Archive for the ‘new content’ Category
Tate Modern, Tate Britain, redevelopment, rotunda, £45million
In Museum [Insider], Museums, new content on August 27, 2010 at 10:50 am
Not content with adding a whole new wing to Tate Modern, Tate are now planning to undertake some major redevelopment work at their Millbank site. Tate Britain isn’t exactly shabby, but they’ve identified a number of key areas where they could do with updating or revisiting how the gallery works, especially in terms of visitors.
In an article on Museum [Insider] I’ve written up the details of what’s planned. They’re spending £45million on works in different parts of the building – so this is more a joined up project with lots of little projects combined into one. 9 galleries at the south end of the building will be redeveloped – and to be honest they need doing. The rotunda and entrance will be transformed and a new education entrance created. There will also be a new cafe – of course – and terrace, to cater for the growing numbers that have been visiting Tate Britain in recent years.
Planning permission for the project is granted and work is expected to start in early 2011. Watch this space for more….
Little London Observationist, Stephanie Sadler, Listen to a Londoner
In new content, what i'm reading on August 23, 2010 at 9:49 am
I was interviewed a while back for an online project called the Little London Observationist. It’s a blog which looks at the ‘little things’ in London and helps us to appreciate the city we live in. It’s compiled by writer and photographer Stephanie Sadler, who describes herself as ‘just a girl in love with London life’. Her blog looks at art, books, fashion etc and features a regular column, Listen to a Londoner, which features an interview with a different Londoner each week, trying to gauge their reaction to London in ten questions.
As Stephanie says “Little London Observationist is all about giving other Londoners a voice rather than just plastering personal opinions on every post.”
And so she asked for my opinion as a writer. She asked me about museums, happiness and life in south London, all of which I’m very happy to talk about. The interview is available to read on the Little London Observationist website.
Arts and Crafts, ebook, museum fundraising, museum interpretation, Museum [Insider], redevelopment, Scottish National Portrait Gallery
In Museum [Insider], Museums, new content on August 11, 2010 at 5:40 pm
Opened in 1899, the Scottish National Portrait Gallery is a magnificent example of Arts and Crafts architecture. But now, the world’s first purpose-built portrait gallery is undergoing a £17.6 million refurbishment and redevelopment. The gallery is closed to the public and is due to reopen to the public in November 2011.
Behind-the-scenes photographs and information about the development of the project – including details of the redevelopment of the building, the works in progress, fundraising and ideas about interpretation – are available in a new article on Museum [Insider] today.
This piece is going into the next version of the new Museum [Insider] ebook, the second volume of which is published in early September.
East Belfast, Eric Kuhne & Associates, Titanic, Titanic Quarter, Titanic Signature Project
In Museum [Insider], Museums, new content on August 6, 2010 at 9:13 am
There’s a huge development project underway in East Belfast, transforming the dock area into a £7billion leisure and accomodation zone called the Titanic Quarter. And there’s going to be a new museum – all about the Titanic – at the heart of the development.
The Titanic Signature Building will contain a world-class visitor attraction telling the story of the history of the fated ship, but also of the ship-building industry in Belfast and the seafaring folk who herald from the city. Eric Kuhne & Associates have designed the new building, which will open to the public in March 2012.
There’s an in-depth article about the Titanic Signature Building live on Museum [Insider].
Herne Hill velodrome, Lewis Robinson, Livesey Museum, Southwark Council, Veronica Ward
In Dulwich OnView, new content on August 3, 2010 at 1:31 pm
Last week I had the chance to interview Veronica Ward, the cabinet member on Southwark Council responsible for culture, leisure, sport and the Olympics. The resulting article is live on Dulwich OnView today.
I asked the councillor about the swtich over from a Tory/Lib Dem council to a Labour administration (the opposite of the national political landscape) and her hopes for the future. It also turns out that she’s also passionate about the preservation of the velodrome at Herne Hill. And there’s news that the debate about what to do with the closed down Livesey Museum is still wide open. Do read the artcile and leave a comment if you feel strongly about either of the those issues.
This is the second political interview I’ve conducted for DOV. Last year I got to interview Ward’s predecessor Lewis Robinson, who is now out of a job in the cabinet after the change of power.
Ancient Egypt, Ancient Rome, application, £1.79, coding, Gerlinde Gniewosz, iPhone, Zuztertu
In new content on July 29, 2010 at 1:11 pm
If you’re heading off on holiday to either Italy of Egypt this summer then you might want to download one of my first two iPhone apps. I didn’t write the coding, obviously, just the words.
They’re mini-courses, one about Ancient Rome and the other about Ancient Egypt. Each app has ten short chapters of content, scribed by me, made up of text, images and maps. There’s a glossary in case you aren’t familiar with some of the terminology used, and there also a quiz at the end so you can test yourself about what you’ve learned.
It’s the perfect way to swot up on some ancient history before you go on your travels. And, as it’s in your phone, you can take it with you on holiday to refer to when you’re there.
The clever behind-the-scenes work of designing and coding the content has been carried out by the educational software company Zuztertu, who make individual handheld learning materials, most of which are apps for iPhones. I met their Chief Exec – Gerlinde Gniewosz – after downloading one of their apps about museums in London. We got talking and came up with the idea for a series of mini-courses on ancient history. I’ve written another app about Ancient Greece, which is currently having the developer’s treatment right now and will be out in due course.
So if you’re a geek for ancient history and have £1.79 knocking around, why not download one and see what it’s all about for yourself.
e-book, Event Communications, Giants Causeway, Heneghan Peng, National Trust
In Museum [Insider], Museums, new content on July 20, 2010 at 6:40 am
At long last, works are commencing on the visitor centre at the Giants Causeway in Northern Ireland. The project has taken an age to get off the ground after the previous structure on the site burned down in 2000. The National Trust is now spending £18.5 million on the new centre, designed by architects Henghan Peng and with interpretation by Event Communications.
I’ve been watching this story for a while, since visiting the site a few years back. There’s a piece about the new visitor centre live on Museum [Insider]. This will also be one of the chapter’s in the forthcoming e-book about museum and heritage development project, which we’ll be officially announcing next week.
happiness, Happiness Project London, Sasha, south London
In Dulwich OnView, happiness, new content on July 16, 2010 at 8:50 am
I interviewed a local south London blogger recently about happiness. Sasha runs the Happiness Project London, writing about things in the capital which can help to keep us sane (and hopefully happy) in a world of madness and chaos. There’s an interview with her on this website as part of my ongoing reserach project about the modern state of happiness.
But while I had her, I also asked a few extra questions about life in our area of London so I could write a piece about her for Dulwich OnView. She’s a really interesting character, so I figured she’d make a great addition to the South London People thread we have running on there. Do check out what she says can keep us happy in south London.
Begin Design, homelab, Horniman Museum, interior design, Kingswood House, South London Gallery, workshops
In Dulwich OnView, new content on July 13, 2010 at 10:36 am
I love finding out about new museums, collections and libraries on my doorstep in south London. We’ve all heard of the museums at Crystal Palace and the Horniman. You perhaps know about the hidden gem of Kingswood House. And some people have even heard of the Puppet Centre Trust in Clapham. And I must make a visit to the newly developed South London Gallery now it’s open.
It turns out there’s a library of home improvement at a local design studio near me. Homelab is part of the design studio at Begin Design, a studio in Forest Hill. They’re kindly opening up their space for a series of free interior design workshops later this month. There’s a piece all about the library and their events on Dulwich OnView today.
Causeway Museum Service, Colearine, Coleraine Borough Council, Market Yard, museum, museum without walls, Museum [Insider] e-book
In Museum [Insider], Museums, new content on July 12, 2010 at 6:19 pm
The Causeway Museum Service in Northern Ireland has been operating very succesfully for year without one key element – a building. The service provides temporary exhibition content and outreach projects for a variety of venues but has, hitherto, not had a place it can call home.
That’s all about to change with the requsitioning by Coleraine Borough Council of the old Market Yard, an abandoned market place in the centre of the town. It will be redeveloped and a new museum placed in the centre, revitalising the town and bringing the story of the area to life in a permanent display. There will also be temporary exhibition areas and a community space where locals can get involved.
