CAG on museums: Perth Museum and Art Gallery, Scotland again…

Sunny but deceptive 

Ice sculpture in the streets of Perth

During my ongoing sojourn in the North, I have been discovering many little gems dotted around the lovely countryside. Just last week I was in freezing Perth, Scotland to go through some of their ethnography collections with the curators of the National Museums Scotland in Edinburgh. There is a Pacific Collections Review being conducted in Scotland (http://pacificcollectionsreview.wordpress.com/) with headquarters at National Museums Scotland, and they are looking at collections all over the Scottish countryside. Eve Haddow is the Pacific Review Curator conducting this research and because of my work with Maori collections over the years, she invited me to see what new things we could explore in Perth.

Maori flute (pu torino), Ramsay piece donated 1842, Whanganui

Flute carving detail

I can’t claim to be such a Maori object expert that when I see objects I can name their age, origin, and back story, but one day... I do look at Maori objects and see nothing but an amazing story, ancestral heritage, and interesting exchange/gift/removal history that I want to delve into.

A lot of the collections amassed in Perth were brought into the museum through the Perth Literary and Antiquarian Society members. The Society was established in 1784 and collected more than Scottish antiquities to include natural history and world ethnography. The most significant early objects were given by David Ramsay (1794-1860) and there were also later donations of Pacific material from J.H Dixon in 1917, A. Wilson in 1940, and L. Woodward in the 1950s.

Naturalistic Ngati Porou house panel or pou pou
exhibited at Crystal Palace in 1867

Some of the Perth objects are described as ‘unfinished’, which is an issue I find amazingly interesting for Maori objects. If something was actually unfinished, what does that say about the relationship of the giver/carver to the person receiving the object?

Whalebone ivory comb or heru, Ramsay piece donated 1842
Described as 'unfinished'

Obviously many exchanges of goods were to art dealers who sold Maori objects on to collectors, and several of these exchanges are interesting because of the extent to which objects don't look like typical Maori objects. Sometimes European materials were added to objects by Maori and art dealers alike, but in particular one piece in Perth seemed to be changed to a much further extent than usual. The Ramsay staff or taiaha below has traces of feathers, hair labelled human hair when usually the white dog hair was included, but there is also an under layer of red cloth and newspaper(?). Definitely intriguing. I’d love to know about other examples like this.

Staff or taiaha, Taranaki region, Ramsay piece donated 1842

Detail of red cloth and possible newspaper?

Detail of upper taiaha binding

There were also many different waka huia or papa hou or treasure boxes. These containers would hold the most treasured items such as hei tiki greenstone pendants or huia bird feathers, and would be hung from the rafters of the house to be seen from below.

Bay of Plenty region waka huia, also Ramsay donation

Lid of Gisborne waka huia, Dixon collection 1917

Bottom of above container

And then… we saw the ONLY relatively intact cloak with kakapo bird (parrot) feathers still attached. It was a very exciting few days- a testament to my true nerd factor.

Top side of the feather cloak or kahu kakapo, South Island 18th century
Also Ramsay collection

.

Underside of kahu kakapo where one can see the
contours in woven panels to fit over the body.Every cloak
was made for a specific person to fit them

CAG on museums: Glasgow Museums and collections

Highland cows grazing in Pollock Country Park, outside of the Burrell collections

My love for Scotland grows and grows. It’s amazing how many people I know who feel the same. The lovely countryside, the fun nightlife…the ridiculous town names.

Recently I have also had the chance to fall in love with Scottish ethnographic museum collections. Everyone knows about the National Museums Scotland in Edinburgh and that they have a fantastic collection, but in the last few weeks I also had the chance to explore the museums of Glasgow.

Glasgow Resource Centre paintings storage racks

Oldest painting in the collection

I visited Glasgow Life museums and took a tour of the world collections store in the Glasgow Museums Resource Centre. The centre is actually where most of the collections from the Glasgow Life museums are stored, and they are open to the public to visit at any scheduled time. There is not that much ethnography on display around Glasgow from the collections , with some items exhibited in St. Mungo Museum of Religious Life and Art and at Kelvingrove- the Resource Centre is actually one of the best places to see ethnography. 

While touring around, I noticed several really interesting items in the open storage bit, like a Maori canoe prow, stern piece and a painted Northwest Coast bentwood box for holding ceremonial regalia.

Maori canoe prow

Maori canoe stern (with tewhatewha and taiaha on each side)

Northwest Coast bentwood box

The Resource Centre holds other collections as well, including the transport and technology collection where you can see the world’s second oldest Rolls Royce. And most excitingly Ewan McGregor’s motorcycles are on display from the ‘Long Way Round’ and ‘Long Way Down’ documented journeys!

Second oldest Rolls Royce

Ewan McGregor's motorcycle!

Another reason why the collections of the Glasgow Museums look so spectacular is because the mix of historic objects viewed against a romantic landscape really creates a special ambiance in the museums.

