S03E01: Taking a Stand

Join us and our guest host Jenny van Enckevort for an episode about suffragettes, social history, political collections, and tricky object stories. Also tune in for an interview with Helen Antrobus about radical exhibitions and curating at The People’s History Museum. Plus our agony aunt Jane answers a question about frames, and Kloe reviews the first volume of ‘Feminism and Museums.’ 00:01:13 Politics in museums? 00:02:58 Queer Britain museum announced 00:04:28 Suffragettes and women’s rights exhibitions 00:05:31 Social history is sexy 00:10:26 Vandalism and graffiti in response to exhibitions 00:15:23 Can we say no to objects that offend us? 00:20:41 Contemporary collecting and difficult topics 00:23:38 Conserving ephemera: protest signs, social media photos, and banners 00:29:40 Parallels between ethnography and political collections 00:33:44 Are object stories important to conservation? 00:41:52 Unions and Museums Are Not Neutral 00:43:14 Jenny’s can of worms 00:45:21 Contentious objects and how to display them 00:47:21 Interview with Helen Antrobus 01:01:25 Dear Jane 01:08:00 Review: Feminism and Museums 01:12:50 Comments, questions, and corrections: peripheral job markets 01:16:14 Patreon shout out! Show Notes: - New LGBTQ+ museum announced: https://www.museumsassociation.org/museums-journal/news/07032018-plans-announced-to-create-uk-first-lgbtq-museum - Represent exhibition opening this summer: http://www.phm.org.uk/news/represent-voices-100-years-on/ - A selection of suffragette exhibitions: https://www.theguardian.com/travel/2018/jan/31/centenary-votes-for-women-anniversary-events-parades-exhibitions-suffragette-pankhurst - Rape victims' clothing on display at Belgian exhibition: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/blogs-news-from-elsewhere-42633751 - UCU strike background: https://www.theguardian.com/education/2018/mar/13/striking-university-staff-irate-over-pensions-deal-ucu - BP sponsorship row: https://www.theguardian.com/business/2016/jul/28/bp-sponsorship-arts-organisations-british-museum-national-portrait-gallery - BAE sponsorship row: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-tyne-43324069 - Museum Detox: https://museumdetox.wordpress.com/ - People’s History Museum: http://www.phm.org.uk/ - Feminism and Museums Vol 1: https://museumsetc.com/products/feminism-and-museums Support us on Patreon! http://www.patreon.com/thecword Hosted by Jenny Mathiasson, Kloe Rumsey, and Jenny van Enckevort. Intro and outro music by DDmyzik used under a Creative Commons Attribution license. Additional sound effects and music by Calum Robertson. Made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International license. A Wooden Dice production, 2018.