The Museum of Making - part two.
Assemblage
Here objects are grouped by the materials they are made of. Stone, ceramics, glass, stone, textiles and so on.
The displays are made to look like a museum store full of objects which aren't on display but which need to be curated and cared for for future generations. Objects which tell of past industry and enterprise.
I've worked in one or two museums over the years (before I retired) and all had different store rooms. The first museum I worked in had lots of black Victorian cases full of taxidermy, beady eyes staring at you as you walked through. Also lots of objects reflecting local industries like coal, ceramics and textiles. The last museum I worked in we started almost from scratch and the storeroom was a little walk in cupboard as we had so few items. This grew over the years.
In Assemblage you are asked to wander and wonder. We did just that. Above is a model of a steam traction engine built in 1965 by Walter Smith. It's called Kitty
Lawn Mowers
An Ordinary or Penny Farthing and a Bone Shaker.
Street Signs
Clothes made from synthetic fabrics and materials.
On the floor above is a maker's shop selling works by local artists and designers and if you walk through a working area you can access the tower from where you can see a view across the city. I did take a photo but it seems to be mostly of the riverside Premier Inn.
The museum gets more and more interesting and what a clever and different way to display things. It looks as though you could spend hours there as there is so much to see.
ReplyDeleteIt is an interesting museum and I'd like to go back to see and take in more than I did on the first visit. After Gaia the walking was getting to me a bit so I had to keep resting. The food in the cafe sounds lovely too. Perhaps we'll have lunch there when we visit again:)
DeleteIt looks the sort of well organised place where you'd easily be able to find something you wanted to research. It just shows how quickly our way of living has changed too. 😊
ReplyDeleteIt was well organised with people around to help if needed. There are lots of studios for working and research dotted about too and little areas of quiet:)
DeleteHow interesting! I often look at something & wonder how on earth someone came up with that idea, how was it made & by who. Thanks for taking us along. Take care & hugs.
ReplyDeleteI know what you mean, I also sometimes think who was the first ever person to realise somethng or to make something like fire and bread and how fabrics could be woven and then sewn together:)
DeleteThis would certainly be a place worth visiting. The kind of history we don't usually think about.
ReplyDeleteIt is a great place to visit and learn from. The history that kept day to day life running and how it affected ordinary people rather than those in power:)
DeleteWhat a different take on a museum. I remember Jersey museum when I first came here in the 70’s. Full of stuffed creatures in glass cases. Most unnerving. B x
ReplyDeleteMuseums I've worked in have had huge collections of stuffed birds and animals both on display and in store. We seem to have moved away from that kind of display now, thank goodness. Our local museum still has them but all in a more natural display with plenty of room:)
DeleteSuch an interesting place. Funny how synthetic clothing was once all the rage and now we are moving back to natural fibres. My Nan used to wear crimplene tunic dresses - wash and wear no ironing involved! It must have been so rewarding to work in a museum knowing that you are helping to preserve history for future generations. x
ReplyDeleteI remember my Mum having a crimplene dress in the late 60s. I loved working in Museums, endlessly fascinating, planning exhibitions and events as well as acquiring and caring for new exhibits as well as old:)
ReplyDeleteI'd enjoy visiting that
ReplyDeleteI think you would, William:)
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