Tag: Collections

Erin’s Blog Post

Hi, I’m Erin! I am 14 and am participating in the bronze award for Duke of Edinburgh. This means for the past few months I have been volunteering at the museum and it has been amazing! I have had many new experiences and during this time I have participated in a number of tasks:

I first learnt how to handle objects in the collection and then I began a project looking into different badges in the collection and what they were trying to promote. Using this information, I created a display case with badges of my choosing. I also wrote the captions for them and realised the amount of hard work that went into designing a display case to maximise interest and enjoyment.

Erin’s display in the entrance to the Museum

After this was accessioning. I learnt how to use ADLIB which is an incredibly useful website. I started to catalogue objects, writing about small details such as the material they were made of and if they had any obvious cracks. I also did this inside one of the museum’s accessioning registers. It had objects detailed back nearly fifty years which was fascinating to read.
Finally, I moved onto the learning side of the museum. At first it did not occur to me that it was such a vital part of the museum, however it soon became a very enjoyable topic. I learnt about accessibility and the needs that viewers may have. I also learnt more about the redevelopment and accessories that you could include to make the museum feel as welcoming as possible.

Overall, I have truly loved every part of this incredible opportunity and I am so excited to see the museum after its redevelopment! I am so grateful for all of the people here as they were so welcoming and made it such a fun environment to be in.

Tags Blog Post, Collections, Education, Local History, Volunteering

Collections

Arsenal FC Collection

London has always been known for its association with football. Islington is the home of one of London’s greatest football clubs, Arsenal. The club was founded in 1886 and over the course of its history, they have gone on to win a number of titles and gained worldwide prestige. Originally Arsenal was based in Woolwich, but in 1913 the club built a new stadium in Highbury and they moved to Islington.

The museum holds a fine collection of objects related to Arsenal and some of these are showcased in their permanent gallery. The objects vary from photographs, match programmes, shirts, medals and flags. These have come from the fans and club, and they provide a good insight into the experiences of fans as well as some of the club’s most interesting matches and greatest achievements.

I’m Fatima and I am a student at the University of Westminster. For one of my modules, I have been volunteering at the museum. During my time here, I have been working with the museum’s Arsenal FC collection. My tasks involved locating the collection’s objects and updating information about the collection in the museum’s Adlib database. Working on this particular project was very interesting, because I learnt about the risks associated with museum objects and the way to handle them properly.

To explore the museum’s database yourself, why not follow this link? http://islington.adlibhosting.com/?extra=9

Here are 3 objects I found interesting from the Arsenal FC collection (either on display or in store):

Object Number: 1999.67
Object: Photograph
Object Description: This is a photograph of one of Arsenal’s football players – Ted Drake. Ted Drake joined Arsenal in March 1934 and he went on to play 167 games for the club. During his time at Arsenal he helped his team win 3 titles and this included two league divisions and one FA cup.

Object Number: 2005.22
Object: Match Programme
Object Description: This is the official programme of Arsenal’s match against Manchester United in 1933. The game was played on 17^th May and its kick off was at 7:45 pm. The cover depicts one of Arsenal’s football players – David O’Leary. This is because it was his final match for Arsenal.

Object Number: 1999.71
Object: Scrapbook
Object Description: This is a scrapbook of Arsenal’s 1948-49 season. It was compiled by fan Harry Trigg. Harry was a commentator at the time and his scrapbook includes a signed team photograph.

Here are some images of objects from the Arsenal FC collection:

1756

1742

Tags Arsenal FC, Blog Post, Collections, Local History

Collections

Dadabhai Naoroji Photo Album and Presentation Box, 1892

Post author By friendsofislingtonmuseum
Post date July 14, 2017
No Comments on Dadabhai Naoroji Photo Album and Presentation Box, 1892

The constituency of Central Finsbury elected Britain’s first Asian MP in 1892. This album and its presentation box were gifted by the people of Bombay (now Mumbai) to commemorate Dadhabai Naoroji’s election. He served as MP for Central Finsbury until his defeat in 1895.

Dadabhai Naoroji (1825-1917) was born near Bombay and was the first Indian appointed as a Professor at Elphinstone College there. He moved to England in 1855 and became Professor of Gujurati at University College London (UCL) in 1856. Naoroji was a founder member of the East India Association and the London India Society. Within both of these organisations he promoted Indian rights in trade and the Civil Service.

During his time as MP for Central Finsbury, Naoroji’s position provoked further discussion of imperial citizenship in Britain. Naoroji also supported Home Rule for Ireland during this period, referring to the ‘ghostly persistence’ of Irish suffering in his public speeches. In these, Naoroji continued to represent himself as an imperial citizen. In the Pall Mall Gazette, he was described as holding his audience in his hands within the first five minutes of his speech at Holborn Town Hall in 1886. In 1901, he published Poverty and UnBritish Rule in India which is now regarded as a work which contributed to the founding of Indian nationalist economics.

Before his success in the 1892 election, Naoroji campaigned unsuccessfully as a Liberal party candidate in the staunchly Conservative area of Holborn. After losing his seat in Central Finsbury in 1895, Naoroji stood for election in Lambeth North in 1906 but was unsuccessful. He left England the following year to retire to India. Naoroji died at Versova in Bombay in 1917. Today there is a street named after Naoroji and a plaque at Finsbury Town Hall bearing his name.

