The art of sound and light at the Pitt Rivers Museum

Hopes and Fears from Pitt Rivers Museum on Vimeo.

The Pitt Rivers Museum is a great place to work if you enjoy rubbing shoulders with a vast range of creative people.  As an educator at the museum for quite a long time I have worked on some amazing and inspiring projects, but none simpler and more effective than working with sound and light artists Luxmuralis, and the whole project had a turnaround of six weeks.

I was approached by Fusion Arts in East Oxford and they suggested that they could apply for Arts Council funding for artists to project onto the front of Oxford’s Museum of Natural History. At that point I didn’t realize quite how extensive their projections would be, but if you watch their short film you will get a pretty good idea. The forty minute long film was looped for the evening and the projections ran at the same time as one of our late night openings, Hopes and Fears.

1,400 people attended the event to experience talks, debates and live music in the museum while Luxmuralis did their magic on the outside of the building, mixing museum images, film and field recordings into an explosion of sound and light. The following week they took the film around town as a series of ‘guerilla’ projections.

Andy McLellan
Head of Education

Arctic Explorer visits the Pitt Rivers Museum

For our monthly Pitt Stop activities for families we invited along an artist who has just come back from a trip around the Arctic. This special Arctic Explorer is artist Jennifer Crouch who has spent the last couple of months travelling around the Arctic on a ship. Her trip was part of The Arctic Circle who run an expeditionary residency program for artists and scientists. The project that Jennifer was involved with is called Making in Transit and there are a number of events going on. She came to the Museum to share her experience of her visit and what she did during her time there.

One of the things that inspired Jennifer to go on the trip in the first place was seeing some Inuit carved maps that were carved from ivory. During her trip Jennifer carved some of her own maps of the places she visited, primarily Svalbard (Norway).

Jennifer showing families her carved wooden maps © Pitt Rivers Museum

For the workshop at the Pitt Rivers, Jennifer brought along a making activity where families could carve maps into sandstone. Sandstone is quite a soft stone so you can slowly carve it with clay tools, and it has a really smooth texture which makes the carving very therapeutic. Jennifer explained to families how she carved her maps whilst in the Arctic, pointing out how she would have to pick up all the wood shavings from the floor otherwise they would pollute the landscape. The reason for this being that the Arctic is so cold so things take hundreds of years to rot down. Families had great fun carving their own maps of Svalbard looking at maps that Jennifer had on display.

Carly Smith-Huggins
Families Education Officer

Families carving soapstone maps © Pitt Rivers Museum

Families carving  soapstone maps © Pitt Rivers Museum

Families carving soapstone maps © Pitt Rivers Museum

Extraordinary Eyes!

During Autumn half term we ran a family event all about eyeballs! The event was run jointly with the Museum of Natural History and focused on people and animals and how they view the world through their eyes. Around 900 children took part in the activities over the three days and people enjoyed learning all about the amazing things that eyes can do.

3D glasses and one of Robert Hottot's photographs
 1994.62.54.2 © Pitt Rivers Museum

In the Pitt Rivers, one of the activities that families could take part in was making their own 3D glasses. This was inspired by one of our photographic collections, showcasing the work of French explorer Robert Hottot. Hottot travelled to various places in the world, including Africa, which he visited three times. One of these trips was to the Congo and the Museum now hold Hottot's collection of stereographic images from this trip. For the duration of his visit in the Congo, Hottot documented the journey through many stereographic images. These photographs can be viewed through a stereoscope and consist of two photographs that when viewed through the stereoscope make a 3D image. The photographs give a sense of Hottot and his desire to relive his memories, bringing them to life again through these photographs. During the event families could also look at a collection of photographs that were not from the Hottot collection through a real stereoscope to get the sense of what it was like to view these photographs with the original tool.

The Museum has transformed these photographs into 3D images. If you would like to view these photographs in 3D you can find them here: http://web.prm.ox.ac.uk/congojourney/matadi-houses-port-congo.htm

Don't forget to wear your 3D glasses!

Carly Smith-Huggins

Families Education Officer

Hands-on experience of museum learning for trainee primary teachers at Oxford Brookes!

We were lucky enough to have four trainee primary school teachers from Oxford Brookes placed in the Education team as they completed a module on learning beyond the classroom.  What better place to come than the Pitt Rivers, a place crammed full of objects and offering so many hands-on primary school sessions.  Here they give an account of their week at the Pitt Rivers:

"As part of our teacher training at Oxford Brookes University, we have spent some time working alongside the staff at the Pitt Rivers Museum.  We gained an insight into how the education department have been providing an engaging learning experience outside the classroom.  During this time we had the opportunity to observe and participate in some of the workshops they have on offer to schools, including hands-on investigation activities and an artefact treasure hunt!