 

Backdrop and view from St. Mungo's museum at sunset

The Burrell Collection, on Scottish sunny day

Egyptian objects in the Burrell

CAG on museums: The Australia display at King's Gate

For the last month I’ve been working on another display to go up at Newcastle University as part of Cultural Development programme between the Great North Museum and the university. It has been another interesting challenge of time and coordination- not to mention that I’ve been running all over the UK to get in some research visits as well.

Boomerang, Australia (NEWHM 1999.H1755) 

This time around the topic of the display is Indigenous Australian material culture and politics. It has been much more fun working with Oceanic art and topics again as opposed to being slightly outside of my comfort zone working with the previous decorative arts display at the King's Gate building (Material Connections blog).

South Australian basket (B002)

Decorated emu egg, 19th century

Between all my other normal museum tasks there has been a manic push to select and photograph objects to get images together for the design team’s posters and interpretation panel design...

Western Australian shield (B056)

…pack and transport objects...

Packing the objects for transfer

…and find mounts for the objects among the museum’s many recycled past exhibition mounts.

Some of the objects were mounted by the paper conservators

Some objects are reusing recycled perspex mounts

Along with dealing with the actual objects, I have had to really sit down and think about the story line and interpretation that is available with the objects we have in the collection and what is appropriate to display. Several of the objects in the Great North Museum collections were at one point deemed inappropriate for viewing because they were sacred objects. Some were also deemed inappropriate to be seen by women. There have been a lot of issues with the restriction and regulation of Indigenous Australian collections over the years and the GNM collection is no different.

That is one of the major challenges of working with not just indigenous cultural material, but also with indigenous group rights who live in the settler nations of Australia, America, New Zealand, and Canada. Telling a story through historic objects can trap a living group in the ethnographic past, when you want to express a long cultural history, but also a thriving and continuing culture. If you’re in the Northeast the Australian display will go up in the King’s Gate building of Newcastle University on the 29th November and is open to all.

CAG on museums: The Curious Case of…Philippe the Flip Flop Elephant

During the October half-term, Philippe the elephant made of flip flops, was installed at the Great North Museum: Hancock. The elephant was purchased from the Ocean Sole Flip Flop Recycling Company in Kenya in 2013 as part of the Stories of the World Project of the Cultural Olympiad which took place at the museum last year.

The elephant is made of flip flops that have been recycled as part of a local grassroots initiative in Kenya. The organisation works to educate and innovate, while providing sustainable ecological solutions for the country. Flip flops and plastics are one of the major pollutants of the Indian Ocean. Now Ocean Sole recycles around 400,000 flip flops a year and creates artistic opportunities while providing jobs in Nairobi and other coastal cities.

As a new addition to the World Collections, we decided to display Philippe the elephant in the Living Plant Gallery of the GNM, because it is a gallery that children often see when they first walk in. It is also directly below the World Cultures gallery upstairs, with other pieces from Kenya on display. The interpretation of the elephant was also intended for younger audiences and family. The Project Coordinator for the Stories of the World Project brilliantly offered the chance to give feedback, especially from children, to inform the future interpretation of the object.

The idea is to ask a changing question to audiences and allow them to leave their responses to shape future interpretation of the elephant. The first question was, ‘How do you think Philippe feels about travelling from Kenya to the Great North Museum?’ So far the responses have been quite humorous and sweet.

CAG on travel: The best retreats in Marrakech

Getting away from the streets and relaxing in some of the most beautiful rooftops, gardens, and hideaways in Marrakech were some of the most wonderful traveling moments. I’m just going to give my cheat list for some of the really nice places I visited in case anyone is planning a visit and wants to assure some rest and relaxation will be had- even for badgers on a budget!

Kosybar: An amazing little hideaway where you can sit on the rooftop under the shade, look out at the city, and get that all important alcoholic beverage. Oh yeah!

View from Kosybar

Inside the bar it's very cool and air conditioned

Bahia Palace: The 19th Century gardens of Bahia Palace were built by Si Moussa the grand vizier for the sultan- so basically the Jafar character from Aladdin. Lovely and peaceful.

Café Arabe: Another inner Medina venue for some drinks and food. I didn't try the food, but it is such a chilled out space. There are little mist machines during the day to cool you off, and at night it is also a very cool spot.

Jardin Majorelle: The famous gardens of Louis Majorelle were restored by Yves Saint Laurent and Pierre Berge. It's just outside of the old city, but it is very much a feast for the senses. It's actually pretty small though, so maybe bring a book if you need to chill out for a bit.

In front of Jardin Majorelle, ignore ET fingers

Lots of people relaxing

Bamboo graffiti

The Berber Museum is inside the garden

La Mamounia Hotel and gardens: This impressive hotel is just to the west of the Medina, but once you go in there is also a lush garden in the back and a really lovely bar. Definitely not for badgers on a budget, but definitely worth the mention.

Hotel entrance

The inside is pretty impressive too

Terrasse des epices: As a warning no alcohol, but a really lovely roof terrace with nice food for a daytime retreat. It's hidden within the souks, so good luck finding it.

Shaded bungalows on the roof