MA Curatorial Practice

At a point where working at the museum is the norm. My norm. It's an every day, busy role. Full of visitors, cleaning, smiling, volunteers, and constant learning. I felt an overwhelming desire to add more to this. So I applied, got interviewed, got accepted, and rsvp'd with a confident 'yes' to undertake a Masters degree in Curatorial Practice at Bath Spa University in September 2017.

Now let the magic begin...

There is much to do, much to prepare, much to read, and many, many galleries, museums and exhibitions to visit before the course starts. Oh, and there is lots to write. Practice the skills I will need for the course.

  

Images - August 2016

All photographs in this post were taken by myself and are only to be reproduced if credited.

4th week - I have email!

I feel more officially part of the team now I have a SWH email address. It's the little things :) I can now be reached here: alison.hoare@swheritage.org.uk

Research on Harold has led me to talk to a lot of people and I am getting so much information, I am realising that this could be a journal article at the very least. This week I went on a visit to Treasurer's House in Martock.  Harold and Florence bought this house in 1943 and after Harold's retirement, they moved here permanently. In 1970 after Florence's death, the house was bequeathed to the National Trust. The house is beautiful and the volunteer there was extremely knowledgeable of the early history of the building. Unfortunately there was no information regarding the period of time they were there. Further digging is needed. 

  


















The blissful satisfaction of the research has now prompted me to apply again for a place on an MA course in Curatorial Practice. Back in 2005 I applied and was accepted onto the course at Newcastle University. For whatever reasons I had at the time, I didn't enrol. This time, I will be better equipped, and certainly more motivated, to see it through. I am applying to Bath Spa University for the 2018 entry. I love my job, and want much more experience here before I embark on the new chapter of my career development.

All photographs in this post were taken by myself and are only to be reproduced if credited. 

  

Susan Sontag

Regarding the Pain of Others. (2003, New York)

[to the militant]
          "identity is everything. and all photographs wait to be explained or falsified by their captions."





What is real?
Intentional meaning.

Interpretation.

Week Three.

I have now met the majority of the team and the volunteer staff at the museum. There are some brilliant people here. It has brought back memories of my time spent working in visitor services for Wolverhampton Art gallery whilst I was at University and makes me so very glad to be back in this environment. I have only met two of the curators though, which is fairly disappointing. They occasionally come into the museum and work from the office there, but mainly they are based at the Somerset Heritage Centre.  I have been booked onto a tour of the Heritage Centre for the 13th September. This is the base for the Somerset Archves and Local Studies centre, and also houses the majority of the museum collection.  Not wanting to wish the days away... but I really wish it were sooner. 

I have got to grips with the routine now, and have come to understand the opening and closing of the museum. Still in awe of having keys to the castle and opening the museum on my own in the mornings at least once a week. 

Growing up in Somerset, I don't recall ever coming to the Taunton Museum as it used to be known.  Once upon a time it was all dark and musty and had lots of taxidermy and tiny cases packed full of collections. My idea of the perfect museum. Or these days probably the anti-museum.

These photographs are not my own work, but are by other members of the SWHT team. The early ones are reproductions of picture postcards from the early 1900's.

Two weeks in and I am in LOVE.

This Summer at the Museum of Somerset, they have a pop-up exhibition all about Pirates. It's a quick history of pirates, all ages, both fact and fiction, with artifacts, navigational instruments, costumes from films, and a brilliant trail around the permanent museum collection which comes as standard. The beauty of this exhibition is this... We have to climb the tower in the morning and night, to hang skull and crossbones bunting from the flagpole. 

Headaches are subsiding and I have insoles in my brogues. I have grown to love having this shorter lunch break, I have found that I am eating less and saving money by not wandering around the shops trying to kill time.

I have had lots of ideas this week, for ways to improve the visitor experience at the museum, and for fundraising. I will continue to compile lists for fundraising ideas, and filter them through. I am currently reading Adrian George's The Curator's Handbook from Thames & Hudson (2015) and it is really interesting. One to dip in and out of for sure. It helps me to sense check my thoughts on exhibitions before I speak out loud. I'm so excited about this change in career, that I fear I get too vocal and bubbly. I need to reign it in slightly. 

My #AskACurator question for this week is about ghosts. What ghost sightings have there been, and why on earth did we agree to have Most Haunted come and film here? I watched the episode (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ms3q9d4Fzp8) from 2013 on YouTube and it is simple tv entertainment with very little truth involved. Amusing at best. 

I have been researching Harold St George Gray and Castle House this week quite obsessively. It is going quite well, and I'm certainly not about to stop. I have fact checked the majority of the information sheet now and obtained copies of relevant documents to support it. There are a few holes and discrepancies which I will address soon. I fear I may have only just scratched the surface of what could end up being an incredibly large project!






All photographs in this post were taken by myself and are only to be reproduced if credited.

Week one at the Museum of Somerset.

Here we are. One week in. There are so many keys! But this also means... I have the keys to the castle, and that's pretty amazing.

The realities of the job are that the floors are hard, and this means I need to work out the best shoes to wear so I don't start getting bad feet and legs. Lunch is 30 minutes long so I need to decide what and how to have my lunch. Generally these are my only notes for the week. It's all rather overwhelming, leaving a job that you know inside out, to one where you're the newest member of staff and know nothing about the routine or role. I have had headaches pretty much every day so far. Crashing out as soon as I get home.

The curators are not based on site. The VSA team and the volunteers are the face of the museum and the collection within. We answer all the visitor questions. This means that I have a lot to learn! The Museum of Somerset is housed inside Taunton Castle. Wiki has the answer to my first set of questions... 

"Taunton Castle is a castle built to defend the town of Taunton, Somerset, England.  It has origins in the Anglo Saxon period and was later the site of a priory. The Normans then built a stone structured castle, which belonged to the Bishops of Winchester. The current heavily reconstructed buildings are the inner ward, which now houses the Museum of Somerset and the Somerset Military Museum." 
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taunton_Castle) 

My favourite room in the museum is Discovering. It houses objects collected from around the world, from the start of the 1800's when local explorers and travellers were bringing things back to Somerset. I love the butterflies and the Elworthy charms.  

This week I have only had one #AskACurator moment.  "I have a growing interest in Castle House, who put together the information sheets, and where was the information sourced?" I have yet to find the answers to these, but stay tuned. The source of my interest is a man called Harold St George Gray. He lived in the house as curator of Taunton Museum from 1904 - 1949, working for SANHS. This is information available in Castle House itself, which the museum has managed for only a couple of years.  I want to fact check the information sheet, and add to it.  

All photographs in this post were taken by myself and are only to be reproduced if credited.