Christian

 

I would just like to add my voice to that of John Faithfull. There seems to be some confusion in people’s mind about the word curator / curation. The use that the art world put the word to is quite different to that I am familiar with as a museum curator. It is probably true to say that it is the former that people are coming more familiar with, even though it is not the correct usage of the word.

 

As a curator at the National Museums Scotland (NMS), my role is very much tied in with the collections - their storage, conservation and interpretation. My involvement in exhibition work is less intimate. Having said that, in the NMS we are currently developing new galleries for the refurbished Royal Museum building which is scheduled to open in late July 2011 and this has involved curators here heavily. The galleries themselves are planned to show of the depth and breadth of the collections. The choice of objects is dictated by the curators responsible for the different collections. This means that direct community involvement is minimal. I expect that this process is familiar to curators at larger museums. But that is not to say the communities across Scotland cannot get involved in the NMS in some other way.

 

In the past, the Geology Department (now Department of Natural Sciences) kept a couple of cases in the galleries for private collectors to come in and show off their collections. We would provide labels and, of course, cases and they would supply the information and the objects. They were rotated on a six months cycle and were very popular. Alas this will not survive into the new galleries. Another way is through loans. If communities can get together with their local museums and make an application for a loan of material to go on display in their communities, then I would like to think we could look favourably upon this. Another new scheme we have been trying is “Create Your Own Exhibition” (CYOE) where a number of curators have made short films which are aimed at schools (primary and secondary) and demonstrate how to set up your own little exhibition.

 

I would like to see much more interaction between local groups and the NMS so that our vast treasury of specimens, all owned by the people of Scotland, can somehow be spread much more widely and become accessible to a wider body of people. How this is achieved remains to be seen, but I would like to see this as a fundamental part of our work and not an optional extra. I also feel that Natural Sciences can get a little side-lined in favour of more art based or historical exhibitions.

 

What I also feel strongly about is the need to put science right at the centre of this. Presenters like David Attenborough, Ian Stewart or Brian Cox have been at the centre of pushing the “science as entertainment” line and there can be no denying the role they have played in bringing science into the public eye. But having seen these programmes, don’t you just sometimes long for a bit of real science? The recent BBC series on Atoms and Time were much better in that they seemed able to marry difficult scientific and mathematical concepts with television in a way that was both fascinating and scientific. Good science can make good television. Anyway that is my tuppence worth for now.

 

Have a great weekend everyone

 

 

 

YMWADIAD
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