the museum and workshop environment who feel the need for ongoing professional development.
Part of this programme will be to expand courses, and develop a number of specially designed short and part-time courses. We are also planning to sponsor a conference to discuss the needs of museum professionals and to outline some of the ideas that we have developed.
I believe we can develop a programme that will meet the needs of the UK museum conservation workforce but we have a lot of work to do and we need all of your help in order to do this. We urge you to provide us with comments and suggestions and any other help in this situation.
Ernest Riall, PhD candidate furniture history/conservation, ernest.riall@bucks.ac.uk
The name game
My attention has been drawn to an article in which the phrase “with a Portakabin attached” was used in your journal. I am obliged to point out that PORTAKABIN ® is a registered Trade Mark of Portakabin Ltd of York. It is not a generic term.
Dick Ellershaw, intellectual property manager, Portakabin, York
Museums Journal January 2010, p41
Clarification: Graham Wileman, the creative director of G+ Studio, would like to point out that he was the exhibition designer of the Bagshaw Museum in Batley between January and March 2009 after Bogacki Associates finished working in December 2008. Haley Sharpe Design took over from Wileman in March 2009.
Museums Journal January 2010, p50
Additional information: The Victoria and Albert Museum has disclosed, following a request from Museums Journal under the Freedom of Information Act, that the cost of its Maharaja: The Splendour of India’s Royal Court exhibition (10 October 2009-17 January) was £748,000, inclusive of construction, installation and transportation.
Museums Journal January 2010, p48
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