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SUMMARY:Practice and technique in the twentieth-century natural history mu
 seum - Sam Alberti (Manchester Museum)
DTSTART:20071105T130000Z
DTEND:20071105T141500Z
UID:TALK8250@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Salim Al-Gailani
DESCRIPTION:This paper will advocate a holistic historiography of the muse
 um. Collections and their histories are studied in various disciplines\, a
 nd historians of science are adept at studying techniques in other sites\,
  but few studies combine these to tackle the minutiae of museum practice. 
 What went on behind the scenes at the museum\, in the ‘black box’ of t
 he collection? The biography of an object does not halt when it reaches a 
 collection\, and nor is its meaning frozen. The museum was not a static ma
 usoleum but a dynamic\, mutable entity where specimens were added and pres
 erved\, discarded\, and destroyed. Museum objects were subject to consider
 able work during their life in the collection. In this paper I outline the
  physical processes intended to make them stable\; the textual practices t
 hat ordered them\; and a variety of exhibitionary techniques to render the
 m intelligible. \nAs a step towards a history of museum practice\, this pa
 per will give examples from the Manchester Museum during the century from 
 its formal opening in 1890. It will draw on archival material\, images\, o
 ral history and the objects themselves. Touching on quotidian yet diverse 
 techniques from conservation to cabinet making\, documentation to educatio
 n\, this paper will explore museum activities and people in their historic
 al contexts. By examining not only how these techniques were carried out b
 ut also by whom\, we gain insights into the professionalization of the mus
 eum sector. And by tracing the shifting meanings of objects\, we can appre
 ciate how nature is constructed in the museum. The history of collections 
 is also the history of people\, the history of relationships\, and a histo
 ry of practice.\n
LOCATION:Seminar Room 1\, Department of History and Philosophy of Science
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