Wielding cooking pots and axes! © Pitt Rivers Museum

We observed both primary schools and home-schooled groups in a great workshop called Stone Age to Iron Age. We explored objects from the Stone Age, Bronze Age and the Iron Age, and had to think which object belonged to which time period. This session was fun and engaging, as it gave children a chance to handle the objects and really explore them to determine their purpose. Having the ability to interact with these objects maintained the children’s interest and encouraged them to use clear, considered reasoning to decide what the objects could be. Both we and the children learnt so much in these sessions.

We also had the chance to observe a guided tour of the museum relating to a particular theme. The children were immediately enthralled by the tour and benefited greatly from knowledgeable guides who were well practised in presenting the information in an interesting way. The guides were also able to answer questions posed to them by the children and involve the teachers in their tasks. Everyone involved in the tour, ourselves included, enjoyed learning new things about some of the objects which are on display. 

Exploring the Pitt Rivers © Pitt Rivers Museum

We fully enjoyed our time at the Pitt Rivers Museum and are grateful to the friendly and knowledgeable staff for allowing us an insight into what they do. We would definitely recommend that teachers look at what the Museum has to offer and take advantage of the opportunities available to them. There is much for children to learn from a trip to this Museum and, perhaps most importantly, they will certainly enjoy it!" 

-Darren, Sammy, Clare and Julia, trainee teachers at Oxford Brookes University. 

Pitt Youth Action Team launches!

We have just launched the Pitt Youth Action Team, in partnership with OYAP Trust!

We had our first meeting last Saturday. A group of young people came along to find out more about getting involved in the new initiative, as well as to try some creative activities. First of all we each made badges using our snazzy badge maker. Then we roamed the museum with an assortment of props, some picture frames and cameras to take a series of ‘mask portraits’ with attitude:

Mask portrait with a Javanese dance mask and Chinese hat
(photograph © Pitt Rivers Museum)

Mask portrait with V for Vendetta mask (made famous in the
Occupy protests) © Pitt Rivers Museum

Mask portrait with Boba Fett mask (a Star Wars character)
© Pitt Rivers Museum

We used a 'green screen' app called Veescope Live. Using this we made films of ourselves exploring the museum in a whole new way. We also did some animating using the Stop-Motion app for i-pads. It's a great, simple app that lets you get creative and tell stories using objects. The young people selected objects from the Education Handling Collection to create some mini tales of the unexpected:

Making an animation using Javanese shadow puppets
© Pitt Rivers Museum

Watching the animations on the i-Pad © Pitt Rivers Museum

It was great to meet the young people who came. They had a range of interests and skills, from film-making and photography to drama and script-writing. We are looking forward to the next meeting when we will start planning some creative projects and events for other young people.

We are keen to hear from other young people who would like to join. You need to be aged 14-19 and want to get involved with a group that meets once a month on a Saturday morning at the museum to plan events, do creative projects and go behind the scenes at the museum.

Please email me to let me know if you're interested: katherine.rose@prm.ox.ac.uk and put the date of the next meeting in your calendar: Saturday 19 November 11am-1pm.

This new initiative for young people is part of the Pitt Rivers Museum Global Heritage project, funded by a Heritage Lottery Fund Young Roots grant. 

--

Katherine Rose

Education Officer : Secondary and FE

Pitt Rivers Museum 

Pitt Rivers Team at the Oxford University Museums Staff Conference

The Pitt Rivers had a strong presence at the Oxford University Museum Staff Conference, held on Monday 26th September in the Ashmolean's Lecture Theatre.  The Conference allowed colleagues to share their work through a series of 5-8 minute 'lightning talks'.

It was great to see the public engagement work of the Pitt Rivers represented by Beth McDougall, VERVE Activities and Outreach Officer, and Madeleine Ding, VERVE Volunteers Officer.  They talked about how the HLF-funded project VERVE has enabled them to better connect the public with displays in the Pitt Rivers Museum:

Visitors in the Museum © Pitt Rivers Museum

Public Engagement © Pitt Rivers Museum

Rejuvenating Collections and Display  © Pitt Rivers Museum

Outreach Activities © Pitt Rivers Museum

From boat-building to kintsugi workshops © Pitt Rivers Museum

One of the successful VERVE Takeover Events was described further in the lightning talk on 'Joint Museums Youth Forum Project'.  This was a sell-out evening event on Mythology by Moonlight organised by Matthew Arnold students with the support of the Secondary School and FE Education Officer, Katherine Rose.

Poster Advertising Youth Takeover Event
© Pitt Rivers Museum

The Conference ended with a director-led panel discussion in which future strategy was touched on. Dr Xa Sturgis, Director of The Ashmolean, stressed the importance of the University Collections working closely together and communicating to their audiences that they are part of the University of Oxford's mind-blowing collections.

Lucy Shaw(left) leads a discussion with Directors © Pitt Rivers Museum

It was great to see so much energy and enthusiasm emanating from the conference and there are lots of new initiatives to look out for from a LGBT trail across the University Collections to a mobile app on which you can play musical instruments at The Bate Collection.

