Timey Wimey Stuff: The Problem with Time

Time is a problem, it gives everywhere a specific place, it gives an order we stick to, it makes our past easy to manage and dividable, this is the problem. In reality time is continuous one into the other, everything connects, there is not such as thing as a real order, everything overlaps, but as we create narratives about time we pick and chose dates which leads to a order of time, and the division of our history into time zones i.e. in here in England and Wales 410AD is the end of Roman Britain and the beginning of a new era however we define it, often early medieval, Saxon etc; or 1066 before is Saxon after is Norman, before is early medieval, after is late/high medieval. In reality the vast majority of people, normal people like you and me would had lived through it, and that majority lives changed very little, sure you have some new people in charge, but you are a still doing the same thing day in day out. There is no sudden mass change of culture or people, 1065, 1066 and 1067 will look very similar for the vast majority. We as museum professionals must challenge this current concept of time and break down the idea of time periods, they impair our ability to present our heritage and skew are perspective of human history, is it time to break down time zones and make it one continuous story? Use themes not time?

When we are creating a narrative, an exhibition/display or a tour, we have to be aware of the implications of how we have presented our work, how we have presented time. Perhaps we should replace hard chronology, stop the division of time, focus on the themes? Time periods can create false ideas, isolates our past, could it even prevent are ability to connect to our heritage? We have to be able to challenge the idea of time in this form, redefine it as more fluid, step back from the simple narrative, open up and encourage dialogue between what we currently see as distinct time periods and return history to what it should be a story of people not the stepping stones of dates. The past when lived was not seen as a succession of dates but a continuing process, we need to return to this.

Is changing how we see time a way we can increase experience and context? Preserve our intangible cultural heritage?

 

Image source for feature image Canva https://www.canva.com/

Taking part in ICON’s first Twitter Conference with Public Conservation

So two weeks ago I took part in ICON’s I had to take part in ICON’s first ever twitter conference, and I loved it, fantastic to see so many people from the across the world together through social media, making it so inclusive! There were 55 speakers, over 1000 tweets and over 2 million impressions, the success I feel is evident in the scale and numbers seen.

We saw fascinating subjects have their 15 minutes @SusPol_Heritage covering crime prevention and partnership, a moth playing bongos from @CUConservation suitably reflecting their work dealing with a moth infestation of a West Africa drum collection, @LJaneHenderson on the ultimate question “What do we conserve?” and even Fatberg made an appearance by @robinsoncalver.

Then at 3:30 it was my turn, I tweeted about the role of public conservation as a tool not just to preserve the physical, but also continue the physical interaction with the artefact and preserve the intangible information the artefact can hold as a result of its continued interaction. Here are tweets from my 15 minutes (with the tweets in the caption).

1 #IconTC Public conservation (PC) is more than just preserving the tangible, PC continues our physical interaction with heritage in public

2 #IconTC interaction is there from inception as a piece of human creation. https://youtu.be/CboJzrDhoSk  A relationship we need preserve?

3 #IconTC e.g. Houses would have experienced regular interaction, as people lived in, developed and cleaned them everyday

4 #IconTC Today PC continues to preserve physical interaction with historic buildings such as conservation work we see at historic houses

5 #IconTC we see perspectives few have seen, the view of the tiler, decorator and cleaner even a church builder http://wp.me/p89137-hc

6 #IconTC PC preserves traditional practices e.g. seasonal cleaning practices @StFagans_Museum with @SF_Conservation https://museum.wales/blog/2016-11-03/Lets-do-the-Twist-Again—Volunteer-update/

7 #IconTC PC can make collections in storage accessible such as by repackaging lichen in public galleries @Museum_Cardiff with @NMWPrevCons

8 #IconTC PC preserves physical interaction with objects on display e.g cleaning frames @NMWPrevCons @Museum_Cardiff https://museum.wales/blog/2017-06-05/Working-in-the-galleries/ …

9 #IconTC PC is preserving our heritage’s connection to society through continued interaction, creating agency preserving the intangible

10 #IconTC PC can develop our public engagement skills, making conservation practice accessible e.g. @NMWPrevCons https://museum.wales/blog/2016-09-09/Would-you-like-to-talk/ …

11 #IconTC PC makes us accountable demonstrating the work we do BoH every day, bringing #conservation to #FoH

 

12 #IconTC Public conservation preserves more than the physical object, PC can preserve human connection, we can preserve the intangible!