I’ve spent the last year or so looking at museum development projects, but this is perhaps one of the most ingenious I’ve seen, given that it turns the audience engagement model on its head. Rather than creating a huge building and then spending a lot of time effort and money on getting people in to see objects, Causeway have found the people already, engaged them successfullu and are now going to use that good will to bid to the HLF for money to complete a building for them. There’s a piece all about it – including an itnerview with the designers HKD – on Museum [Insider].
This is one of the pieces that will be going into the new Museum [Insider] e-book, coming out shortly. It’s a review of some of the projects I’ve written about in the last 18 months for the online magazine. It’s being edited right now – we’re digging around again on some of the older stories to bring them right up to date. The collection of articles – plus new material, exclusive to the book – will be issued for sale in about a month. Much more to come on that in the near future.
HMS Victory, Mary Rose, Mary Rose Trust, new museum, Portsmouth, Vasa Museum
In Museum [Insider], Museums, new content on July 9, 2010 at 7:46 am
Do you remember the Mary Rose being raised out of the water in the 1980s? It’s taken the conservators at the Mary Rose Trust quite a while to get their heads around exactly how to treat and preserve the wooden hull of the ship, which had lain undisturbed for over 500 years, and what sort of structure they want to keep it in on a long-term basis.
But now work is underway at the site in Portsmouth, near the HMS Victory, where the Mary Rose will reside in a purpose-built museum. They’re still working on the hull, spraying it almost continually with chemicals to prevent it from cracking. Once it’s installed in the new museum – shaped like a boat – it’ll need to be dried out very slowly, over a period of years, and should be completely ready by 2016. The museum opens before that though.
It’s reminiscent of the excellent Vasa Museum in Stockholm, one of my favourite museums in the world, where visitors can get up close and personal with the ship on display there and also learn about the lives of the people who lived and worked on board.
There’s a new article about the Mary Rose on Museum [Insider]. This is one of the articles that will be making it into Museum [Insider]‘s first e-book, penned by yours truly, which we’re expecting to launch in about a month. Plenty more coming on that soon…
happiness, blogging, Happiness Project London, Sasha, technological advances
In happiness, new content on July 8, 2010 at 10:11 am
I wrote last week about how I met a blogger who writes in a similar vein to me. The Happiness Project London is a celebration of life in London, encouraging us to enjoy whats great about the city rather than dwelling on expensive, conjested transport and everyone being so busy all the time. Her blog is full of great ideas of things to do to relieve unhappiness and she also points out a number of ‘rules’ which can help us to be “a little more spiritual and a little less selfless”.
Sasha kindly agreed to be interviewed for my ongoing research project about the nature of happiness and what it means to us in a modern context. The interview with Sasha is online now on the happiness pages of this website. She told me about her life and what prompts her to blog about happiness for Londoners.
I was really interested to hear about the beneficial properties of blogging itself – I find myself asking if blogging can make us happy? Given my research is aiming to unpick the nature of happiness today, I’ve been inspired to look at how the technological advances of our time may have affected our happiness. In this case technology has clearly had a positive impact on someone’s life. But I wonder if that’s always the case?
I’ve got more interviews that are still waiting to be written up, so there’ll be more coming online in the next few months. And I’m also lining up other people to be interviewed. If you’ve got an interesting story behind you and you’d like to be involved in the project, do let me know.
Canterbury, Canterbury Beaney, Dr James George Beaney, FutureBeaney
In Museum [Insider], Museums, new content on June 22, 2010 at 9:18 am
The Canterbury what?
The Beaney Institute in Canterbury (named after its benefactor Dr James George Beaney) has had a museum at its town centre site for around 100 years. It’s about to have a major overhaul, to bring the building and museum up to date. In addition to an extended library and building conservation they are also adding an additional wing, full of lovley new gallery spaces.
There’s more about their project on the FutureBeaney website. And, as always, there’s an article about it on Museum [Insider] by yours truly.
architects, Battrle of Bannockburn, interpretation, landscaping, National Trust for Scotland, Scottish Heritage
In Museum [Insider], Museums, new content on June 3, 2010 at 3:58 pm
The Scots are getting ready to celebrate the 700th anniversary of the Battle of Bannockburn (1314) in a few years. The two organisations which look after the battlefield (Scottish Heritage and the National Trust for Scotland) have combined forces on a project which will see the site reinterpreted for the public by the time of the anniversary.
The onsite heritage centre will be redeveloped, along with landscaping work in the area, conservation of key battlefield sites and new signage for the whole place. Architecture, lanscaping and interpretation contracts are all out to tender at the moment, but there’s a full review of the plans live in an article about Bannockburn on Museum [Insider]
Henry VIII, ATS Heritage, audio guide, Lambeth Palace, Lambeth Palace Library, Rowan Williams, Archbishop of Canterbury, Elizabeth I, Charles I, Gutenberg Bible
In Museums, new content on May 26, 2010 at 9:55 am
My latest audioguide is now live at Lambeth Palace Library, London. It accompanies an exhibition called Treasures of Lambeth Palace Library which is being held in the palace’s magnificent Great Hall. Interestingly, everyone entering the space gets an audio handset so it’s likely that a much higher percentage of visitors attending the exhibition listening to my script than you’d get at other museums or galleries.
The exhibition marks the 400th anniversary of the founding of the library at Lambeth Palace and features some of the greatest treasures from the collection,which has been added to by each Archbishop of Canterbury since 1610. Some of the stars of the show include Elizabeth I’s prayer book, Henry VIII’s handwriting, Charles I’s gloves he wore on execution day and the first Gutenberg Bible to come to the UK.
There are some amazing things in there and I had a great time researching and writing the script, which was then produced into the finished audioguide by my colleagues at ATS Heritage. Plus I got to interview Archbishop Rowan Williams as well, who you can hear on the guide.
Tickets are £8, which you can book online here. The exhibition is open until 23 July.
In Museum [Insider], Museums, new content on May 24, 2010 at 12:29 pm
Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery (BMAG) are hard at work on their new public galleries. The project – which is costing nearly £10 million – will see an overhaul of their existing building and the creation of new gallery spaces, telling the story of the history of Birmingham.
It’s a similar project to the one taking place at the Museum of Bristol, which also seeks to tell the story of the history of the city. I worked with the Bristol team recently on the text that will sit alongside the interpretation of their story and I wonder if I should perhaps see if BMAG are interested in finding out more about museum text in a similar way.
In the meantime, there’s an article all about the developments at BMAG on Museum [Insider].
Dulwich OnView, British Museum, multimedia guide, Yang-May Ooi, Fusion View, Italian Renaissance Drawings, podcast, Steve Slack, audio guide, writing
In Dulwich OnView, Museums, new content, what i'm reading on May 21, 2010 at 9:17 am
My friend Yang-May Ooi, the writer and blogging expert who taught me much of what I now about blogging, interviewed me recently for a podcast on her website.
Fusion View is Yang-May’s blog which offers her musings on life in the UK – and especially our little corner of south London – often compared with life in Malaysia where she was born. She describes it as ‘personal reflections with a cross-cultural flavour’. There’s everything on there, from recipes and reviews to videos of local sights and interviews with people from all walks of life.
Her library of podcasts is growing rapidly and one of her most recent entries is an interview with me about my work as a multimedia writer. Taking the British Museum’s current exhibition about Italian Renaissance Drawings as a starting point, we explore the process of creating an audio guide and how we turn the content into the little box visitors borrow from the museum when they arrive on the day.
application, bid, English Heritage, Heritage Lottery Fund, planning, Wrest Park
In Museum [Insider], Museums, new content on May 1, 2010 at 10:02 am
Wrest Park in Bedfordshire has submitted plans to the Heritage Lottery Fund for consideration which will see the site undergo a major upgrade of the visitor experience.
The English Heritage site – consisting of a Grade 1 listed stately home and outstanding historic gardens – is a recent acquisition for the charity and needs plenty of attention.
There’s detail about what they’re planning in an article live on Museum [Insider].
