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Museum

In Defence of Collections Part 1: An Introduction to the Collections Debate

Posted on 8 June 2022 by Sorcha Riby

Concerns relating to the colonial motivations and attitudes behind museum collections have caused many industry professionals, especially those based in the West, to question whether collections are, and if they […]

In Defence of Collections Part 6: The Role of Museum Collections- A Summary

Posted on 8 June 2022 by Sorcha Riby

The museums sector is committed to education, a commitment we saw renewed at ICOM. Commitment to education means a commitment to people and society, and therefore also to collections. The […]

In Defence of Collections Part 5: Collections- The Colonial Issue

Posted on 8 June 2022 by Sorcha Riby

Recent anxieties around colonial collections and the need to confront their social legacy is the main force behind challenges to collections’ centrality to museums. Sharon Heal, director of the Museums […]

In Defence of Collections Part 4: Collections- The Key to Quality Public Education

Posted on 8 June 2022 by Sorcha Riby

The Museums Association report’s results suggest that the only thing the British public are more interested in than learning is the collections themselves. Jones (2018, p.15), Ambrose and Paine (2018, […]

In Defence of Collections Part 3: Access, Education, and Public Appeal- One in the Same?

Posted on 8 June 2022 by Sorcha Riby

The public education provided by museums has been the primary concern of museology of the last three decades, and therefore remains the ideal outcome of museum engagement, despite being branded […]

In Defence of Collections Part 2: What Does a Museum Do?

In Defence of Collections Part 2: What Does a Museum Do?

Posted on 8 June 2022 by Sorcha Riby

What does it mean for a museum to ‘do’ something? The primary challenge to ICOM’s revised museum definition is that it is an aspiration, rather than a description of what […]

Hell bent for leather; an investigation determining type of leather used for bridle rosette

Hell bent for leather; an investigation determining type of leather used for bridle rosette

Posted on 6 January 2022 by Leonie McKenzie

Why the investigation? When conserving objects, it is important to know what materials it’s made up from. This will give insight into the types of decay or damage that might […]

Yo ho ho and a barrel of PEG: Field trip to the Mary Rose

Yo ho ho and a barrel of PEG: Field trip to the Mary Rose

Posted on 27 February 2018 by Sarah Dunn

Henry VIII’s warship, the Mary Rose, sunk in the Solent in 1545 and was left to sleep on the seabed for hundreds of years. In 1982 she was raised and […]

Changing Perceptions: Our Relationship with Stone Monuments

Changing Perceptions: Our Relationship with Stone Monuments

Posted on 23 June 2016 by William Tregaskes

Stone Monuments Stone Monuments are all around us, they range from the Neolithic Stonehenge to the thousands of war memorials we have in our cities, towns and villages. What they […]

Privilege: How did I get here? by Jane Henderson

Posted on 2 July 2014 by Nerys Rudder

I have recently had the great pleasure of traveling to Rome to undertake discussions on European standards for conservation and of dining in the 18th century York Mansion House with […]