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INTRO CASE Interpretation and Display Report May 2017

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INTRO CASE Interpretation and Display Report May 2017 INTRO CASE Interpretation and Display Report May 2017 Katherine Clough and Zena McGreevy with Rachel Utting (VERVE) With many thanks to other staff at the Pitt Rivers Museum for their involvement. CONTENTS PART ONE – Interpretation Plan 1. Introduction (VERVE Project) 2. Context (Display location and existing content) 3. Key messages from internal staff discussions 4. Summary of approach to incorporating audience research 5. Examples from other institutional approaches PART TWO – Audience Research 6. Desk-based research on previous PRM evaluations 7. Aims, objectives and methodologies of new audience research 8. Front end evaluation - Museum surveys 9. Formative evaluation - Focus groups with target audiences 10. Formative evaluation - Public workshop in front of case PART THREE – Recommendations 11. Refned thematic outline 12. Suggested collections content 13. Suggested interpretation tools APPENDIX 1 Existing display text and additional photographs of case Key messages document circulated to staff APPENDIX 2 Example of Museum Survey booklet Focus Group workshop materials Public workshop materials (Timeline photo game, call my bluff and object handling activity) APPENDIX 3 Visualisation of refned ideas for thematic content Preliminary object list 2 PART ONE – Interpretation Plan 1. Introduction Objectives Background 2. Context Location of Introduction Display Case and Discussion 3. Key messages from internal staff discussions Talking to colleagues Reviewing existing display Considering current museum research and activity 4. Summary of approach to incorporating audience research 5. Examples from other institutional approaches Desk-based research on four other institutions Alternative Ways of Introducing the Museum Below three objects in the existing display (left to right): mask from Gabon 1884.114.114; snakes and ladders boardgame from India 1895.29.1; conical beadwork cap from South Sudan 1936.10.66. See also APPENDIX 1 Existing display text and additional photographs of case Key messages document circulated to staff 3 1. INTRODUCTION Objectives As the VERVE project at the Pitt Rivers Museum (2012-17) enters its fnal stage, redisplaying the museum’s Introduction Case will allow for the introduction display to be refreshed, linking it to current research, to the new displays resulting from the VERVE project and also include key messages included in the VERVE proposal. This Interpretation Plan outlines the approach to the redisplay this case as part one of the Interpretation and Display Report, setting the scene for the audience research (part two), and Suggestions (part three). Background VERVE is a fve-year £1.6 million HLF project that supports vital conservation, refreshment of selected areas of display and much improved case lighting, alongside a wide-ranging programme of free public activities illuminating the ways in which human creativity has driven developments in design and technologies. Started in Autumn 2012, VERVE is in the fnal phase of the themed redisplay, ‘archaeology’, (following ‘performance’ and ‘craft technology’ phases). A section of the grant talking about various new displays includes: ‘…a chance to introduce General Pitt-Rivers himself, along with the ‘topological’ system he originated, whereby artefacts are arranged by function and by solution to human problems rather than by cultural area. From this vantage point we will encourage visitors to consider the merits of this typological system in making cross-cultural comparisons and the diversity of solutions to the basic problems of existence we all face as humans. The opportunity will also be taken to undo the myth that the Museum as a whole remains unchanged from Pitt-Rivers’ day, when in fact he provided only a small percentage of the artefacts in it and the Museum embodies many subsequent changes in anthropological thinking and museological practice.’ This remit to address the museum’s founder, General Pitt-Rivers, had originally been propsed for inclusion in the archaeology redisplay. However, in 2016 it was proposed that these themes may better be addressed through refreshing the display of the Introduction Case. The Introduction Case for the Pitt Rivers Museum was last redisplayed in 2002 and is now no longer the frst display that visitors encounter since the platform at the museum’s entrance was built in 2009, reconfguring the original entrance vista. Refreshing this display will provide an opportunity for current museum staff to showcase recent research. Conducting audience research around this redisplay will also provide an opportuntiy to learn from current museum visitors (which continue to grow, with 450,000+ visiting last year), adding valuable insight into how people visit and perceive the museum as a whole, and help guide approaches to interpretation and display. VERVE’s target audiences include independent young people, artists and crafts persons, technology and design teachers, and people over 60 years old. Existing audience research for the VERVE project will be consulted for the Introduction case display. Further audience research will also address these audiences as well as the wider general public and establish the visibility and impact of the existing Introduction case, providing a baseline to evaluate any improvements against after redisplay. 