Dulwich OnView, George Canning, landlord, prime minister
In Dulwich OnView, new content on April 30, 2010 at 8:30 am
There’s a bar near where I live named after George Canning – one time prime minister and famous botched dueller – which has been neglected for a long time – passed from landlord to landlord over the years until it was run into the ground. But it’s just come under new ownership and things are looking up.
It’s now under the care of a young couple who have been brought in to turn its fortunes around. After a lick of paint and some fresh ideas, the place is looking great once again. They explained their ideas for the place to me the other day over a drink, and an article about them and their pub has gone live on Dulwich OnView this morning.
They’re a great couple – a real breath of fresh air – and they’ve got some great ideas, so good luck to them!
Heritage Lottery Fund, Museum [Insider], Preston Hall Museum, Stockton-on-Tees
In Museum [Insider], Museums, new content on April 26, 2010 at 4:17 pm
Preston Hall Museum in Stockton-on-Tees has been awarded £7 million from the Heritage Lottery Fund for a major redevelopment project. And they’ve been quick off the mark, spending plenty of their cash on new and exciting things. The museum’s site is home to a street of Victorian shops, which have been preserved as a living history centre and these are already being redisplayed. There’ll be loads more happening on site this summer – the final reopening of the museum will be in 2012.
If you want to know more, there’s a piece on Museum [Insider] today.
And on the theme of M[I], there’s exciting news afoot. Can’t say much about it now, but I’m working on a new project with them that’s going to be brilliant. More to follow soon …
Buddhism, happiness, Radio 4, Thought for the Day, Vishvapani
In happiness, new content on April 21, 2010 at 10:20 am
About a month ago I heard the Buddhist writer and teacher Vishvapani speaking on Thought for the Day (Radio 4) about happiness. I blogged about it at the time here.
I was struck by what he’d said so I sent him an email and told him about my research project looking at the subject of happiness and what it means to us today. And fortunately for me he kindly accepted my invitation to be interviewed for the book project.
I’ve posted his interview in the happiness pages of this website. In it he talks about the Buddhist attitude toward happiness, whether the Buddha was a happy person or not, and his own happiness. Read the full transcript of the interview here.
supermarket, sainsbury's theatre, shakespeare, sonnet 23, teatro vivo
In Dulwich OnView, new content on April 20, 2010 at 11:55 am
Last week I met with a group of actors who are about to launch a new show set in a supermarket. It’s not only set there, the performances take place in the supermarket. It’s a piece inspired by Shakespeare’s sonnet 23:
O, learn to read what silent love hath writ:
To hear with eyes belongs to love’s fi ne wit.
Teatro Vivo are a theatre company making site-specific performance pieces. They’ve been putting on shows in branches of Sainsbury’s in south London for a few years and are now returning with a new show.
It sounds rather peculiar – it is – but from sitting in on rehearsals I’ve seen how it works and I’m up for going along and investigating.
The first show of Supermarket Shakespeare is this evening and there’s an article on Dulwich OnView today about where you can find them over the next few weeks.
I think I might pop along to Forest Hill on 1st or 2nd May. Anyone care to join me?
Heritage Lottery Fund, National History Museum, National Museums Wales, St Fagans, Wales
In Museum [Insider], new content on April 14, 2010 at 11:25 am
There’s been plenty of debate about whether the UK should have a museum of national history. Loads of other countries have a national history museum and some people think it’s we had one too. The thing is we have a national art collection and we have the British Museum (which isn’t really about Britain) and we have museums of specific chunks of British history. So perhaps we don’t really need one? The jury’s still out on this one.
But it looks like Wales might get one. St Fagans is the most popular museum in Wales with over 600,000 visitors a year. An outdoor museum of Welsh built and cultural heritage, it’s almost a village dedicated to Welsh-ness. Under the umbrella of National Museums Wales (who run the big museums in Cardiff and Swansea, among other places) they have submitted a bid to the Heritage Lottery Fund for £20million to overhaul the place and to turn it into the National Museum of Wales.
They’ll hear back on their funding application in due course, but if you’d like to follow the story I wrote an article about the project for Museum [Insider].
fourth plinth, National Trust, Seaton Deleval Hall, Trafalgar Square
In Museum [Insider], Museums, new content on April 8, 2010 at 12:40 pm
Until about a week ago I hadn’t really heard of Seaton Deleval Hall, never mind knowing how to pronounce it! It’s another glorious architectural gem in Northumberland – one of the finest examples of the English Baroque. The country house and extensive grounds and parklands were saved for the nation a few years ago and have now passed into the hands of the National Trust.
There’s a new piece about the plans for the site on Museum [Insider]. What impressed me most about the project is the Trust’s recent, and ongoing, consultation with members of the public about what they’d like to see at Seaton. While parts of the hall will be displayed in the traditional National Trust style with historic rooms finely decorated with furniture and antiques – what I call ‘manor manner’ – some of the property is to be used in a different way.
The central hall at Seaton was ruined years ago by fire and is now a unique open space in the middle of the building complex. The idea is not to conserve the space back to how it looked in the 18th century, but to allow local artists and community groups to suggest what they might like to do in there. A music concert, an art exhibition, a meeting space. The Trust liken the project to the fourth plinth idea in Trafalgar Square where different artists are asked to respond to the space in different ways. Great thinking National Trust – we’ll look forward to finding out more about how the space is being used.
dulwich, Kingswood House
In Dulwich OnView, new content on April 6, 2010 at 9:27 am
I did some work recently with Kingswood House – an architectural hidden gem near where I live in south London – on their strategic development of their friends organisation. The local residents are full of enthusiasm for their immediate area and have a wonderful building at their disposal, but were wanting a little more direction for their activities.
As part of their move forward now, they’ve revamped their website kingswoodcommunity.org.uk Welcome.htmlwith a new look and much more information now available to members of the public. I wrote a piece about it for Dulwich OnView as well, to help promote the site. Good luck to them!
Bletchley Park Trust, Enchanted Palace, Heritage Lottery Fund, Heritage Trends, Kensington Palace, Museum [Insider], Project Tracker
In Museum [Insider], Museums, new content on March 27, 2010 at 2:12 pm
I’ve had two new pieces published on Museum [Insider] in the last week or so.
The first is about the Bletchley Park Trust, who are at the start of a major redevelopment of the visitor experience at their site after receiving development funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund. The money is there to help them develop plans and submit a full HLF bid in the next two years. The article describes their plans and outlines the funding news on the project. There are also some contracts up for grabs at the moment, which M[I] subscribers can see using the Project Tracker tool.
The other article is a commentary piece about cross-cultural collaboration, inspired by a recent visit to the newly opened Enchanted Palace exhibition at Kensington Palace. They’ve achieved wonderful things there and created a very special exhibition through working in collaboration with a theatre company and group of fashion designers. The piece calls for more of this kind of collaboration. Working with unlikely partners can yield fantastic results.
The commentary piece is the first in a new stream of articles I’ll be writing for M[I] about heritage trends. I’ve got my own column – and there’s a picture of me on the homepage. Very exciting!
Dulwich OnView, Dulwich Picture Gallery, Tate Britain, Henry Moore, Paul Nash, Irving Penn, National Portrait Gallery
In Dulwich OnView, Museums, new content on March 19, 2010 at 9:56 am
After going to see the Henry Moore exhibition at Tate Britain a few weeks ago I’ve found myself spotting references to Moore all over the plac.
He’s mentioned in the current temporary exhibition at Dulwich Picture Gallery about Moore’s contemporary Paul Nash. And there’s a portrait of him in the Irving Penn exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery. (Alright, alright, I’m just showing off at how many exhibitions I go to. It’s a hazard of the job really.)
I also spotted a few of his sculptures about the place in London. Are we all left wanting Moore?
I wrote a piece about noticing these, and other, references on Dulwich OnView, which went live this morning.
The Moore show at Tate is well worth the visit. I used to not like Tate Britain shows that much as they were a bit over my head, but this one seems to have been curated, designed and the text written with the visitor in mind. Great stuff. Do go and see it.
