Extending the archive of life: Contemporary collecting in Natural Sciences at National Museums Scotland

Abstract

• What objects will tell the stories of 21st-century Scotland? What themes, events, and ideas represent Scotland today? How do we ‘future proof’ our contemporary collecting? National Museums Scotland is hosting a one-day symposium on contemporary collecting. It will explore how we build representative collections for the future, covering Scotland’s present social, cultural, political, and natural world. The symposium will include recent acquisition case studies from curators to explore and identify themes important to 21st-century Scotland. Hearing from colleagues who have been active in developing community-based collecting initiatives, we will consider the role of community partnerships in shaping collections. The last strand of the day will foreground collections management questions posed by contemporary materials and contexts for acquisition.