Attendant's View Blog and Cartoons

Can you help cheer up a "devastated" jug smasher?

29/6/2015

Museum staff are trying to find a little boy who was "devastated" after accidentally smashing a historic jug.

Staff at Ipswich’s Christchurch Mansion want the boy to know the 18th Century Delftware puzzle jug he knocked off a window ledge last summer has been fixed.

Thanks to a conservation officer’s efforts, each of the 65 pieces it broke into have been painstakingly glued.

A campaign has begun to find the boy who is thought to be aged about five.

Councillor Carole Jones hopes the little boy will see the story of the broken jug has a “happy ending”.

Full story on the BBC here.

Share and spread this to see if we can get the good news to the young man!

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Set an Example

27/6/2015

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A synopsis of the email I received:

"My gallery encourages lunch break visits... very popular to relax for 15 minutes in the city... council staff use the cafe as it's the nearest real coffee to the main office...They got aggressive, began almost shouting, acted like I'd yelled at them or spoken like they were stupid or something. It was upsetting when I'd been as polite as possible to them when they knew they were openly breaking rules."

This pair were hoist by their own petard though. As they were wearing their council badges, the gallery manager was able to contact their manager about their conduct in public. This local authority apparently has rules about conduct while publicly identifiable as council staff, so having offered that tidbit, the gallery manager left the rest in the hands of their manager.

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Period Meat

19/6/2015

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No one ever tells you that period costume, especially if you get knee high fitted boots and a codpiece, is a terrifying magnet for being mauled by female tourists. (These are the same two gleeful ladies, and the dashing Charles, from the Tudors on Tour.)

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Too much art - tell me where to go!

16/6/2015

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I will be back in London soon, and have debated a bit with the travelling companion for this jaunt about which gallery to do. We won't have time to do both, as well as our other plans.

Neither of us has visited either gallery before, so we have no preconceptions, or real strong preferences.

So putting this out to you knowledgeable folks - which would you suggest we prioritise? And perhaps comment as to why?

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Privy Chamber

13/6/2015

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Even if you aren't a member, you can look at some of the things museums are disposing of via the Museums Association
http://museumsassociation.org/collections/find-an-object.

Recently the glory of an entire lego mammoth rocked up on there, and now, well, it seems as though Norfolk is having a spring clean.

They have pages of, well, just stuff.
Anyone need a privy seat?

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I Love Museums launches

10/6/2015

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I love museums launched today, a simple and sweet initiative from the National Museum Directors' Council, intended to show local and national governments "how much museums matter by celebrating the public support for our wonderful cultural institutions…"

The idea brutally is:
The public visibly share why they love museums.
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Helps museums argue their corner for funding.

There are a few simple steps for museum fans to take, such as jotting a few lines on the website to "show your support" (go and do that here!) and following I Love Museums and using #ilovemuseums on social media. Or use the advice on writing to your MP or local council. All easy to do, and interesting to look at what others are saying.

Museums can access a well themed and eye catching set of resources, to use online, and in their venue, such as a ballot box for visitors to add comments to. Again, all easy to use, and no strings attached.

It's a bold idea, since we know that national and local government have very hard choices to make, but museums are increasingly popular (facts and figures here) and they are trying to balance their growing and potential role in society against decreasing funding. Asking museum users to speak up may add another string to the museum funding bow, challenge some preconceptions and perhaps remind people to get up and get into museums.