Hadrian's Wall, Hadrian's Wall Heritage Limited, HLF, Romans
In Museum [Insider], Museums, new content on March 12, 2010 at 3:33 pm
There’s a new museum telling the story of the Romans in northern Britain in the planning in Cumbria .
It’s at Maryport, at the idyllic end of Hadrian’s Wall – the famous Roman frontier zone in the north of England. Overlooking the sea there is a spot called Camp Farm which, until recently, has been in private hands. But thanks to the clever folks at Hadrians’ Wall Heritage Limited – an independent organisation which seeks to cultivate contacts and collaboration along the wall – 150 acres of land have been purchased and are to be turned into a new museum.
The project has support to take it through to a formal HLF funding bid, which is sure to succeed. Details of the plans and the project are in a new article by yours truly on Museum [Insider].
I’ve had a bit of a break from writing articles for M[I], whilst I’ve been working on other projects, but we’re back on form now. Expect more to come out soon.
art gallery, dulwich, Dulwich Picture Gallery, restaurant, St Valentine, Valentine's Day
In Dulwich OnView, Museums, new content on February 12, 2010 at 1:09 pm
You can’t have failed to notice that it’s Valentine’s Day this weekend. To be honest, I really can’t see the point in all the bother we put ourselves through each year. I don’t want to spend a fortune on a mediocre, over-priced meal just for the sake of it. And you have to sit in a restaurant full of other couples who are also concerned about how socially awkward the whole thing is. I like to celebrate when there’s a need to celebrate. And as a rule I tell my beloved how beloved they are as and when I want to, not when St Valentine dictates.
That said, you may still want to make a gesture to your better half at this time of year. My personal recommendation would be to take your partner along to a local museum or gallery and look at something lovely together. If you’re feeling flush, then why not splash out on afternoon tea in the cafe as well and help to generate some revenue for the arts.
To this end I took a look at what I might go and visit in my local art spot, Dulwich Picture Gallery. There’s an article all about what I found there on Dulwich OnView today.
Enchanted Palace, Historic Royal Palaces, Kensington Palace, Prince Charles
In Museum [Insider], Museums, new content on February 3, 2010 at 8:42 am
There’s a huge redevelopment project taking place at Kensington Palace - I wrote about it last year for Museum [Insider]. After getting a green light from project planners, the work is now underway. But the project received a minor setback when one part of the plans was rejected by the local authority. There’s a new piece on MI now with an update about the ongoing controversy and Prince Charles’s involvement in the project.
I’ve also been invited to the press view of the new exhibition at Kensington Palace in March. It’s called Enchanted Palace and it looks like it’s going to be just brilliant. Full report to follow….
conservation, Cutty Sark, fire
In Museum [Insider], new content on January 23, 2010 at 1:28 pm
There’s a new piece on Museum [Insider] about the ongoing conservation project at the Cutty Sark in Greenwich. The ship was already closed for major conservation work when it was ravaged by a fire in 2007. Fortunately, the majority of the wooden mateirals were off site in a conservation lab at the time, so they weren’t damaged. After reinforcing the iron hull and reintroducing the boards and planks – and a major overhaul of many other aspects of the ship – it will re-open to visitors sometime in 2011.
We all look forward to a trip down to Greenwich to investigate.
Peckham. Channel 4, city life, countryside, television
In Dulwich OnView, new content on January 19, 2010 at 10:30 am
Channel 4 are looking for people who live in Peckham (which comes within the remit of Dulwich OnView) to take part in a new television programme about life in the city. From their description I suspect they will take people who love the countryside and hate the city – and vice versa – and swap their homes for a week. It’s a new idea for a programme, but it’s a tried, tested (and now I reckon quite boring) format for making television.
Either way, if you’re interested in finding out more, there’s an article with all the details on Dulwich OnView today.
National Museum of the Royal Navy, Portsmouth, Royal Naval Museum
In Museum [Insider], Museums, new content on January 18, 2010 at 2:53 pm
The Royal Naval Museum in Portsmouth (recently rebranded as part of the National Museum of the Royal Navy) is planning to rework their displays about the modern Navy. The twentieth century galleries will be brought right up to date in 700 square metres of exhibition space. They are in the process of appointing a design company to work on the concept and future tenders about the build will be out in due course.
There’s an article about the background to the project live now on Museum [Insider].
Dulwich Picture Gallery, Oklahoma City Museum of Art, Dutch Italianates
In Dulwich OnView, Museums, new content on January 15, 2010 at 9:45 am
There’s a beautiful group of paintings in Dulwich Picture Gallery called the Dutch Italianates – that is Dutch artists painting in an Italian style in the 17th century. There’s a strong emphasis on landscapes, and it’s known that Dutch artists were indeed there in the Italian countryside at the birth of Italian landscape painting.
The pictures have been on loan recently to Oklahoma City Museum of Art, where they were displayed in a special temporary exhibition. They’re on their way back to Dulwich now. Dulwich OnView has published an interview with the Gallery’s Director Ian Dejardin about the paintings. He talks about the influences on the Dutch artists in Italy, their significance in art history and his favourite paintings in the collection.
We published the interview in two parts, with illustrations from DPG’s collection (part one – part two). Or you can read the full transcript of the interview on OCMOA’s website.
Dulwich Picture Gallery, Sir John Soane, phone box
In Dulwich OnView, new content on January 5, 2010 at 9:43 am
Here’s something interesting.
I learned recently the deisgner of the red phone box – now sadly no longer in production – was a good friend of Sir John Soane, architect of, among many other grand projects, Dulwich Picture Gallery. There’s an example of this iconic piece of design in the grounds of the Gallery as a nod to the inspiration from whence it came. If you look closely, the top of the mausoleum in the Gallery has a similar shape to that of the red phone box. And it’s a design which has spread far and wide ever since. Examples of the old phone boxes can be found all over the globe. I found one recently in Bilbao. There’s a piece all about it on Dulwich OnView today.
Bodleian, New Bodleian, Swindon, University of Oxford
In Museum [Insider], new content on November 2, 2009 at 3:09 pm
The New Bodleian Library, part of the University of Oxford, isn’t that new. But it’s about to have a revamp. They are in the process of reworking the buildings which holds the special collections of the library – it’s going to be beautiful when it’s done.
And the sheer number of books being added to the giant collections of the Bodleian means they’re very nearly out of space in the city centre. So the University is building a high-density storage facility just outside Swindon – not too far away, so that books can be ferried back to the academic reading rooms pretty swiftly.
There’s a piece about the redevelopment of the Bodleian live now on Museum [Insider].
Dulwich Picture Gallery, quiz
In Dulwich OnView, Museums, new content on October 27, 2009 at 9:32 am
It’s that time of year again when Dulwich Picture Gallery gets ready for the annual Gallery Quiz. Teams of six compete in the grand setting of the Gallery – surrounded by beautiful paintings in the famous enfillade – and see their scores projected onto a large screen at the end of the Gallery. There’s a piece promoting the quiz live on Dulwich OnView today.
Design Museum, local authority, Museum [Insider], planning permission, relocation
In Museum [Insider], Museums, new content on October 26, 2009 at 11:07 am
I’ve been writing quite a few pieces for the online magazine Museum [Insider]. The articles are usually about huge development projects taking place in the heritage sector – often around the construction or renovation of museum buildings. Museum [Insider] tries to get the inside word on what’s going on and give its readers an edge in the competitive world of tenders and contracts.
Some trends have started to become apparent in the way in which some of these projects are managed. Something that has struck me of late is the way many ambitious building projects don’t get planning permission approved when they are first submitted to their local authority. Someone always comes along and voices opposition to the scheme. But after a small redesign and resubmission, the plans often get waved through.
It’s happened quite a few times on various different projects. I’ve picked it up and explained my theory on how it happens in the most recent article about the plans behind the relocation of the Design Museum’s headquarters.
A344, English Heritage, National Trust, Stonehenge, Wiltshire Council
In Museum [Insider], Museums, new content on October 15, 2009 at 11:05 am
In many ways, I don’t want to get started on Stonehenge. It’s been a long, hard struggle for the many organisations involved, but after nearly twenty years of wrangling and non-decision making it looks like English Heritage and their partner organisations (such as the National Trust) are ready to move forward with Stonehenge.