Becca McVean

Education Officer (Primary)

MA Student in Museums and Galleries in Education placed at the Pitt Rivers

I am an MA student from UCL learning about Museums and Galleries in Education.  As part of our course we have to do a placement at a museum, gallery or heritage site, and I have been quite incredibly fortunate in being able to do mine here at the Pitt Rivers Museum.

Hattie Kimberley in the Museum © Pitt Rivers Museum

Not only has everyone working in the Education Department been welcoming and friendly, they have also been more than ready to share their expertise.  Becca McVean, Primary School Education Officer, has been particularly generous with her time, working out a timetable for me and allowing me to watch various presentations from Extreme Environments to History Detectives, and Aboriginal Art to Take One Tahitian MournersCostume.  Andy McLellan, the Head of Education, has offered a great deal of welcome practical advice.  

Andy McLellan © Pitt Rivers Museum

I have helped Katherine Rose with Adult Handling Sessions, Beth McDougall with the VERVE-funded Langtree Amulet Project, and Carly Smith-Huggins with Under 5 events themed on Hats and Feathers, and half-term Family Activities based on the Haida totem pole.  I have also shadowed some of the museum’s inspirational learning volunteers as they guided children round various themed trails.  All participants, whether child, teenager or adult, have been both engaged and entertained, listening to presentations and learning more when exploring the museum independently.

Katherine Rose © Pitt Rivers Museum

A fascinating opportunity arose when I was asked to assist Nicola Bird with a Sensing Culture tour for blind and partially sighted visitors.  This involved guiding visitors round the museum, describing what was in the cases, followed by a handling session based on what we had just discussed.  I was then able to attend a day’s workshop on how to develop museum learning sessions for the blind and partially sighted – it is much harder than one would think to describe something to someone without using ‘sight’ vocabulary, and to be constantly spatially aware on someone else’s behalf.

Haida Rattle © Pitt Rivers Museum

The Education Department’s handling collection is nearly as exciting as the contents of the museum itself.  Each time I walk into the office another strange and wonderful object is sitting on the table waiting to be used in a session.  The whole office is looking particularly organised just now following the sterling work of Rachael Utting who has been cataloguing the entire education collection and storing all the objects in carefully labelled boxes so that when someone needs to lay their hands on an African shield, a headrest, a flywhisk, a fish trap or a Naga spear, it can be done in an instant!

Cataloguing Handling Objects! © Pitt Rivers Museum

I will miss my newfound friends and colleagues very much when I return to London, not to mention my lunchtime strolls round the streets and alleyways of Oxford.  I have been so impressed by this department’s professionalism, dedication and commitment to learning for all – the museum is lucky to have them!  I know that my time here has been a really positive addition to my MA learning, and I very much hope to put much of what I have learned into practice in the near future.  Thank you everyone!

Hattie Kimberley
MA Student in Museums and Galleries in Education, UCL

Out and In, Around and About - Activities and Outreach Summer Highlights

My name is Beth and I am the new VERVE Outreach and Activities Officer. Since joining the Museum’s VERVE team in April I have met many hundreds of wonderful people participating in and collaborating with Pitt Rivers activities. Here are some of the highlights so far:

Around the World in Our Treasures
© Pitt Rivers Museum

Meet Me at the Museum

Meet Me at the Museum is a collaborative project with older people and those living with Dementia. Over the last six months our team of older people have met monthly with Charlie, a Flourish artist funded by Creative Dementia Arts Network and Helen Fountain, the Oxford Museums’ Reminiscence Officer, and worked towards creating a temporary case exhibition called Around the World in Our Treasures. Each month we all learnt new things. We navigated the museum with object tours, handled objects from the Pitt Rivers Education Handling Collection, tested out our creativity on short stop-animation films, and chatted over tea and biscuits.

Object Handling © CDAN

Museum Tour  © CDAN

Tents on Tour

On July the VERVE and Education Team have been out and about popping up at festivals, fêtes and carnivals and sharing the museum and its (handling!) objects with our local audiences. First stop was Flofest in Florence Park on 25 June, a day of warm sunshine and welly boots. Check out our short film of the event.

We then visited Bayards Hill Primary School as part of their School Fete and bopped to Bayards Got Talent while creating our very own stop-motion with the school’s families.

Final stop, Cowley Road Carnival on 10 July. The Pitt Rivers Tent was organised by Carly, our fantastic Families Officer, and supported by our joint museum volunteers. We had families making their own puppets from the Ramayana story, and badges inspired by museum objects pressed in the perfect early summer sun. 

Woodland Way Workshops

Working with Danny and Joe from Woodland Ways has been a great way of understanding our collection through making. July saw our first workshop with Woodland Ways on Bone flute making, which involved a lot of puffed-up faces and high-pitched sounds as our workshop attendees blew their newly made flutes. Joe specialises in making these flutes and spoke eloquently about their early history and gave top tips on the importance of selecting the right bone for the job. 

Joe from Woodland Ways  © Pitt Rivers Museum

The Bone flute Band  ©Pitt Rivers Museum