History where you least expect it- a smelly passage (not that you dirty person!)

Please excuse my delay for again not posting sooner, deadlines have meant that my time is limited to library, coffee drinking and stressing out.

'Steelyard Passage- trust me it smelt, there was a poo on the floor.'

As a public historian, I strive to entice people in exploring history in as many forms as possible. Many forms of public history can be easily identified as attempts to make people engage with the past. Often when asked by people 'What is public history?' I reply 'Making history accessible using TV, radio, museums, that sort of thing' which usually does the job.  However, as public historians, we are encouraged to think of dynamic ways to present the past in order to keep it up-to-date with modern trends and make it interesting. This explains the trend for historians to be blogging, using their Twitter accounts and creating apps to deal with the demand for interactive ways to capture the public’s imagination. But this should not be limited to looking at and tapping a screen. Whilst in London, I found myself confronted with a form of public history which I have only experienced within historic houses and the London Dungeons and made me refresh my opinions about the best way to reach the public.

I was walking with my friend Helen, chatting away merrily, on our way to a pub for dinner when she took my down a creepy looking passage named Steelyard Passage (right of London bridge, Bank side). As we entered the walkthrough, I suddenly stopped. I could hear sounds of ships going past and the waves lapping against the side of the bank. As we carried on through the passage, new sounds materialised; shouting of men to each other, horse hooves, people talking, footsteps and the constant noise of the ships passing by. Helen did not react as dramatically as I did- she had walked through before and knew what to expect. Although this is not groundbreaking, it made me stop and think. A simple instillation can catch people unawares, make them look around and wonder about how life was in years gone by through engaging their ears. By grabbing people’s attention through listening rather than just visually, you are intriguing people in an unexpected manner. If there had only been a visual plac about the working river in times gone by, many would have walked passed without taking any notice but by making it auditory, you have the element of surprise. You could argue that people will walkthrough without noticing if they are listening to music but what matters is that you can provoke some people into thinking about the history of the city which is a start. To make it more effective, perhaps a plac to explain how this was created, with information about the working river and potentially a website advertised or QR code to scan. By engaging as many of the senses as possible, you can reach a larger demographic of people in a variety of ways, actively making people take notice of the history around them and their own.
Steelyard Passage Plans 2012

  

For a more interactive experience, you can lick a dock workers armpit- mmm authentic...

Museum musings: A short rundown of my latest public history adventures!

I'd like to start today's post by apologising for my recent failure to post anything for ages. Birthdays, hangovers, lack of funds and failure to get into exhibitions has meant that I have been lazy and failed to keep up the regularity of my postings. To make this up to you, instead of flowers and chocolate, I am going to give you a rundown of my recent historical activities- lucky you! 

 

'Oh! What a treat, another blog to read!'

The Geffrye Museum, Shoreditch:

Tucked away on Kingsland road is the Geffrye Museum which is dedicated to showing the visitors what English middleclass homes looked like throughout the centuries. The building itself is impressive- former almshouses owned by the ironmongers guild, one of which you can visit fairly frequently to see what life was like for poor people in the 18th and 19th centuries. The main focus of those who run the Geffrye is to provide an educational experience for children of all ages and abilities. While we were there, we took part in one of the many activities offered to the children when they visit with their schools. We were given an object and asked a series of questions about what we thought it was, its purpose, what time period it was from, etc. After much discussion as a pair, we eventually worked out that the replica statue of the nun-like lady was a salt holder from the Tudor period! This was very engaging and lots of fun. The Geffrye is very skilled at making the experience enjoyable for the children through interactive talks about the rooms while looking at them, handling objects and allowing children to discover for themselves about the history of the house by using ipads to research objects. As I child, I would have really enjoyed the inclusive ways the museum makes children feel interested and furthers their understanding of history in the home. 

However, as an 'adult' visitor (I use the word 'adult' loosely as I still partake in burping competitions and enjoy dressing up as medieval lady, see Museum of London photos) I found the museum underwhelming. The narrow corridors meant that I felt I was constantly in someone else's way while looking at the rooms, meaning I rushed through the museum and took little in. Without moving the rooms to a larger space, there isn't really nay resolution to be found. I would recommend the Geffrye as it is an interesting museum but be prepared to murmur 'sorry' and 'excuse me' every few minutes as you attempt to squeeze past others.

Geffrye Museum

The Geffrye Museum, photograph taken by the wonderful Gillian Gryz

The Museum of London, London Wall:

Having visited this particular museum a couple of times before, I thought I knew what to expect: a literal walk through London’s colourful history from archaeology to present day, focusing on a range of topics throughout with many interactive activities as you went along. Due to prior commitments, I had to rush through the museum in the space of an hour, meaning I was not as fully engaged as I could have been. Saying that, the majority of the museum  did not disappoint. To my shame, I am not hugely interested in archaeology and so breezed through that part which then led me to the Roman and Anglo-Saxon part of the museum which has been called 'Our Londinum 2012'. Immediately, my attention was drawn to a case with a magazine showing 'Will and Kate' and a placard and roman coins saying 'Wealth'. Confused, I turned to my friends and asked them whether they understood what was meant by placing a magazine and Roman coins together. With no clear answer, I looked at the other objects in the cabinet and saw that they too were making dubious links between the modern day and Roman Britain. As I continued through the exhibit, I was in a state of confusion and annoyance at the blatant dumbing down which have been used to make it relevant for children. This included displaying a Roman kitchen with accurate equipment then a packet of coffee and a spray can of oil as well as showing Roman tools and a modern hard hat with the placard saying 'Do you think Romans cared about their safety?'

But this isn't the worst example of trying to make history relevant we saw. In one part of the exhibition, a film showing two young people discussing how the Romans were similar to us today was shown on loop. In theory, this would have been a very good tool to make history relevant for younger people, who doesn't like watching things?! However, despite their good intentions, the film was patronising, at time irrelevant and over simplistic. There was about 30 seconds of comparison e.g. 'I wear earrings, so did the Romans', then 2 minutes of footage of one or both of the teenagers walking about the street, sharing fags and having a casual conversation about where to go for lunch. It was poorly edited and not at all engaging in a positive way. From my understanding, 'Our Londinum' was created through working with Junction, the museum's youth panel. In my teenage years, I would have felt patronised and put off (as I do now) if I came across this attempt to make it relevant for my age group so I find it interesting that it was the youth who helped to create the exhibition. I would be fascinated to see how much say they had over the creation of the juxta-posed object, over simplistic placards and awful film and to what extent it was the museum trying 'to be down wiv da kidz.' From watching this behind the scenes interview with members from Junction, it would appear that the 'kidz' are partially to blame for the modern objects. I wonder whether they realise they are dumbing down the exhibition or whether they thought that it would be effective? I have concerns that some younger children might come away from that exhibition thoroughly confused about Roman society and asking their parents ‘Did Romans have fake nails?’. This is just my opinion but without the modern objects it is just easy to see the similarities and differences between both societies without dumbing it down. 

Saying that, I really enjoyed the video of the re-enactment of the gladiator fights as it really highlighted the differences between our societies without spelling it out so bluntly. The rest of the visit was very enjoyable, particularly the Pleasure Gardens and the Wellclose prison cell in which you can see the inmates names scratched into the walls. The Museum of London is an excellent museum but needs to be cautious not to patronise teenagers through dumbing down history to try to make it more relevant.

 Yah get me bruv?! 

Museum of London Gallery 

Youtube of how they created the exhibit

Peasant and muddled medieval lady chilling in a tunic, photographed by Gillian Gryz

'Home sweet home' Anglo Saxon style

archaeolog

archaeolog