Years ago, it was agreed by the many stakeholders that the A344 road should not pass so closely to the stones for reasons of conservation. It’s been a long time in the planning, but everyone has now agreed that the road will be moved and how visitors will interact with the stones there. Plans submitted to Wiltshire Council now indicate a bespoke visitor centre, set into the hillside, 1.5 miles from the stone circle. There visitors will be able to learn about the historic landscape in which Stonehenge sits – it’s huge and stretches for miles – and then get into road trains which take them up to the stones.
The reason it’s taken so long os that there have been so many people involved in the decision-making process. Plus, with changing governments who see it as more or less of a priority than their predecessors, it’s been difficult to get any real leadership.
Everyone is now hoping that the plans are passed by Wiltshire Council. They will, of course, be undertaking their own consultation on the plans. But if they get the go-ahead, the visitor centre could be open in time for the Olympics.
There’s a piece analysing the plans and giving more context to the Stonehenge debacle on Museum [Insider].
arts quarter, Great Yarmouth, St Geroge's Chapel, theatre
In Museum [Insider], Museums, new content on October 1, 2009 at 2:16 pm
Great Yarmouth is working on a really exciting project to turn a listed, but ignored, church building in the town centre into the hub of a new cultural quarter. It’s going to be turned into a theatre space, which will hopefully attract visiting production companies. They have big money for it, and big aims too. They also intend to renovate other lsited buildings in the area and get loads of arts organisations to move in.
Exciting times. There’s an article about the renovation of St George’s Chapel on Museum [Insider].
In Museum [Insider], Museums, happiness, new content on September 30, 2009 at 1:01 pm
So, it’s six months today since I left full-time employment and went it alone as a freelance writer. What have I achieved and what will the next six months have in store?
I’ve realised that I know a lot of things now I didn’t know in April. And they aren’t things I necessarily expected to learn as I went along. That’s what’s been so much fun about this lifestyle I’ve chosen for myself – things change, work (paid and unpaid) comes along and networking is still as important as ever. And the nature of writing for the web is continually evolving as well – new technologies and tools come along. I didn’t even know what twitter was six months ago!
The great thing about publishing quite a lot of online material is that I’ve been able to see the results of my work pretty much instantly, and I’ve also been able to solicit feedback from others about what I’ve been writing. Other projects are yet to be published, but will come into the public domain in the next few months.
A quick summary of my first six months as a real writer:
I co-authored the content for the British Museum’s new multimedia guide (like an audio guide but with pictures, video and interactive games). I also wrote an audio-described tour of the Parthenon galleries at the BM for visually impaired visitors. Both of these will go live in December 2009.
For the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford, I’m writing a new audio tour for the entire museum. That’s a work-in-progress at the moment, but I need to move fast on it as it opens to the public in late November 2009.
A lot of web articles have appeared all over the place. I wrote 23 features articles for Museum [Insider], the online magazine for suppliers to the heritage sector in the UK. There were also 14 new articles for Dulwich OnView, an online magazine about life in and around south London. And using this website as a promotions tool, I’ve created exactly 100 posts – the latest one just this morning.
There were a few random pieces of work as well. I’ve written content for a local film-maker’s website; edited text for the Friends of Dulwich Picture Gallery website; scribed some pieces for an international travel blog; chaired a strategic direction workshop for Kingswood House and even edited an academic conference paper on the nature of discipleship amongst the evangelical Christian movement in the UK!
I continued work on my ongoing research project into the nature of happiness and what it means to us today. It’s had to take a bit of a back seat for the moment while I focus on paid work, but the idea is to start firing a book proposal off to publishers in the near future. My research notes find their way on to this website every so often.
Up next, I’m going to be doing some consultancy for a large heritage venue in London – secret as yet, but news coming soon. I’ll be soliciting responses from their visitors about ideas for potential future exhibitions. The regular pieces for M[I] and DOV will continue as well as some happiness research and there’s some more audio writing in the pipeline. And I’m going to teach a workshop on online wrting for a local school.
What will the next six months yield? Will I have a book deal? Will more people read me?
Who knows, but I’m certainly having a ball right now.
Sue King, Mel McCleary, Jeannie Avent Gallery, East Dulwich
In Dulwich OnView, new content on September 25, 2009 at 11:53 am
I’ve just written another piece about my neighbour Sue King, a glass artist.
She and another neighbour from my street, Mel McCleary - a textile artist – are putting on a joint exhibition at the Jeannie Avent Gallery in East Dulwich, starting next week. The show is called ZEST and is reflective of their love of bold colours and striking designs. There are some images and more details about their artistic background in the article on Dulwich OnView, which went live this morning.
Henry W Pollard and Sons, Museum of Somerset, Taunton Castle
In Museum [Insider], Museums, new content on September 24, 2009 at 12:32 pm
Building works are well underway at Taunton Castle, where the Museum of Somerset will find it’s new home in early 2011.
They’re using a local builder called Henry W Pollard and Sons. While working on the project, renovating the Great Hall, buolding workers discovered a piece of graffiti from the last time the building was tended to in 1934. It turns out, Pollard was the contractor then as well, so the firm is now looking back into its archives to see if they can identify who it was. What will they find on the site in another hundred years, I wonder.
There’s a piece about the development project at the Museum of Somerset and deails of the architects, designers and contracts coming up there on Museum [Insider].
Dulwich OnView, Friends of Dulwich Picture Gallery
In Dulwich OnView, Museums, new content on September 18, 2009 at 4:08 pm
I’ve been working the Friends of Dulwich Picture Gallery for about seven years, helping them to slowly broaden the appeal of the Gallery and to widen the demographic of the membership. We’ve been running different types of events and trying to create an image of the Gallery that is less stuffy and traditional than most people might initially think. Numbers are up and the kind of people visiting the Gallery is slowly starting to change. I’m not saying we’ve reinvented the wheel there, but we’ve been taking baby steps.
One of the ways of getting the message out has been the community online magazine Dulwich OnView, for who I write regular articles about life in and around south London.
I also recently helped them to rewrite some of the content for the Friends’ online presence on the Gallery site. It’s all online on the Dulwich Picture Gallery website.
new museum, Southampton, Titanic
In Museum [Insider], Museums, new content on September 13, 2009 at 12:04 pm
Southampton City Council are to build a new museum on the site of their present magistrates court and police station which will tell the story of the city’s maritime and naval history. But rather than dwelling on the comings and goings of ships and boats over the centuries, the story will be dominated by the ill-fated ship, Titanic. Many of the souls lost at sea on the ship were staff and crew members from Southampton, a fact sometimes overlooked when interpreting the story. A similar exhibition, with private money, is also being planned in Belfast, where the ship was built.
There’s a piece about the planned museum and news of who’s working on the project on Museum [Insider].
Birmingham City Council, Birmingham Repetory Theatre, brown roof, Library of Birmingham
In Museum [Insider], Museums, new content on September 10, 2009 at 8:39 am
I published an article about Birmingham’s new library, set to open in 2013. It’s going to be huge – utterly enormous.
Set on Centenary Square in the middle of the city – the site of much regeneration work of late – the new nine-storey library will share a building with the Birmingham Repetory Theatre. There’ll be an amphitheare out the front and the top of the building is a ‘brown roof’ which means it’s covered in plenty of living things to attract other living things to live there.
If it gets the go-ahead from Birmingham City Council (it should do – they are the client after all) it will become the second most expensive heritage building project in the country, next to Tate Modern’s extension. If it all goes ahead, I’d even consider a trip to Birmingham to have a nosy!
British Film Institute, Inglorious Basterds, national Film Collection, nitrate-based film, Quentin Tarantino
In Museum [Insider], Museums, new content on September 3, 2009 at 10:27 am
The British Film Institute is building a new film storage facility to house the National Film Collection. It’s a high-tech building keeping the nitrate-based film at low temperatures and humidity.
