Open Culture Field Report

‘A museum object is not just for Christmas it’s for life’- Nick Merriman, Director of the Manchester Museum and Trustee of the Collections Trust

The Ministry enters the digital age...

'Museum and gallery collections in the UK are a noble kleptomania’- Sir Peter Bazalgette, Arts Council England

We think these quotes from two of our sectors' most distinguished members summarises the two day marathon that was Open Culture 2014 pretty accurately. It was a conference that was inspirational, insightful and more than a little bit silly. In a morning's session you could go from listening to the need for revised asbestos policies and the ins and outs of an international loans programme, to Nick Poole, CEO of the Collections Trust, cracking jokes about his crazy trips to visit museums around the world (including checking in to his hotel room late at to find it occupied by one very frightened Portuguese woman). You could learn everything you needed to know about marketing your collections from the Director of the Beamish Museum and then play with the latest 3D technology from Inition. Basically, Open Culture was some seriously museum-y fun.

Terri gets scanned into the 3D world

It’s difficult to bring back a field report from OpenCulture because there was simply so much to see and do. We heard about the most innovative projects in the sector at the Collections Trust Collections Management Awards. We played with new collections databases. We had ourselves scanned in 3D. We talked managing risks, digital skills and collections rationalization and disposals. We even had a conference wide debate about whether our museums should collect or die. After some heated debate, it seems that contemporary collecting is our way forward. As Nick Poole pointed out, we wouldn’t want the museum-goers of the future to think the period from 1790 to 1970 was the only time worth learning about. Don’t we have an obligation to collect and preserve our world now rather than just looking back to the Victorians? It was an eye opening point for the Victorian-obsessed Ministry of Curiosity, but a fair one.

Exhibitors and pastries galore (plus tote bags)

We at the Ministry had our own little part to play, hosting the first ever Open Culture Unconference. Delegates seemed a little hesitant to get up and talk for 10 minutes with only a few hours to prepare, but we were lucky enough to present some absolutely amazing speakers. Lucy Douglas, a Doctoral Research from Falmouth University, told the audience all about her Hayle Oral History App and how she was using sound to create a magical and immersive experience of Hayle history. Oral histories, archival images and sounds all help to bring a flavor of the historic area which is rapidly being lost. Peter Hanecak of EEA opened our eyes to open data and encouraged all museums to consider their open data infrastructure. Monika Lechner of Dutch Digital Heritage pushed the conversation even farther, exploring what museums will look like in the post-digital world. Not contented to just go on your smartphone for more information from a QR code or interactive activity, the objects will reach out to you. Galleries will create customized experiences which blend reality and the digital world.

The Mesch Project is already developing the interactive plinth for a post-digital world

With so many sessions to see, we are sure all the attendees walked away with new ideas to apply to their own work. Whether its rethinking your database metadata or working towards international partnerships, Open Culture really pushed us to think about how we can put our collections to work. We also have to say, in deference to the conference organizing gods at the Collections Trust- the food was amazing. You know how we whine about canapés in the museum sector? There was no skimping here. So if you want to learn how to pimp your collections review while drinking wine and listening to Nick Poole impersonate Cheryl Cole, you’d best get to next years conference!

Not a bad venue to spend a few days...

For more on what went down at the conference visit: http://www.collectionstrust.org.uk/openculture2014

The Unorthodox Unconference at Open Culture 2014

Here at The Ministry of Curiosity we’re feeling pretty excited about Collections Trust’s Open Culture conference in London next week. The line-up for the two day collections loving bonanza not only stimulates all of our museum senses but also, we get to chair our own unorthodox session!

We will be curating our Unorthodox ‘Unconference’ on Day 2 (Thursday the 26th) of Open Culture. It may sound a bit strange, but essentially its a space for people to get creative and a little off the wall with their ideas. We’ll be calling for participants to sign up on Day 1 (Wednesday the 25th) and propose presentations, talks, or anything else to contribute to the Open Culture 2014 theme – putting your collections to work. We recommend coming up with an idea that should take you about 10-15 minutes of stage time. In true Ministry style, we are looking for participants to think critically and push one another to think creatively. 

This is your opportunity to ‘fight for collections management in your organisation!’ Sign up on the whiteboard at the back of the main conference room by 3pm on Day 1 and we at The Ministry will get to work selecting three talks which we think say something original and challenging about the conference theme. These will be presented in a session moderated by us at 10 am the following morning. Please provide as much information as possible including contact details and twitter handle so we can contact the successful delegates in time for a briefing on Day 2 before the session.

Now is the time to get your collections management cogs whirring! What are some new and exciting ways you could get your collections to do some heavy lifting for you? Think about what you might like to discuss, chat to your peers or be inspired by the speakers on Day 1, lets challenge our collections and put them to work! Please feel free to send us messages via twitter or curiositycollect@gmail.com if you have further questions. 

Find out more and sign up to attend Open Culture here

Read Nick Poole’s blog post about the conference here

Can't wait to see you there!