Tags Blog Post, Collections, Dadabhai Naoroji, Documentation, Local History

Blog Post

Yao Blog 1

My name is Yao and I am studying Digital Humanities in UCL. In 2016 I earned my bachelor of art degree in Advertising from Sichuan University in China. During the term time, I was the vice president of the youth media department of Sichuan University, in responsibility of operating media networks and delivering social campaigns. I also interned in two 4A advertising agencies, Apex Ogilvy in Chengdu and J. Walter Thompson Beijing, participating in commercial communication proposals and media plans. After my graduation I decided to equip myself more with digital competency. Therefore I started a Digital Humanities course in UCL since September of 2016 and gained some abilities and skills in the internet technologies, information management, server programming and so on.

I really appreciate the concept of serving the local community with culture and heritage, as what Islington Museum is dedicated in. I would like to know more about the borough where I am based and that is also my initial motivation for working here. Islington Museum is a nice place with diverse collections and the people working here are lovely and helpful. The main task for me is to improve the museum database and develop a better way to organise those accessions within. I am pretty confident with any challenge in Islington Museum and am sure that I would learn a lot from the experts here.

Tags Blog Post, Collections, Documentation, Volunteering

Blog Post Collections

Sifting the Paperwork

Islington Museum’s paperwork is crucial in helping us understand what our objects are, where they are from and why they are interesting.

An old brick is just a brick…until you have a piece of paper that shows it is an original tile from Sadlers Wells ‘Musick House’ in the 1680’s where people would come to take the waters, which cured dropsy, jaundice and scurvy. Come and visit us to discover the tiles and other intriguing objects from Islington’s past.

We have been working hard to look at our historic paperwork and bring it up to modern standards. In Sifting the Paperwork the people behind the work will give an insight into what we’re doing and will share the interesting snippets we find along the way.

Roz Currie, Curator

Tags Blog Post, Collections, Documentation

Collections

Museum of London -Incoming!

Post author By friendsofislingtonmuseum
Post date August 26, 2016
No Comments on Museum of London -Incoming!

Roz Currie, Curator

Over the summer we have been working with the Museum of London on their rationalisation project. Following a review of the Social and Working History collections, 6000 objects were identified for disposal … and Islington Museum was one of the lucky recipients!

During the 1970s and 1980s museums undertook ‘rescue collecting’. As traditional craft workshops were closing, many museums collected the whole contents, from all of the tools to the tea cups. The idea was to capture disappearing crafts and trades and recreate workshops in the museum. At the Museum of London many of these collections have never been displayed and so the rationalisation process identified duplicate and unusable items and then offered them to other museums.

I spent time at the Museum of London store in Hackney looking through boxes and boxes of exciting objects from the following places in Islington:

The Oliver family watchcase-maker business which had a workshop at 31 Wynyatt Street, Clerkenwell and then in at 25 Spencer Street until 1971.

Oliver’s Watchcase Workshop which closed in 1971

Freeth walking-cane maker

Rowley Parkes clockmakers and brass finishers -One of the last Clerkenwell firms to make clocks by hand, based in Briset Street.

briset-street-rowley-parkes

The Rowley Parkes building on Briset Street

Groome upholsterer and button manufacturer

We hope to do a lot more work with these collections –looking at the different tools, understanding how they were used, and exploring their local history so keep a look out for more information. And if you know anything about light industry in Islington please do get in touch with me at roz.currie@islington.gov.uk.

For more information about the Museum of London project see here.

Tags Blog Post, Collections, Local History, Museum of London

Blog Post Collections Education Imagine Islington

Inspired by UV light therapy goggles: Ella Phillips and Robert Blair Primary School

Post author By friendsofislingtonmuseum
Post date June 23, 2016
1 Comment on Inspired by UV light therapy goggles: Ella Phillips and Robert Blair Primary School

In 2016 artist Ella Phillips worked with teacher Emily Evans and Year 1 at Robert Blair Primary School on the exhibition Imagine Islington. Ella supported Emily to design and deliver a 5 workshop programme for the classroom, inspired by Islington Musuem’s UV light therapy googles.

Ella also worked alongside the pupils in their classroom to create her own new artwork inspired by the goggles and the pupils.

Why we chose the goggles:

‘The U.V goggles and some intriguing photographs of U.V treatment therapy, first made me curious about this object. As I continued my research, I discovered the connections between this object and the Finsbury Health Centre. Not only a leader in free healthcare, this centre was also an architecturally innovative space designed by Berthold Lubetkin. I decided that I would like to explore two areas inspired by the object: how can we reimagine/ re-design our environment? And, what are the effects of light & colour on mood? Bringing together art and science, I wanted the project to embrace the idea of experimentation. This meant repeating activities to discover our favourite results. The class loved the freedom offered by experimentation and enjoyed creating stories about their favourite colors.

Ella

Our Artwork

The class experimented with a wide range of techniques including creating colour, printing with UV and experimenting with colour and emotion. The final installation piece is the outcome of these explorations.

Light Therapy

Each student painted a light bulb in their desired colours which have been used to create a light installation, transforming the space into a living painting.

Ella

Blue Window

Children mixed coloured light using gels, created their own paints with natural materials and used sunlight to create x-rays of objects from their classroom. I have collaged their x-ray ‘cyanotypes’ onto acetate, so that they can act as windows/ frames through which to view the exhibition.

By placing objects onto light sensitive paper, the spaces in between them turn blue. These x-rays have been collaged and printed onto acetate. These windows, printed with translucent blue traces are suspended at various points around the exhibition space. As you move between them, the room shifts between shades of blue.

Ella