If you’ve seen the movie Inglorious Basterds (saw it yesterday and very much enjoyed it, despite Quentin Tarantino’s messing with history) then you’ll know that the film is highly combustable – some of the characters conspire to blow up a cinema full of Nazis by setting fire to a pile of nitrate film.
There’s a piece about the companies involved in the archive building project on Museum [Insider].
Heritage Lottery Fund, Hugh Broughton, Maidstone Museum
In Museum [Insider], Museums, new content on August 26, 2009 at 8:50 am
You might not think it, but Maidstone is a hotbed of cultural funding.
The town has had 53 grants to date from the Heritage Lottery Fund, which have seen over £8.4 million invested there. And now they are asking for more, for a huge redevelopment of Maidstone Museum. Fair play to them, I say – the money is there for the taking (after a long and complicated application process) so good luck to them.
The designs look great – the usual swathes of glass and steel, but sensitively balanced with the charming exisiting red brick building. and they plan to uncover previously unseen Tudor walls inside the building. It’s all been designed by Hugh Broughton architects, who are a small, but award-winning practice.
They are due to hear back from the HLF in September about their current application, which is detailed in my recent article on Museum [Insider].
Dulwich Picture Gallery, Gail Gosschalk, Sue King, Nic Webb, swamp cypress, spoons, Ikea, Habitat, flat-pack furniture
In Dulwich OnView, happiness, new content on August 25, 2009 at 8:08 am
A few weeks ago I went to Peckham to meet a craft artist called Nic Webb.
He’s been working recently with a huge pile of wood from Dulwich Picture Gallery. The swamp cypress tree there was cut down last year because it was sick. He’s been turning the wood into, wait for it, spoons. So off I trundled to meet the spoon man. And here’s the result – an article on Dulwich OnView.
These aren’t any ordinary spoons. They’re beautifully crafted pieces, all very individual. Meeting Nic was a wake up call to the power of the craft maker movement in London at the moment. He spoke about how the design for each spoon is led by the natural shapes and patterns in the wood – there’s no one design he works toward. Each piece is an individual.
We’re bored nowadays of having mass-produced rubbish in our homes from Habitat. Let’s go back to having hand-crafted, beautiful objects with some integrity. And let’s get to know the people who make these things for us – craftsmen, designers and makers all have great stories behind them and I’ve really enjoyed getting to know some of them of late. I wrote pieces recently about glass designer Sue King and local artist Gail Gosschalk.
I think there’s a bit of an overlap with my happiness project. I suggest we’d all be happier if we fill our homes with objects that have some integrity to them, rather than flat pack furniture and cheap crap from Ikea. Of course, that’s easier said than done – hand-crafted items are usually comparatively expensive. But meeting Nic and talking with him about his work certainly made me appreciate the power of the craftsman once again and I believe it’s a movement worth supporting.
I’m going to look for craft artists to include in the happiness project. Let me know if you have any good suggestions.
Lordship Lane, Herne Hill, Breakspeare, Champion Hill, Gipsy Hill
In Dulwich OnView, new content on August 23, 2009 at 12:27 pm
I just found some more stories behind local place names in south London. There’s a piece about them on Dulwich OnView.
Do take a read of the article if you’ve ever wondered where the names Lordship Lane, Herne Hill, Breakspeare, Champion Hill or Gipsy Hill come from.
new exhibition galleries, triforium, visitor experience, Westminster Abbey
In Museum [Insider], new content on August 17, 2009 at 1:01 pm
There’s a large piece of consultation going on at the moment about proposed plans for an overhaul of the visitor experience at Westminster Abbey. They’re planning to update the visitor facilities and overhaul their education service (like everyone else does).
But there are also exciting ideas around about new exhibition galleries high up in the building, in a presently unused area called the triforium. And they’re even thinking about adding a domed top to the building which, they say, isn’t techincally finished yet.
As always, there’s a piece all about these plans on Museum [Insider].
British Museum, UAE, Zayed National MUseum, Sheikh Zayed, Louvre, Guggenheim, Bedford Museum, Cecil Higgins Art Gallery
In Museum [Insider], Museums, new content on July 28, 2009 at 10:33 am
News broke this weekend that the British Museum is to work on a new museum for the United Arab Emirates. Saadiyat Island, a natural island along the coast of Abu Dhabi, will be home to the new Zayed National Museum, which will reflect the life and achievements of Sheikh Zayed (1918-2004) – a major player in the establishment of the federated UAE.
Unlike the Louvre and Guggenheim projects currently underway on the island, this will not be an outpost of the British Museum, rather a partnership project delivered in conjunction with the museum. The BM is acting in an advisory role as a consultant. There’s an article about the new Zayed National Museum on Museum [Insider].
I also had a piece published there last week about the work taking place in Bedford City centre as they begin an HLF-phase 1 project to link Bedford Museum with its neighbour the Cecil Higgins Art Gallery.
Queen Victoria, Royal Surrey Zoological Gardens, Walworth Road, Lost Zoo of Southwark
In Dulwich OnView, new content on July 24, 2009 at 9:18 am
Lions, tigers and bears all used to live in the former Royal Surrey Zoological Gardens, just off the Walworth Road. Who knew?
Apparently Queen Victoria used to pop down there for a nosy at the animals, from time to time.
There’s a piece about the Lost Zoo of Southwark on Dulwich OnView.
Arnolfini Gallery, Banksy, Bristol, Museum of Bristol, SS Great Britain
In Museum [Insider], Museums, new content on July 20, 2009 at 9:09 am
Hot on the tail of their Banksy exhibition promotions, the council-run museum service in Bristol is now set to open their new flagship Museum of Bristol in 2011. It’s housed in a reconditioned harbourside building in the emerging arts quarter of the city, not far from the SS Great Britain and the Arnolfini Gallery.
Read all about the plans and see lovely pictures of what’s going to be going on inside the build on Museum [Insider].
ACE, AIM, DCMS, heritage sector, HLF, Museum sector
In Museum [Insider], Museums, new content on July 8, 2009 at 10:59 am
The professional museum sector in the UK is a baffling place. There are so many organisations working at strategic and managerial levels across the museum and heritage one may quite legitimately suggest that, while there is certainly a lot of broth, there are perhaps a few too many cooks.
One might ask how many quangos, directives, strategic reviews and government agencies do we need to run a succesful arts sector.
I’ve worked in the museum sector since 2001 and have, over that time, now built up a reasonable knowledge of who does what at a strategic level in the UK. But as a supplier to the sector it must be very confusing to see all these organisations out there. Do you know your AIM from your ACE. Or your DCMS from your HLF?
I wrote a piece recently for Museum [Insider] which reviews the top organisations (and their many acronyms) and provides an overview of who’s who.
conservation, restoration, Rosslyn Chapel, Scotland
In Museum [Insider], new content on July 6, 2009 at 10:45 am
Rosslyn Chapel in Scotland is presently undergoing a major piece of restoration work. They’ve not only decided to revisit the stonework of this charming building (built 1446), but also to make it fit for the future by conserving the building, reworking the roof and other facilities on site. And there’s going to be a brand new all-singing, all-dancing visitor centre there too. There’s more in a recent piece on Museum [Insider], as per norm.
Sue King, fused glass, Cockpit Arts, Maker Difference
In Dulwich OnView, new content on June 26, 2009 at 9:15 am
From my study, I see over the fence into my next-door neighbour’s back garden. I’ve long admired the striking glass sculptures which adorn her lovely garden. Sue King makes stunning fused glass pieces herself. Last weekend I took a trip to her studio in Deptford – part of the Cockpit Arts open weekend where the public are allowed in to nosy around the studios and buy artworks from designer-makers.
There’s a brilliant vibe in the studios and they are proud to be an incubator of creativity. Artists renting there don’t simply get a space in which to practise when they pay their fees – they get business support and commercial encouragement too. It’s like a community in there. They even have a manifesto, called Maker Difference, which encourages us not to buy objects d’art from Habitat or Heal’s, but to go and meet artists and get something completely unique. It’s inspirational stuff.
I was so impressed with the studios and with Sue’s work that I wrote a piece about it for Dulwich OnView, which went live this morning.
