REPORT ON ITP MA CONFERENCE 2018 BELFAST, NORTHERN IRELAND

by MATSOSANE MOLIBELI (ITP 2017, Lesotho)

It was a great pleasure to be back to the United Kingdom - this time in Belfast, Northern Ireland - after a short space of time, thanks to the British Museum through the ITP and our sponsor, the Marie-Louise von Motesiczky Charitable Trust, who have made dreams come true through their generosity. It was wonderful to reconnect with our ITP network and to meet new colleagues.

The trip from Lesotho to Northern Ireland was wonderful irrespective of long hours in the plane from Joburg to Heathrow. What made it exciting was the empty seat that was available next to me to and from, this therefore made it possible for me to occupy two seats, hence I enjoyed the flight and was able to stretch my legs.

The fact that it was not our first time in the United Kingdom although this time it was to Northern Ireland, made our lives easier to move around and we found shops that we could identify ourselves with, or rather shops we came with a list of things to look for from them. This happened on the day that we arrived – Saturday, we were able to locate Primark and we went there to quiche our thirst.

Visits to Museums in Northern Ireland

 Ulster Museum

Meeting staff of the Ulster Museum on Sunday especially Louise Smyth was very exciting. She was nice, friendly and welcoming, we were really at home with her and she treated us with a smile so we felt as if we have known her for quite some time.

We enjoyed the exhibitions and were happy to learn about history of Northern Ireland. I enjoyed the exhibition on Dippy, the Natural History Museum’s iconic Diplodocus dinosaur skeleton, mostly the interaction part of it - it gave me more ideas of how to make exhibitions interesting and appealing especially to young audiences.

 Folk and Transport Museum

Our visit to these two museums was informative and educational although the time seemed too short. I guess with the Folk Museum it was basically because we went around as a group and were guided so we could not move around at one’s own pace. It so happened that the places we visited the guides in there like the Photographer and the Doctor were so eloquent that we forgot that we still had a lot to see. Despite shortage of time what one learnt has enriched our knowledge and we will be able to implement the ideas back home.

 Titanic Experience and Crumlin Road Gaol

The visit to the Titanic Experience was interesting and educational as well and it was made easier by the fact that we visited the Transport Museum and were able to add to what we had seen the previous day.

One has learnt or observed that with the exhibition at the Titanic Experience it is likely that the display will remain like that for quite a long time and that there is little or no room for improvement as the museum is about the event that took place, hence one is expecting to see the display being the same even in many years to come. The shop needed a little bit of improvement by adding more souvenirs that caters for every age and speaks to the exhibits as well.

My experience at the Crumlin Road Gaol was overwhelming. I was expecting to be guided by the ex-prisoner - I guess I went there with expectation to see the site working the same way as Robben Island where among the guides there are ex-prisoners to tell their stories how they were treated in the prison. I felt sad to be in that space, it was not an exciting experience I guess, but the history needs to be told of course, because that is part of heritage. I was relieved during the Conference when one presenter who was an ex-prisoner talked about his experience and his feelings when he visits the place. He even mentioned that his wife gave him a Christmas gift by buying tickets to visit the place. My interest was his feeling when visiting the place after being discharged, and also to hear the feelings of people whose family members have been convicted there, how they think of the place, and if ever they went to visit the place to pray or remember them. My interest was brought about by the fact that recently the Correctional Service here in Lesotho is in the process of demolishing an old prison and they approached us to help with documentation of the place. Visiting the Gaol has given me more ideas of how to present the memories and history of the place.

MA Conference

We learnt a lot through the presentations that were made at the Conference, although they were many and in a normal setting one would have loved to listen to them all, however it was not going to be possible. One of the great things one has gained is networking, above all the tips that we have been given by the ITP team that introductions are very important when we meet new people has been very helpful.

The visit to Ulster Museum especially the Troubles and Beyond exhibition made it easy for one to enjoy and understand the debates at the Conference especially the dissenters. Although one was not able to attend other sessions on youth, but having been part of the presentation on the disabled was an eye opener.

Attending the Conference has made me feel like an ambassador of my country because most people I met did not know about my country, and even the few that know about it had little information about it. It really made me proud to talk about it, and also to spell out my participation to the Conference and my relationship to the British Museum. This has also made it possible to exchange ideas and addresses with lots of people who were interested in learning about Africa as well.

Course book

I was impressed by the guiding questions that have been presented in the course book as they help one to fully understand and push one to read well in advance before visiting the museums. They are really helpful as it is well known that visiting a museum needs some time and can sometimes become tiring, so with the indication of what some of the important things are that one should look into, it was really very helpful.

ITP Team

One must point out that it has become very easy to be part of the ITP family and networking mainly because of the support we get from the ITP team. It starts with the information they provide, very detailed information indeed. To them I really wish them the best, and say keep it up. The sessions that we usually do before and after every event are very helpful and contribute immensely towards full understanding the programme as well as making it easy to write a report at the end of the session.

The hotel that we were booked into at Belfast was superb as well, next to the station, and a walking distance to the shopping malls. This therefore made our lives very simple - we thank you for that arrangement.

Finally, I would like to extend a big thanks to the Marie-Louise von Motesiczky Charitable Trust who has made it possible for us to attend the conference through their kind financial contribution.