ICON’s twitter conference was a fantastic experience and I would be more than happy to do it again! It has even got me tempted to start up my own twitter conference at the first opportunity, the only question is on what? I know something about museums but what….?

Humanising our Heritage

 

     We can do everything possible to create a suitable environment for museum objects such as the stone coffin at Prittlewell Priory Museum. We can move them into museums and create environmental control but we simply can never totally control what visitors do. This has been epitomised by the story at Prittlewell where visitors were caught placing their child inside the 800-year-old stone coffin causing in all likelihood unintended damage as they attempted to take a funny photo.

The attraction of a photo opportunity… (source Wally Haines http://www.geograph.org.uk)

      To be honest I have seen this before (and as you see in the image above they are not hard to find!), I’ve seen young children climb into exposed coffins at historic sites such as ruined monasteries. This is something I believe is partially related to perceived durability of stone even if there is signage. But I believe we must also question why are people so willing to do these things? Why were they willing to put their child in the coffin, lifting them over the barrier and into the coffin? It was clearly not a malicious act, so what is the reasoning? Is it in part an innate desire to humanise the coffin? They are very human objects, they take people beyond this world, they are vessels, by placing the child into the coffin, the visitors have interacted with this coffin like no one else has potentially since the coffin was first used. Although this was an act of disobedience they have made a connection with the coffin, they have created agency with the coffin.
As a museum professional I understand the need to preserve pieces of cultural heritage and prevent damage in all forms, but is there a way we can embrace the need to humanise our heritage? Embrace our desire to see pieces of cultural heritage as they were intended and preserve our heritage through this medium? There is great popularity in handling collections, the use of replicas and reconstructed interiors as seen with the interior of keep of Dover, these enable us to connect to the past through artefacts people held and replicas/recreations recreating the past as it once looked.
Instead of placing our heritage in isolating glass boxes, can we return the human element? For example, demonstrating in the case of the coffin, how it was used. This could be by the placement of a substitute for the original body, demonstrating the coffins function, although the original body has been removed and the coffin has been moved from its original context to this more stable environment we are still able to preserve its purpose and human element. This method of preservation allows us as heritage professionals to preserve both the intangible human story through the continued interaction with the coffin and the physical coffin through the placement of the substitute in the coffin. This would deter people from climbing into the coffin through the physical obstruction the substitute body creates and by demonstrating the human component of this coffin making it a relatable object, an object which has contained the deceased, an object which requires respect and care by all of us.
Museums must not see themselves as the owners, but the keepers of our heritage. Accessibility to our heritage must be seen as a mandate not a choice, preserving the human component is essential to this, perhaps we can take advantage of this in our attempts to preserve our heritage for future generations.

Cover image Kim Traynor www.geograph.org.uk

Making Conservation Accessible Continued…

     Accessible conservation is an essential to making heritage accountable, I have in the past highlighted the work of the National Trust at Dyffryn and Tyntesfield and of National Museum Wales. This past weekend I had the opportunity to experience other organisations and how they present essential conservation work to the public. These were English Heritage’s Witley Court and Worcester Cathedral.

Witley Court (front Perseus and Andromeda)

 

     Witley Court (Worcestershire) just like any other historical monument requires regular conservation, currently a portion of the eastern wing is cloaked by scaffolding and fencing, this is part of the house’s long term conservation as nature tests the house’s durability. The conservation work is ensuring damage caused by freeze-thaw action, vegetation growth  and corrosion is countered. Temporary display signs around the closed area explain why the conservation needs to be performed and accepts the problems sites such as this have. In the past these realities have been not for public consumption, it is great to see the problems being made accessible.

The eastern wing under scaffolding and fences

 

Conservation Display

 

     This highlighting of conservation continues at the Perseus and Andromeda fountain; displays here cover the recent conservation performed during 2016, explaining the damage caused by moss and lichen growth, freeze-thaw action and discolouration. These again explain the problems and the actions taken to reduce such threats. Creating a conservation legacy is arguably as important as the conservation, by placing for all to see, the long term impact can be witnessed as people become accustomed to conservation in the public, as it becomes part of a visit to a historic site. To see signs still here after the conservation work has been performed is making conservation as much a part of the site as the history, hopefully displays like as this continue….

Conservation Display

 

     Following on from Witley I visited Worcester Cathedral, which is currently carrying out a 18 month conservation project of the western end  including work being carried out on the stained glass window which dominates the western end and has led to the current unique image of the stain glass window only half coloured with stained glass. The information display shows extensive information about both the western ends construction and its current problems and conservation work, bringing them together in one panel making one continuous storyline rather than separate entities, making conservation part of a site’s story rather than a postscript.