2015, Science Museum
In Museum [Insider], Museums, new content on June 18, 2009 at 4:57 pm
The Science Museum is 100 years old this week. Big news.
What’s bigger news is that they’ve just unveiled their plans for what the museum is going to look like in 2015. It’s a huge project which basically involves sticking lumps on the existing building. There’s going to be a domed blob protruding out the front of the building, through the glass, and a huge golden inverted take-out tray on the roof for a new gallery about Space. The whole thing opens in 2015, so there are, doubtless, plenty of jobs coming up there in the next few years.
Take a look at the images of the what the build will look like and read about it on Museum [Insider].
Lost Southwark, south London, local history, Cuming Museum
In Dulwich OnView, Museums, new content on June 12, 2009 at 10:40 am
There’s a new exhibition of paintings, etchings, drawings, maps and all sorts of 2D material chronicling the history of Southwark life and architecture at the Cuming Museum in south London. Popped along to see it last week and to write a piece of Dulwich OnView about it. Lost Southwark is definitely worth a look if you live in south London and are interested in local history.
Anna Cutler, Gillian Wilson, Tate Modern, TM2
In Museum [Insider], Museums, new content on June 10, 2009 at 2:17 pm
I wrote a piece a few months ago about the proposed developments at the back of Tate Modern. Turns out Tate got planning permission for the new extension which will rise eleven storeys high from the back of the existing building.
I went back to Tate Modern last week to interview Anna Cutler (Head of Learning) and Gillian Wilson (Curator of Interpretation) about what they’re up to now. We chatted about the content planned for TM2 and the interpretive thinking about their audiences that’s going into the project. Their plans sound really exciting – there’ll be a wider variety of interpretive devices in the TM2 – something for everyone.
The resulting article is live on Museum [Insider] now.
dulwich, Gail Gosschalk, Paris, artists
In Dulwich OnView, new content on June 5, 2009 at 10:32 am
Just posted a lovely little interview on Dulwich OnView with a local artist, Gail Gosschalk, who now lives in Paris. She’s back in Dulwich this weekend to show some of her work in an exhibition.
The way she describes her work makes me want to follow suit. I could easily live in Paris, sipping coffee and penning articles at whim. What a life that would be ….
Commonwealth Institute, Design Museum, Kensington, relocation
In Museum [Insider], Museums, new content on June 4, 2009 at 8:25 am
There are plenty of rumours around at the moment about the Design Museum and their potential change of venue in the not too distant future. But who knows what’s fact and what’s merely flotsam and jetsam on the museum industry drinks circuit?
Gossip ferret here had a little look around and wrote a piece about the potential move to the former home of the Commonwealth Institute in Kensington for Museum [Insider].
breast cancer, Professor Penny Hopwood, psychiatrist
In happiness, new content on June 3, 2009 at 2:43 pm
I’ve just completed another interview as part of my ongoing research project into the meaning of happiness.
Professor Penny Hopwood is a psychiatrist and has spent the last 25 years working solely with patients who are undergoing treatment for breast cancer. She must have met a wide variety of people over the years and heard some amazing stories. I was certain that helping people through those experiences must have given her a pretty unique perspective on what it means to be happy.
Of course, she can’t talk about her patients, and I’d never expect her to, but she did give me an enlightening interview, in terms of how the mental state of a cancer patient is cared for and also her own individual very personal response to happiness.
Read the interview in the happiness pages of this website, here.
Penny has been a family friend for many years and I’m really grateful to her for taking part in the project.
National Railway Museum
In Museum [Insider], Museums, new content on May 26, 2009 at 8:16 am
The National Railway Museum (York) opened in the 1970s and hasn’t really had much of an overhaul since. The great hall, the central exhibition space where the huge exhibits are stored, is due to have a revamp soon. HLF have awarded them £200,000 to firm up their proposals, but it’s thought the full project will cost in the region of £20m. There’s a piece about it on Museum [Insider].
In Dulwich OnView, new content on May 26, 2009 at 8:08 am
In January I stared into my cultural crystal ball and wrote a piece on DOV predicting the hottest tickets in south London in 2009. Thought I’d revisit my guess work and see how I did. There’s a quick piece on DOV today.
Some I got right. Some I got terribly wrong. I would’ve thought ”The Dulwich’ could have written a song, at least.
Dulwich Festival, Artists' Open House, Camberwell College of Art, fried chicken
In Dulwich OnView, new content on May 20, 2009 at 3:07 pm
As part of Dulwich Festival each May, there is an annual Artists’ Open House – two weekends on either side of the festival when local artists in around the Dulwich area throw open the doors of their homes and studios and invite the great unwashed in to see their work. (And hopefully make a purchase or two along the way.)
I went along to see some of them this year and wrote a piece about some of the artists I met for Dulwich OnView. My particular favourites have to be the students from Cambwell College of Art who, have been inspired by the abundance of fried chicken boxes in the locale. What inspiration!
Charles Rennie Mackintosh, Glasgow School of Art
In Museum [Insider], new content on May 18, 2009 at 12:41 pm
Glasgow School of Art is set not only to revisit its main building (designed by the youthful Charles Rennie Mackintosh) but also to create a new wing over the road. There’s been an astonishing response to the call for architectural practices interested in working on the project – over 150 companies applied. There’s an article all about it on Museum [Insider]: Mackintosh’s Glasgow Gem Expands.
British Museum, First Emperor, Hadrian
In Museum [Insider], Museums, new content on May 7, 2009 at 7:31 am
My old stomping ground, the British Museum, are set to open a brand new wing in 2012. It’s going to house their new state-of-the-art research and collections management centre, plus a new puspose-built exhibition suite. That means they’ll be able to move out of the Reading Room and return it back to a library, which will please many. The BM has proven in recent years that it is just as capable of putting on blockbusters as the National Gallery and Tate, and that they need a space large and well-serviced enough to do just that. First Emperor and Hadrian were such huge successes and it’ll be great to see them build on that.
As ever, I’ve written a piece about it for Museum Insider. Take a look if you’d like to know more.
Glasgow Guggenheim, Kelvingrove, Riverside Museum, Zaha Hadid
In Museum [Insider], Museums, new content on May 2, 2009 at 10:07 am
Turns out Glasgow is having even more investment pumped into its arts scene. After the huge success of Kelvingrove, the old museum of transport is now being transformed into the Riverside Museum. Heralded as the ‘Glasgow Guggenheim’ - because of the striking design of the building (Zaha Hadid) – it will open to the public in 2011.
I’ve had a bit of a root around for some info and there’s a piece now live about it on Museum [Insider].
Dulwich OnView, Lewis Robinson, Southwark Council
In Dulwich OnView, new content on May 1, 2009 at 7:40 am
I met this week with a local councillor in my area (London Borough of Southwark) and chatted with him about arts and culture provision in the borough. He’s Cllr Lewis Robinson, the Executive Member for culture, leisure and sport and he’s also the councillor for one of the wards in Dulwich, so he’s a good guy for us to get to know.
The motto of Dulwich OnView is
celebrating people and culture in south London.
He’s a reasonably important person in the world of culture in south London, so we thought it would be best to interview him.
Take a look at what he had to say.
Catherine Parr, Hampton Court Palace, Henry VIII, Kensington Palace, Queen Victoria
In Museum [Insider], Museums, new content on April 21, 2009 at 8:01 am
Had a grand day out last week at Hampton Court Palace, nosing around their new Henry VIII display. 2009 is the 500th anniversary of Hennry’s accession to the throne and as such they are theming the year’s programming around him. The palace is set up as if it were his wedding day (wife no. 6, Catherine Parr). Visitors are invited to the wedding party and costumed actors are parading around the place the whole day. Great fun.
Whilst there, I also interviewed someone from Historic Royal Palaces about the planned redevelopment of the visitor experience and interpretation at Kensington Palace, due to open in 2012. The first tranche of work is focussed on Queen Victoria, who spent her early years at Kensington before she became queen.
There’s a piece on Museum [Insider] with some exclusive details about what they’re planning.
museum, Southend-on-Sea
In Museum [Insider], Museums, new content on April 16, 2009 at 11:20 am
It looks like Southend-on-Sea is to close its museum and art gallery and roll them into one shiny, new arts venue right by the seafront. The plans look pretty exciting and they’re certainly enthusiastic about it in the town.
