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Lecture
Place, from a distance: using digital media to go local
Objects in a museum’s collections are often a natural focus for digital media activities – but what about the places the objects come from?International audiences have long been fascinated with Scotland’s historic landscapes and communities. Domestic audiences, partly due to pandemic lockdowns making knowledge of ‘the local’ more integral to...Weinczok , David
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Lecture
A shot in the arm for QR Codes in museums
QR codes in museums & galleries draw strong reactions from many in the GLAM community. The COVID pandemic has given these little black & white squares shot in the arm, but how can museums ensure they’re used considerately and enhance the visitor experience? Adam Coulson has been testing out how...Coulson, Adam
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Lecture
The Challenges of a Photography Curator
Geoff Belknap is Keeper of the Department of Science and Technology at National Museums Scotland. His talk will offer some ‘behind the scenes’ evidence of the challenges and considerations that have to be borne in mind when caring for a national collection. He has unparalleled experience of working with photography,...Belknap, Geoffrey
photography collections, National Museums Scotland, and conservation
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Lecture
Displaying ‘National’ Antiquities in the mid-19th century: Scotland, England and Ireland
This lecture will compare the mid-19th century classification and display strategies of the museum of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland with the British Museum and the museum of the Royal Irish Academy. Museum displays ‘perform’ meaning through labels, catalogues and physical arrangements. A comparison of such displays reveals the...Holder, Julie
classification and display strategies, Ireland, Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, England, 19th century, British Museum, Royal Irish Academy, and Scotland
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Lecture
Buying Power: Archaeologists as Dealers in Egypt and Sudan
Exhibitions and displays of Egyptian objects in museums across the world continue to inspire awe and fascination for millions of visitors. As museums tell the stories of the ancient world, they also tell their own collecting stories of how the objects came to be part of their collections. These narratives...Potter, Daniel
Dealers, Collections, Archaeology, Antiquities, Sudan, John Garstang, Edwin Ward, Charles Trick Currelly, Egypt, and William Matthew Flinders Petrie
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Lecture
Tools of Knowledge project
Tools of Knowledge is an AHRC-funded interdisciplinary research project based at the University of Cambridge, University of Sussex and National Museums Scotland, in partnership with Royal Museums Greenwich and the Science Museum. Starting in January 2021 it runs until the end of June 2023.Higgitt, Rebekah
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Lecture
Hamilton Palace and the Dukes of Hamilton and their Collections
The speaker, Dr Godfrey Evans is part of the Virtual Hamilton Palace trust which is digitally recreating the house and its collections. According to the trust’s website: ‘During the nineteenth century, the 10th Duke's collecting activities made the Palace internationally famous, a veritable treasure trove of amazing paintings, furniture and...Evans, Godfrey
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Lecture
The Calton Hill Observatories and their Edinburgh Audiences
This talk takes a look at the history of the Royal Observatory Edinburgh, and the longer story of popular astronomy on its Calton Hill site. Rather than focusing solely on the astronomers, it will widen the scope to those who supported, used and otherwise experienced the work of these observatories...Higgitt, Rebekah
Calton Hill, Edinburgh, popular astronomy , and Royal Observatory Edinburgh
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Lecture
Highland dress and fashionable culture in Georgian Britain
Fashion and textile historian Dr Rosie Waine tells the story of the remarkable transformation of Highland dress from warrior culture to the colourful world of fashion in Georgian Britain. A REMARKABLE TRANSFORMATION As a living tradition, Highland dress is deeply rooted in the history of Scotland. Once associated with the...Waine, Rosie
fashion , Highland dress, material culture, and Georgian Scotland
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Lecture
Preserving What Is Valued
Heather Richardson discusses historic examples of repair and mending in the collections of the Pitt Rivers Museum and National Museums of Scotland in her presentation, “Preserving What Is Valued”Richardson, Heather
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Lecture
‘Two Enlightenment collections of scientific instruments in Hanoverian Britain’