4 2. CONTEXT Location of Introduction display case 2001/2 – 2017 The Introduction to the Museum display case (C.21) used to be the frst case that visitors encountered when entering the museum through the previous walled temporary display area and shop, before the Platform Project (built 2009). ENTRANCE PRE-2009 INTRO CASE ENTRANCE POST-2009 INTRO CASE INTRO CASE ENTRANCE ACCESS TO STAIRS & SOUTH DOOR Internal discussion on the location Considering the signifcant alteration to the museum’s entrance, informal internal discussions were held across the museum on whether or not a new Welcome Case would be better placed in an alternative location. It is no longer the frst display that visitors see, and half the display is obscured by the platform with the new entrance layout. Questions were raised as to whether visitors use the current display. Also, the impressive vista view offered by the platform, and stairs to further foors being on the opposite direction, raised questions as to whether visitors even walk past the corner where the case is located. After the discussion of these points the following action points were suggested: • Audience research will be conducted to map visitors’ movements in the museum to see if people do walk past and stop at the case, and whether they realise it is an introduction case. • The case will follow current display as concept-led using a smaller selection of objects to invite the visitor to ask questions of the museum and the collections on display, and will be readable from both left-to-right and right-to-left. • The possibility of electricity supply for AV will be investigated internally, and opinions on AV sought through audience research. Thought will also be given to other existing and potential alternative AV visitor experiences, such as audio guides, during decisions on content and interpretation. 5 3. KEY MESSAGES FROM INTERNAL STAFF DISCUSSIONS The approach taken to working on key messages including internal discussion with staff members, review of the content and narrative of the current case with the museum’s current identity and strategic plan, and consideration of current research, staff publications, and museum activity that may feed into new proposed content for an Introduction Case. Talking to colleagues The frst tasks involved talking to key staff members about the Intro Case including the Director, Laura Van Broekhoven (LvB), those who have worked on the history of the museum and General Pitt-Rivers, Jeremy Coote (JC) and Alison Petch (AP); and staff who currently use the case in its current confguration: the Education Team, Andy McLellan (AMcL), Becca Mcvean (BM), and Carly Smith-Huggins (CS-H); as well as Front of House. Reviewing existing display The existing case is one of the few (perhaps the only) display to ask explicit questions in the text and was one of the frst cases to introduce object labels with paragraph text. Five questions in larger bold font, and distributed at different heights within the case, form the textual narrative structure for interpreting the case: 1) What is the Pitt Rivers Museum? 2) How did everything get here? 3) What’s new at the museum? 4) What do these labels mean? 5) How are the displays arranged? Provisional observations of the case show that (assuming some visitors may read the case from left-to-right) a large ‘Welcome’ sign occupies the top left, with a facsimile of General Pitt-Rivers immediately below; a prominent pie-chart graphic in the bottom left showing founding collection as only 7% of total collections; larger objects (PNG shield, Māori carving) on the left-hand side; and smaller objects distributed throughout the case from the bottom to the top with relatively large foating text labels among the collections displayed. Text labels for objects address the questions positioned nearby, e.g. objects under ‘How did everything get here?’ include descriptions that show the variety of ways object enter the museum from museum staff, students and external individuals. LARGE ‘TITLE’ SIGN * * PROMINENT * IMAGE OF GENERAL PITT-RIVERS QUESTIONS DISTRIBUTED * * *THROUGHOUT CASE PIE CHART 6 Deciding Key Messages for re-display While different types of research are referenced in the object labels of the current
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