Here’s a new piece about it on Museum [Insider].
Auschwitz, happiness, Roman Halter
In happiness, new content on April 10, 2009 at 12:24 pm
I received a touching hand-written note this week from Roman Halter, a friend of mine and survivor of Auschwitz who I’ve interviewed already as part of my happiness research project. His interview is available to read on this site, but he decided to write an addendum. He writes:
A life free from being terrorized, free from that fear, is happiness.
Freedom under the law in a true democracy where the citizen is protected from the criminal and the criminal is isolated from society is, for the citizen, happiness.
Happiness on many levels.
One man, before being taken to the gas chamber at Auschwitz [said] Psalm 31, verse 6 [and was] calmly led to a happy end with a spirit that was devoid of fear. [The verse reads: 'You hate those who pay regard to worthless idols, but I trust in the Lord'.]
We were told (the group of 500 metal workers from Lodz ghetto selected for slave labour) in Auschwitz-Birkenau that we looked so weak and were so starved that we, all of us, were only fit for the gas chambers and we should know that we came to Auschwitz-Birkenau through [the] gate which is only one way and that is ‘IN’. The out part is through the chimney. So, when eventually we were put into cattle trucks and PASSED OUT of Auschwitz-Birkenau the joy, the happiness of most was something I will not forget.
Roman has also added a simple line drawing of the recognisable gateway to the camp at Auschwitz with an arrow pointing to the entrance.
ceramics, V&A
In Museum [Insider], Museums, new content on April 9, 2009 at 2:23 pm
The ceramics galleries at the V&A have been closed for a while for a major redevelopment. The new galleries are going to be completed in two phases, with the first suite set to open in September 09. They promise to be stunning.
I’ve written a piece about them which went live on
Museum [Insider] today.
facebook, facebook groups, dulwich
In Dulwich OnView, new content on April 8, 2009 at 8:27 am
I recently reviewed my facebook profile and decided to cull a few of the groups I’m in. Do I still need to be in the group Every time your misplace an apostrophe, God kills another kitten?
I’m also a member of a few facebook groups linked to the local Dulwich area. It got me thinking about what else might be out there. There’s some strange stuff in the world of the Internet, and some of it is closer to home than you think.
Read my musings, and some of the funnier groups in my local area, on Dulwich OnView.
Tate Modern
In Museum [Insider], Museums, new content on March 31, 2009 at 2:22 pm
It’s almost as if the Tate brand can’t stop expanding. St Ives, Liverpool, Tate Modern. Now planning proposals are in to build a huge extension on the back of the Bankside site, to create vast new public spaces and areas for display. As ever, I’ve written a piece about it on Museum [Insider].
Dundee, V&A
In Museum [Insider], Museums, new content on March 27, 2009 at 1:08 pm
The V&A in London is perhaps going to follow suit with other national museums and open a branch in the provinces. Tate went to Liverpool and St Ives; the Imperial War Museum went to Manchester; and the National Maritime Museum went to Falmouth.
Now the national museum of art and design is considering opening a branch in Dundee. The proposed idea is wouldn’t be owned by the V&A, but it would take blockbuster exhibitions from there and show them to a Scottish audience.
Plans also propose close collaboration with local artists and universities, with artist in residence schemes planned to run continuously. It’d be a great addition to the Scottish arts scene.
There’s a new piece about it on Museum [Insider].
Barbara Hepworth, Hepworth Wakefield
In Museum [Insider], Museums, new content on March 21, 2009 at 3:27 pm
Wakefield is to get a new multi-million pound art gallery devoted to the work of iconic British sculptor Barbara Hepworth. I wrote a piece about the development and what we can expect there for Museum [Insider].
Ashmolean Museum, Oxford
In Museum [Insider], Museums, new content on March 6, 2009 at 1:06 pm
The Ashmolean Museum in Oxford was the first ever public museum (opened 1683). It’s had a long and prestigious career. But the current building is not fit for purpose in the 21st century, so they’ve decided to give it a face lift. From the outside it will look pretty much the same, but the interior is in the process of being extensively overhauled, including the interpretation.
Here’s an article I wrote about the transformation of the museum for Museum [Insider].
Deano Dunbar, rod and cone dystrophy
In happiness, new content on March 4, 2009 at 9:48 pm
Here’s a new interview I completed recently with Deano Dunbar, an extreme sports enthusiast. He’s been fired as a human catapult and had stomach-turning advenures all over the world. He’s also registered blind. He told me what happiness means to him.
happiness, website launch
In happiness, new content on February 28, 2009 at 11:09 am
I’ve been adding content to this site for a while now, but today I’ve told everyone about it. Here goes nothing.
There are plenty of links on here to pieces I’ve been writing recently.
And I’ll be updating the happiness project pages regularly as this research project develops.
Have a look around and let me know what you think.
Edinburgh, Museum of Scotland, Royal Museum
In Museum [Insider], Museums, new content on February 25, 2009 at 4:07 pm
I was in Edinburgh at the end of last year and visited a few of the museums there. The Museum of Scotland is a wonderful place, recently redeveloped with a new interpretation strategy and a great display technique involving placing star objects in the middle of open spaces and forcing people to look at them.
Next door is the Royal Museum, currently under development itself. I’ve written a piece about the planned changes to the building for Museum [Insider]. There’s also a short film of what the new building will look like. I look forward to going back and seeing what’s happened.
Debbie Keeble, Woman Farmer of the Year
In happiness, new content on February 20, 2009 at 8:43 am
I’ve added another interview to the happiness pages of the site. I recently interviewed Debbie Keeble, Woman Farmer of the Year. She told me about what makes her happy, how her pigs are happy and why her husband loves Ken Dood.
Take a look under HAPPINESS PROJECT above, or just click here.
Dulwich Picture Gallery
In Museum [Insider], Museums, new content on February 16, 2009 at 12:03 pm
Here’s a piece published today on Museum [Insider] about forthcoming plans at my local, favourite museum Dulwich Picture Gallery.
The Gallery will celebrate its bicentenary in 2011 and there’s news here of how they intend to celebrate with an ingenious exhibition idea – borrowing twelve masterpieces from other art galleries around the globe and displaying them in the enfillade, one a month. So, you have to go back twleve times in one year to see them all. Good idea.
Here’s the piece.
Museum [Insider], Robert Burns
In Museum [Insider], Museums, new content on February 5, 2009 at 7:37 pm
I’ve just started writing articles for the new online magazine Museum [Insider]. The aim is to provide online information for suppliers to the museum and heritage industry about what’s going on inside our nation’s museums. From tenders and contracts to features articles and inside news, the idea is to give access to news about developments in museums to those in the private sector. Anyone can read the bulk of the content on the site for free, but only those paying for the subscription service get access to the juiciest details.
My first piece about the developments at the new Robert Burns Birthplace Museum has just gone live on the site.
Gemma Weekes, Love Me
In Dulwich OnView, new content on January 27, 2009 at 10:04 am
Here’s an interivew with newly published author Gemma Weekes, who I spoke to a few weeks ago. Her new book Love Me, is out now. She’ll be speaking at the Blue Mountain Cafe in East Dulwich on 4 Feb.
Here’s the interview.
In Dulwich OnView, new content on January 16, 2009 at 11:12 am
In Dulwich OnView, new content on December 26, 2008 at 12:49 pm
Here’s a link to a quick piece I wrote for online magazine Dulwich OnView. It’s about my good friend Tegwen Tucker, who is an actor and voice over artist. You might have heard her as the continuity announcer on BBC FOUR.
In the interview, I asked here about her likes and dislikes – the same question asked of artists who have taken part in Dulwich Picture Gallery’s current temporary display What Are You Like?
It’s based on a Victorian parlour game where players have to answer a series of questions about themselves (favourite food, favourite place, pet hate etc) and then draw them up into a picture. The fun then comes in looking at everybody’s picture anonymously and trying to decide who is who.
To see Tegwen’s responses, click here.