Research into scientific instrument collections over the past forty years has shown that it is only relatively recently that instruments have been collected for antiquarian reasons. This lecture will discuss two long-dispersed collections owned by two Scottish noblemen, and attempt to characterise the reasons for their contents. Both collectors were...Morrison-Low, Alison
microscope, astronomical device, scientific instruments, collectors, and museum collections
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Lecture
Instruments, Institutions and Individuals: The Local Networks of the Royal Observatory, Edinburgh, in the 19th Century
Dr Rebekah Higgitt has been Principal Curator of Science at National Museums Scotland since August 2020. She was previously Senior Lecturer in History of Science at the University of Kent and Curator of History of Science at Royal Museums Greenwich, having done her PhD at Imperial College London and postdoctoral...Higgitt, Rebekah
19th century, scientific instruments, Edinburgh, Astronomy, and Royal Observatory
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Lecture
The Art of Tapestry
On day 1 you will hear from experts in the field and find out more about the Burrell Collection tapestries and Medieval and Renaissance Tapestries in general. We will also document and discuss the artistic value, nature, and identity of 21st century tapestry as a distinctive Scottish art form with...Wyld, Helen
Renaissance , Medieval , and European Tapestries
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Lecture
Revealing and Connecting African Collections in Scottish Museums
The project will establish a collaborative network to enable collection holders to engage with museums in Africa and the Caribbean and people of African and Caribbean descent in Scotland. These partnerships will explore provenance, colonial histories and legacies and the relevance of the collections to descendent and diaspora community interests...Giblin, John ; Grout, Nikki
African collections review, Scottish museums, and partnership project
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Lecture
Community-led collecting and the Exchange project
The £250,000 pilot project, entitled Exchange: Community-Led Collections Research, will see funding distributed to galleries, libraries, archives and museums to work with South Asian, African and Caribbean diaspora organisations to answer research questions identified by these community groups. The year-long project will see National Museums Scotland and the National Maritime Museum, London, working as a hub;...Diver, Iona
Scotland, Scotland's material heritage, Colonial legacies, Community-led , Colonial histories, Collecting, Material heritage, and The Exchange project
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Lecture
A temple for the sun-god: remarkable finds from Roman Inveresk
Dr Fraser Hunter, Principle Curator of Iron Age and Roman Collections at the National Museum of Scotland, returns to the 1722 Waggonway Heritage Centre to give a lecture on the Roman finds at Inveresk, including clues which point to a Temple of Mithras.Hunter, Fraser
Mithras, Roman Scotland, stone altar , and Inveresk
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Lecture
Celts: Art and Identity
Dr Fraser Hunter FSA Scot, Principal Curator, Iron Age & Roman Collections in the National Museums Scotland, presents a lecture on “Celts: Art and Identity” to coincide with the international exhibition on Celts held in the NMS in collaboration with the British Museum. The lecture was recorded on Monday 11...Hunter, Fraser
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Lecture
The Power of Glass
The conference will examine the artistic movements prevailing during that period and frame modern and contemporary glass art as a global phenomenon.Kelly, Jessamy ; Rothwell, Sarah
glass art, modern, and contemporary
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Lecture
Decolonial futures for ancestral remains in Scotland Forum
In Edinburgh University’s Anatomical Museum, there are nearly 1700 ancestral remains displaced from over 55 countries across the world. Often former students stole these people from burial grounds and battlefields and sent them to anatomy professors in Scotland. Taken illicitly, their descendants are often unaware that their ancestors still reside...Alberti, S J M M
Edinburgh, anatomy , repatriation, museum collections, Aberdeen, colonial legacies, and provenance
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Lecture
Scottish agate collecting through the lens of the National Museums Scotland collection
Agates have fascinated people for thousands of years and have particular cultural relevance for Scotland through their use creating pebble jewellery. This talk will cover agate formation, why Scotland is so prolific for agate hunting and show some of the best agate collecting locations through the lens of the significant...Brown, Emily
Scottish agates, mineral collections, and National Museum of Scotland
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Lecture
