Chatting Behind the Lines - Curator's tales and musings

It has been great today to welcome, in person, a few of our veterans back to the Museum. We are working closely with local firm TomCo to interview them about their military service and how it has helped them through the pandemic. Our plan was to work with six of them, all individually coming to the Museum, to photograph them and chat to them about their recent experiences. This content will form part of an online exhibition funded by the Arts Council. It was great timing that today the BBC are running the 'Museum Passion' promotion, sharing all things that are great about the cultural sector. Using the hashtag #MuseumPassion, Museums throughout the country can share content that make people passionate about Museums. This opportunity couldn't be passed and so I decided to make use of our veterans when they came into Alma today. Luckily, David (featured here) is no stranger to the camera and kindly agreed to be photographed holding one of our First World War photographs. This...

  It is exciting to get phonecalls or emails at the Museum with offers of donations. It is great to know there is a huge range of material still out there. We have to work to an acquisitions and disposal policy which lays out what we can or cannot collect. Inevitably, we are unable to take every offer that is kindly made to the Museum. We have to be strict otherwise we would be submerged under new acquisitions. Items have to have a connection to the Regiment or the locality. Plus we have to restrict duplicate items due to storage space. However, I was glad to receive a phonecall a few weeks ago from a gentleman who offered to donate a bible. He had been given it by a neighbour who had inherited it when she was younger. The bible is inscribed with the original owner's name 'Michael Bray' of the 55th Regiment. The 55th Regiment is one of our antecedent Regiments that formed the Border Regiment in 1881. Additionally it is dated 8th January 1854 when Bray was stationed in Gibra...

This morning saw me finalising the content for a run-through of my VJ Day case study presentation for the annual AMOT conference next Wednesday. The Army Museums Ogilby Trust respresents, supports and promotes army museums throughout the UK. Set up in 1954, it currently represents 140 Military Museums from its office in Salisbury. This year things are very different. Normally the conference is held in London, with many attendees from around the country attending talks and presentations and using the opportunity to network and connect with like-minded folk. This year, due to the pandemic, the conference is online but as of this morning there were already over 100 people booked on. We are all struggling to attend conferences and workshops, we are all having to adapt our working practices, we are all having to do things a little differently this year. The AMOT conference has adapted and is offering this online engagement opportunity. So this morning saw me armed with my powerpoint attempt...