The creators of the newly opened Robert Burns Birthplace Museum in Alloway faced the unenviable task of satisfying the expectations of stalwart fans of the poet, while encouraging new audiences and, crucially, new generations to take him into their hearts.
The first things visitors see are Burns’s writing desk and chair, although when I visited, people queuing to get their picture taken with them obscured the items. The number of visitors who wanted a photo of the desk where Burns wrote his many poems and songs gave an indication of their deep connection to him.
Inside the museum, I was struck by the low-light level. This is necessary because of the many original manuscripts on display, but it is used to great advantage.
Illustrations and shadows give the impression of the dark and superstitious Scotland that Burns inhabited and that provided the context for his work. Some of the white text on the glass display cases is too difficult to read and is a distraction when viewing the objects, but that could be very easily rectified by reproducing it inside the cases.
The main exhibition area in the museum is one room. The cases in the centre relate to the making of the man, his inspirations and his legacy. Around the edges of the gallery are displays dedicated to some of Burns’s most familiar works, such as To a Mouse and Ae Fond Kiss.
Each case is self-contained and therefore there is no single way to navigate the exhibition. This makes for a more playful and instinctive way to explore the exhibits, an approach further encouraged by the various low- and high-tech interactives dotted throughout the displays.
Many of the labels are in Scots and the choice to use Burns’s mother tongue enhances the exhibits and highlights the fact that this is still a living language. It was great to learn a few words and the museum’s choice to use Scots is important when considering the celebration and preservation of intangible cultural heritage.
Burns himself was a champion of intangible cultural heritage and we owe a great deal to him. He wrote hundreds of lyrics to the music of old Scots songs, without receiving any payment, to ensure their preservation.
There is plenty to impress even the most devoted of Rabbie’s fans, with the museum connecting various sites in Alloway related to the poet.
You can visit a monument and garden made in the poet’s honour, the Auld Brig O’Doon and Alloway Auld Kirk, made famous in his poem Tam O’Shanter, and the cottage where he was born. The cottage will be a huge draw. The enthusiastic guides give a rounded impression of the man and the context that informed his work.
Exploring the sites provides a much richer understanding of Burns. Standing in the Auld Kirk graveyard, you can read Robert’s epitaph on his father’s headstone and look through the church window where his Tam O’Shanter watched witches dance. I could imagine some fantastic recitals of the poem there.
What charmed me most about the museum was the use of humour. It is clear that those who created it have a lot of admiration and affection for Burns, who they refer to as “the face that launched a thousand shortbread tins”. The exhibition room is lively and bustling and lots of situations have been created to encourage interaction with other visitors.
Rather than tailor interactives to specific audiences, they appear to have been developed to fit the various levels of interaction that different people participate in. An interactive that involved designing shortbread tins proved popular with families as they could each contribute something.
There is one large table interactive that is specifically designed for social use but many others sparked conversations because of their novelty. At one of my favourites – a Burns jukebox that categorises his songs into familiar genres such as punk and power ballads – an elderly man started to explain to me how it worked. It may be that he took me to be hopeless with technology, but I think that the exhibit genuinely excited him.
It demonstrates something about the atmosphere of exploration and sharing that the curators have created in the museum. I have certainly never experienced a visitor talking me through their thoughts on a painting or a static display. But here, the way visitors are able to engage with the displays allows them to share with other visitors.
The curators and designers have created many ways for visitors to engage with the subject matter, including exploring the fantastic objects and sites, listening to Burns’s songs and poems, using the interactives and learning from one of the guides.
But they have not stopped there. Robert Burns has an international following and so it is only right that the museum is far reaching when encouraging access to its collections.
The museum is developing its online collections and in the meantime has created an excellent piece of user-generated-content in the gallery. This exhibit links visitors to the venue with its online counterpart by inviting people to upload a video of their rendition of Auld Lang Syne.
This is a great example of user-generated content and it works well because it is simple and each contribution enhances the exhibit for all.
The three videos I chose at random were all created by young males, the furthest afield from Sri Lanka. This provided only a quick snapshot of contributors, but as more people take part it will be interesting to see who they are and where they come from.
In a few minutes this exhibit spectacularly demonstrates the continued relevance and popularity of Burns. It is clear that whether he is an auld or new acquaintance, he will not be forgot.
