Reviews

A visit to the Migration Museum

“The Migration Museum explores how the movement of people to and from the UK across the ages has made us who we are – as individuals and as nations.” Lewisham Shopping Centre and Migration Museum are free and open to all – it is the very definition of accessible and inclusive as it is placed in a public space. It is so relevant and important to talk about promoting empathy, connection, and compassion as well as creating a modern museum that is interesting and connecting with people through stories instead of just objects behind thick one-sided history telling walls of a museum.

🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

A visit to Leighton House

Leighton House has a beautiful colourful and bohemian interior design, a spacious garden, a lack of crowds and relaxing atmosphere (could have been my timing – midday on a weekday) and a high-quality fashion exhibition! Loved the storytelling element throughout the house as well as the ‘experience it’ feels to the house. A personal favourite of mine was the pine cones on chairs to discourage people from sitting down on historical objects (usually would have a do not sit sign), but they referenced (at least for me) the Sound of Music pine cone on chair scene and I loved it!

🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

A visit to Perth Museum

“This world-class cultural and heritage attraction highlights the fascinating objects and stories that put Perth and Kinross at the centre of Scotland’s story. At its heart sits the Stone of Destiny, also known as the Stone of Scone, one of Scotland and the UK’s most significant historical objects.“ Due to its historical nature and different use in the past, it’s not a usual museum layout. Great work has gone into the arrangement of space and it offers a unique visitor experience. The museum is organised in a linear way starting from the Bronze Age to mediaeval times to 18th Century onwards, with an ethnographic and natural history collections. My favourite parts were the Pictish and Scottish stones (not something you see often), and the modern social history of Perth.

🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

A visit to the Young V&A Museum

“A museum where children, young people and families can imagine, play and design. Be inspired by spaces, explore our collection and get creative.” The Museum’s aim was to transform the museum to showcase creativity and play rather than just a space for and of children. They incorporated play theory in their design, curating and engagement as well as reflect on them so visitors can learn more about it. I can imagine going back myself but can definitely see it for families having a welcoming cultural space, which is great for playing, learning and socialising.

🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

Beyond the Little Black Dress exhibition at the National Museum of Scotland

“From design classics to cutting-edge catwalk creations, Beyond the Little Black Dress deconstructs this iconic garment and examines the radical power of the colour black in fashion” It was a great atmosphere for the exhibition with the play of the lights, sounds and different heights. The exhibition focused on a theme which was quite diverse to begin with (different styles, designers and stories) but broadened it out even more including fashion styles and designers we might not think of normally. It uses different perspectives to explore the black dress phenomenon.

🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

A visit to the British Library’s Digital Storytelling exhibition

“Adventures, journeys and revolutions. Jump into brave new digital worlds with some of the best examples of experimental narratives: escape from zombies, travel with Phileas Fogg, hear about life-changing events from the people who lived them and discover poetry written using the weather.” A small exhibition featuring 10 digital storytelling artworks, but each with an interactive option and a background (personal story, background for what the creators tried to do). It was a great quality-over-quantity example.

🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

A visit to the London Transport Museum

The Museum is looking at the past, present and future of London and its transport system. Historic vehicles, world-famous posters, original maps and signs are brought together to tell the story of London’s development and the part transport played in defining the unique identity of the city. An excellent visit with a great mix of fun facts, history, mix of objects and social history, highlighting personal experiences and stories of Londoners.

🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

Roobaroo, written by Akshay Sharan and directed by Caroline Yu

I found the play complex, energetic, interesting, and funny, while also dark and real. I think the casting was brilliant, the actors portrayed their characters perfectly. And while the actors were amazing, the story stayed the main focus for the whole time and the actors enhanced it by bringing their characters to life (easier to relate, imagine).

🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

The Engaging Museum – Developing Museums for Visitor Involvement by Graham Black

The Engaging Museum is a practical guidebook which offers insight into visitor experience and how to achieve its best version in museums. As it was written in the early 2000s, it offers us a historical moment when museums are becoming more modern in the sense of prioritising people, stories and engagement over collection and strict school learning. Black examines each stage of the visit from welcoming at front of house, planning an exhibition to setting up the museum and its vision with visitors in mind.

🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

The Museum as a Space for Social Care by Nuala Morse

A book about the work community engagement museum do and the underlying logics that supports better ‘care’ and wellbeing of both communities and workers. This book is all about ‘care’ – proposing a new way of working with communities and creating ‘care-ful’ museums. It gives us (museum professionals) a new perspective and set of terms on what it means to care within the sector, something we should all work towards to.

🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

Museums as Agents of Change by Mike Murawski

A book about the work museum professionals and advocates need to do to become changemakers. This book is all about the ‘how’ – how to create meaningful changes in museums, how to connect with people you work with and with your community, how to learn from the ideas and actions of others and how to learn by asking questions and starting conversations.

🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