 

The West End of Worcester Cathedral

 

Conservation Display

 

     My thoughts on how conservation should be presented; so here goes…. Historical sites have a long history, these are buildings that evolved over decades if not centuries. These are buildings which would have witnessed persistent construction projects throughout history and of course daily maintenance, all of which requiring a plethora of workmen. Acts of conservation today continue this, a continuation of essential tasks connecting people to historical sites through the physical interaction and manipulation of the site (e.g. Worcester Cathedral still has its own stone masons), this is an interaction which has always been there and will continue as long as the building stands. Buildings are not frozen in time, they experience time and change accordingly just as we do, they are human places, conservation continues this and continues the building’s story.

All Photos by Author

Why the National Trust’s LGBTQ Heritage Events are Ensuring the Preservation of a Nations Heritage

     So why did I do this blog? Just before Christmas I came across the National Trust’s plans for 2017. They will be commemorating 50 years since the ‘partial decriminalisation of homosexuality’ by exploring LGBTQ heritage through a series of major events. There is of course opposition to this year of celebration, with arguments questioning whether this is the role of the National Trust.

     For me and the reason I wrote this blog is the belief that what the National Trust is doing is right and is actually a step forward in the promotion of all heritage not selected storylines or people. The actions of the National Trust is in fact an act of preservation, revealing new stories to the public; for example the featured image is of Knole House, Kent which will be included in the years celebration celebrating the literary connection to Virginia Woolf’s novel Orlando which as the National Trust state “was inspired by the family history of her lover – Vita Sackville-West. Vita’s family owned Knole in Kent and the book tells the story of a gender-changing character whose life spans the 400 year history of the house” (1). Without these events we risk the loss of parts of our heritage as chunks of the National Trust’s prosperities histories fade away into distnat memory.

     To understand why this is an act of preservation and shouldn’t be controversial in any sense, we have to understand what heritage is, how this applies to the National Trust, but first we shall go over what the National Trust want to do over the next year. The National Trust plan to open their properties more than ever by exploring their properties and our LGBTQ heritage through events, special exhibitions, community engagement, participation in pride festivals and open days; revealing people who created our heritage and challenged conventional ideas of gender and sexuality, with the aim to build the public understanding of this once hidden past (1). Sadly even today people who shocked and challenged social norms are still causing shock as a result of their heritage being promoted and preserved. The National Trust are firstly doing something which is right in the sense of equality but also in the sense of preserving the past for future generations to enjoy through this series of events. This is a core principle of preservation, heritage is protected for the benefit of us: the public, and is built into the National Trust’s mantra. In their section “Our Cause” heritage is seen as follows “your visit helps us preserve and protect the heritage of our places and spaces- for ever, for everyone” (2). This declaration illustrates that all heritage must preserved, a part of our heritage cannot be ignored by the likes of the National Trust or it is at risk of being lost forever. It is evident from this the National Trust are not about just preserving physical heritage, they are about preserving both the physical heritage and the historical heritage which has made their sites unique and beloved by the public, resulting in c.90 million people visiting National Trust sites and a membership now over 4 million (3), clearly they have been doing something right, preserving both material and history.

     This coming year will ensure the preservation of more history and truly show that the National Trust is representing more of our community (the UK) than ever before and that can never be a bad thing, can it? They are in charge of over 300 properties, if they don’t make them accessible to all and preserve all the different stories these sites hold, how can they remain accountable to us? If you think about what would happen if they ignored this part of history, surely it would amount to bias against parts of society? The censorship of history? Discrimination? Without these histories many sites would lose their human connection, the aspect which arguably makes them the most interesting, would you watch a period drama if it was a slow moving camera shot through several large houses devoid of human interaction and drama? Probably not in my opinion…

Link to the National Trust Prejudice and Pride: Exploring LGBTQ history at National Trust Places: https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/features/exploring-lgbtq-history-at-national-trust-places

 

Sources Used

1. The National Trust, Exploring LGBTQ History at National Trust Places, https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/features/exploring-lgbtq-history-at-national-trust-places
2. The National Trust, Our Cause, https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/heritage
3. BBC News, National Trust Membership Soars to Four Million http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-15187147
4. Featured Image Richard Croft [CC BY-SA 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)%5D, via Wikimedia Commons) accessed at https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3AKnole_House_01.jpg