Lyndsey Mackay is a curator at the Open Museum, Glasgow Museums
Main funders Heritage Lottery Fund, Scottish Government, Scottish Enterprise Ayrshire, South Ayrshire Council
Exhibition design Event Communications
Architect Simpson & Brown
Interactives Spiral Productions
Main contractor Border Construction
The first things visitors see are Burns’s writing desk and chair, although when I visited, people queuing to get their picture taken with them obscured the items. The number of visitors who wanted a photo of the desk where Burns wrote his many poems and songs gave an indication of their deep connection to him.
Inside the museum, I was struck by the low-light level. This is necessary because of the many original manuscripts on display, but it is used to great advantage.
Illustrations and shadows give the impression of the dark and superstitious Scotland that Burns inhabited and that provided the context for his work. Some of the white text on the glass display cases is too difficult to read and is a distraction when viewing the objects, but that could be very easily rectified by reproducing it inside the cases.
The main exhibition area in the museum is one room. The cases in the centre relate to the making of the man, his inspirations and his legacy. Around the edges of the gallery are displays dedicated to some of Burns’s most familiar works, such as To a Mouse and Ae Fond Kiss.
Each case is self-contained and therefore there is no single way to navigate the exhibition. This makes for a more playful and instinctive way to explore the exhibits, an approach further encouraged by the various low- and high-tech interactives dotted throughout the displays.
Many of the labels are in Scots and the choice to use Burns’s mother tongue enhances the exhibits and highlights the fact that this is still a living language. It was great to learn a few words and the museum’s choice to use Scots is important when considering the celebration and preservation of intangible cultural heritage.
Burns himself was a champion of intangible cultural heritage and we owe a great deal to him. He wrote hundreds of lyrics to the music of old Scots songs, without receiving any payment, to ensure their preservation.
There is plenty to impress even the most devoted of Rabbie’s fans, with the museum connecting various sites in Alloway related to the poet.
You can visit a monument and garden made in the poet’s honour, the Auld Brig O’Doon and Alloway Auld Kirk, made famous in his poem Tam O’Shanter, and the cottage where he was born. The cottage will be a huge draw. The enthusiastic guides give a rounded impression of the man and the context that informed his work.
Exploring the sites provides a much richer understanding of Burns. Standing in the Auld Kirk graveyard, you can read Robert’s epitaph on his father’s headstone and look through the church window where his Tam O’Shanter watched witches dance. I could imagine some fantastic recitals of the poem there.
What charmed me most about the museum was the use of humour. It is clear that those who created it have a lot of admiration and affection for Burns, who they refer to as “the face that launched a thousand shortbread tins”. The exhibition room is lively and bustling and lots of situations have been created to encourage interaction with other visitors.
Rather than tailor interactives to specific audiences, they appear to have been developed to fit the various levels of interaction that different people participate in. An interactive that involved designing shortbread tins proved popular with families as they could each contribute something.
There is one large table interactive that is specifically designed for social use but many others sparked conversations because of their novelty. At one of my favourites – a Burns jukebox that categorises his songs into familiar genres such as punk and power ballads – an elderly man started to explain to me how it worked. It may be that he took me to be hopeless with technology, but I think that the exhibit genuinely excited him.
It demonstrates something about the atmosphere of exploration and sharing that the curators have created in the museum. I have certainly never experienced a visitor talking me through their thoughts on a painting or a static display. But here, the way visitors are able to engage with the displays allows them to share with other visitors.
The curators and designers have created many ways for visitors to engage with the subject matter, including exploring the fantastic objects and sites, listening to Burns’s songs and poems, using the interactives and learning from one of the guides.
But they have not stopped there. Robert Burns has an international following and so it is only right that the museum is far reaching when encouraging access to its collections.
The museum is developing its online collections and in the meantime has created an excellent piece of user-generated-content in the gallery. This exhibit links visitors to the venue with its online counterpart by inviting people to upload a video of their rendition of Auld Lang Syne.
This is a great example of user-generated content and it works well because it is simple and each contribution enhances the exhibit for all.
The three videos I chose at random were all created by young males, the furthest afield from Sri Lanka. This provided only a quick snapshot of contributors, but as more people take part it will be interesting to see who they are and where they come from.
In a few minutes this exhibit spectacularly demonstrates the continued relevance and popularity of Burns. It is clear that whether he is an auld or new acquaintance, he will not be forgot.
Lyndsey Mackay is a curator at the Open Museum, Glasgow Museums
Project data
Cost £21mMain funders Heritage Lottery Fund, Scottish Government, Scottish Enterprise Ayrshire, South Ayrshire Council
Exhibition design Event Communications
Architect Simpson & Brown
Interactives Spiral Productions
Main contractor Border Construction