Buying Power: British Archaeology and the Antiquities Market in Egypt and Sudan 1880–1939
Where did the ancient Egyptian collections in National Museums Scotland come from? How did they get here? Join Dr Dan Potter to discover the untold stories behind these enduringly popular collections. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries museums and individuals competed to collect the ‘best’ ancient Egyptian objects.... -
Lecture
The Galloway Hoard
As part of Glasgow’s Doors Open Festival, organised by Glasgow Building Preservation Trust, Dr Martin Goldberg will be coming to talk to us about the Galloway Hoard! Martin is Senior Curator, Early Medieval and Viking Collections at National Museums Scotland and a long-time supporter of the Govan Stones Project.Goldberg, Martin
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Lecture
XRF Analysis, Alva cobalt, West Pans and Longton Hall Porcelain
Research conducted in 1993 by Middleton & Cowell at the British Museum suggests that cobalt used to decorate porcelain from William Littler’s venture at Longton Hall (1749-60) was chemically distinct from that used by him while at West Pans (1764-77). They considered that at least some West Pans cobalt was...Haggarty, George R ; Jones , Richard
Longton Hall , XRF analysis, Scottish ceramic collections, cobalt porcelain decoration, William Littler, West Pans, and Alva silver mines
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Lecture
Materialising the Scottish Renaissance at National Museums Scotland
Dr Groundwater will talk about the material objects relating to the Renaissance.Groundwater, Anna
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Lecture
Public History Roundtable contribution
The Renaissance and Early Modern Research Alliance (REMRA) promotes co-operation and cross-disciplinary research across the various centres and institutes of the University of the Highlands and Islands. The group is convened by Dr Kathrin Zickermann (UHI Centre for History) and consists of c.20 members of staff (including visiting professors and...Groundwater, Anna
Renaissance and Early Modern , Research Alliance, collaboration, and material culture
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Lecture
Collecting and Curating Southeast Asian Art: In Conversation
This conversation between the two curators, Alexandra Green and Rosanna Nicolson, celebrates two exhibitions focusing on Southeast Asian art–“Burma to Myanmar” and “Theravada Buddhism”–concurrently showing at The British Museum and at National Museums of Scotland respectively. It highlights issues related to the formation of Asian art collections in the UK,... -
Lecture
Fair Isle Knitting: origins and authenticity
Curated by Philip Fimmano as part of New York Textile Month, this special online conference brings together speakers from around the globe, continuing our dedication to textile creativity and education by offering this exciting programme free to all students and teaching faculty.Wyld, Helen
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Lecture
The radiation of Nesospiza finches on the Tristan da Cunha Islands seminar
Ask anyone interested in birds for an example of adaptive radiations, and they will probably mention the Darwin’s Finches, the evolutionary rock stars of the Galápagos Islands. But did you know about the Nesospiza finches, endemic to Tristan da Cunha in the South Atlantic? Tristan is a small and very...Stervander , Martin
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Lecture
War and diplomacy on the northern frontier: the impact of Rome on south-west Scotland and beyond
The story of Roman Scotland often gets told from the Roman point of view, with a focus on the army and its actions. But the legions did not simply march into an empty landscape. The Iron Age peoples of Scotland reacted to this invasion in many different ways, from outright...Hunter, Fraser
Roman Scotland, Iron Age, societies, fortifications, and frontiers
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Lecture
Old Kilpatrick in Early Christian Strathclyde
A church stood at Old Kilpatrick in the 12th century, but its origins are certainly much older. Its name and dedication are suggestive of an early medieval foundation, supported by the presence of 'Govan Style' sculpture found locallyMaldonado, Adrián
Old Kilpatrick, Early Medieval Scotland, early Christianity , Govan Stones , and Kingdom of Strathclyde
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Lecture
Geology to jewellery: sourcing and crafting Scottish metals and gems in the nineteenth century
From the late eighteenth century, jewellers in Scotland used precious metals and colourful stone to craft little luxuries that were bought, gifted and worn by men, women and children. This paper explores how jewellers and lapidaries responded and contributed to developing knowledge about geology and mineralogy through the things they...Laurenson, Sarah
jewellery, geology, jewellers, mineralogy, precious stones, lapidaries, and Scotland