Mince Pies at the Museum

pitt rivers

The Pitt Rivers Museum - a fitting environment for mince pies!

 

This year, Mince Pies at the Museum went to the Pitt Rivers Museum. The event was organised to introduce Reubenites to the museum as a site of inspiration and place of public engagement with research (PER).  A group of around 30 students and fellows, accompanied by family and friends, escaped the bustle of Christmas shopping to share a festive afternoon exploring this extraordinary museum, and thinking about how they might get involved in opportunities for public engagement in their own research.

Reubenites were welcomed by Ashley Coutu, Research Fellow and Deputy Head of Research and Kathy Clough, Digital Engagement Officer at the Pitt Rivers.  Ashley and Kathy explained some of the history and the changing perspectives of the museum. The Pitt Rivers, now understood as a footprint of colonialism, is evolving in new ways as a place of care, welcoming multiple voices and stories. Close examination of the changing ways in which objects are displayed and curated demonstrated how these practices have developed, and how they reflect wider societal and cultural perspectives.

A behind-the-scenes tour involved visiting the research spaces of the museum, and exploring a range of objects from the collections. Jozie Kettle, PER Officer at the Pitt Rivers Museum, demonstrated how object-led activities can engage people through touching, handling and even smelling different artefacts to prompt debate and discussion about their meaning and provenance. 

Gemma Hughes, Reuben College Research Fellow and Senior Researcher in Primary Care Health Sciences shared images from Messy Realities - a PER project in the museum to engage people in research on assistive living technologies. Messy Realities helped the research team to deepen their understanding of the material and cultural aspects of everyday technologies used by people living with chronic illnesses. 

The lecture theatre in the museum had been transformed by Hattie Warburton, Reuben College Garden Libraries and Museums (GLAM) Fellow into a twinkling, cosy space for a session of research-inspired crafting and, of course, mince pies. Reubenites showed their creativity with some ingenuous crafts inspired by their research, including a tinselled female reproductive system and a fluffy 3-d rendition of a database as well as a number of cute narwhals and fish inspired by items in the museum (all pictured below).

female model

A tinselled female reproductive system

3d

A fluffy 3-d rendition of a database

animal

A cute narwhal, inspired by items in the museum

In the spirit of good practice for PER, attendees were asked to evaluate the event – they said it was informative, fun and thought-provoking.  That is enough evidence to make this a regular date in Reuben’s calendar; mince pies will be in a different GLAM setting in 2023. In the meantime, if you would like to discuss any ideas for public engagement in research projects at the Pitt Rivers Museum, or linked to any of the University of Oxford’s Gardens, Libraries and Museums you can contact Janet Stott and Cat Vicente, Reuben College PER Fellows or any of the team mentioned above.

Dr Gemma Hughes

Reuben College Research Fellow and Senior Researcher in Primary Care Health Sciences