Today was the first study day to take part in the Citizen Curator Course. Just two of us from the Porthcurno Telegraph Museum. Others were from Penlee House, Falmouth Art Gallery, and Helston Museum of Cornish life.
It was a very interesting day. We discussed what a curator does and what is the purpose of museums. We read some very wordy descriptions and realised that museums may have differing agendas from being a meeting place to storing the spoils of war and to keep memories of other times. They may be very narrow in what they portray about a community. These days there is more emphasis on discovering varying meanings and recognising diversity of communities.
Later we saw how to treat artefacts carefully and except for paper to wear gloves when handling objects that might spoil from touching them directly. A discussion about what can damage artefacts such as light, dust, insects and mould followed this.
There was time for a warm drink:
We will make time before the next meeting to visit our museum and think about what sort of project to work on.
I’m interested in the diversity of people who came to learn at the Porthcurno Telegraph Museum and would like to find out more about their general health and illness they suffered while in Porthcurno.
