From Shelf to Showcase: how Pitt Rivers staff create a new display

UPDATE: read more about the work of the Technical Services staff here

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The installation of our new high level displays on the south wall of the Court (ground floor) of the Museum is now really beginning to take off. Two cases of Melanesian carving and a display of Balinese masks are finished, and displays of African and Asian masks are up next for installation.

Creating new displays here at the Museum is a team effort. Deciding what objects should be included involves the VERVE curator, conservators and technicians, with everyone looking at the objects in different ways:

• Curatorial staff look for visually engaging objects with great stories to tell and ensure that culturally sensitive objects are only displayed if appropriate. 

• Technical staff design the display and so look for objects that will make a visually interesting group that complement each other in terms of size, colour and shape. Too keep the Pitt Rivers style, technicians seek to create displays that are 'busy' but still 'clean' and balanced to look at.

• Conservation staff look to remove objects that are too fragile, too susceptible to damage (for example by pests or exposure to light) to be displayed. 

Selection often means retrieving material from storage, which may never have been on public display before. Once the selected objects have been catalogued and conserved they are taken to the Technical Services department and the display starts to be designed.

First, the technician works on the layout, which replicates the case dimensions on a flat table surface, and involves moving objects around so we know they fit and until the arrangement looks at its best.

Layout for the new display of Balinese masks and figurative sculpture
© Pitt Rivers Museum

PRM technician Ady laying out the new displays of masks from Sri Lanka (including 18 'Demons of Disease'), Tibet and China.
© Pitt Rivers Museum

Once the technicians are happy with the layout, they create a three-dimensional mock-up of the case. This enables them to test the display layout properly and make sure all the objects fit well and can be clearly seen by visitors. Suitable mounts and fixings for each object are made, as well as the internal case boards or 'cladding' that the mounts will be attached to. 

Mock-up for new display of West African masks © Pitt Rivers Museum

Complementary colours for the new cases are chosen. For the new displays we've tried to match the colours used in existing cases nearby to tie geographical regions together - so for example displays from Oceanic cultures have a bright blue background, whereas those from Asian cultures use green. Many of the African masks are made of dark-coloured woods or painted with earth-tone pigments, so we opted for a soft 'mushroom' colour to offer contrast. 

Upper cases left ajar to 'gas off', showing colour schemes © Pitt Rivers Museum

Once painted, the cases are left open to 'gas off' fully, before the objects are installed. As all the new VERVE displays in the Court of the Museum are high up, objects are installed using a scaffolding tower. We try to do this early in the morning when the Museum is closed to avoid any inconvenience to visitors, but some days you might spot one of our team high up, putting the finishing touches to cases.

Assembling the scaffold tower needed to install the displays
in our high-level cases © Pitt Rivers Museum

The completed case of Balinese masks and carvings © Pitt Rivers Museum

The final stage is to add interpretation which might include text panels, labels, audio tour entries, maps or diagrams. Because these cases are high up, they offer specific interpretation challenges so this is something we will have to test.

Once everything is completed, the cycle can start again with a new set of objects....

Sian, VERVE Curatorial Assistant

Oh, What a Circus! The Pitt Rivers tent on tour

Last week the Need, Make, Use team ran away with the circus! For a couple of days we teamed up with the 1930s-style Gifford Circus - a perfect fit for the project's focus this year on performance and music.

After much preparation for the event ordering and sorting art materials, printing out templates, creating prototypes we loaded up the van with tables, chairs, equipment and miles of bunting and set off for the lovely village of Stadhampton, around 9 miles from Oxford. Our excitement grew as we rounded a bend and saw the Big Top commanding the village green, surrounded by retro caravans. This year, the Giffords performance involves some hilarious puppets, so we thought it was the perfect opportunity to bring along the Museum’s considerable collection of beautiful Indonesian shadow puppets and give families a chance to make their own!

We set up in an adjacent tent, decorating it with bunting and pictures, and laying out our wares in time for the visitors arriving pre-show. The atmosphere at the circus was lovely with our chandelier-lit tent (we might ask to replace our ordinary office lights with chandeliers!), riders rehearsing outside, and the performers putting on their costumes and greasepaint - a great atmosphere in which to demonstrate the playfulness of some of the Museum’s objects. 

We had brought wayang kulit - puppets used in Indonesia, especially on the islands of Java and Bali - to perform shadow plays. Visitors got to touch and play with the intricate puppets - hand-made from buffalo skin, horn and bamboo - and hear recordings of the gamelan music that traditionally accompanies the performances. 

Volunteer Olly with some Indonesian shadow puppets

Our puppets were characters from the Ramayana (you can see some traditional shadow puppet characters here) and it was nice to see recognition on children's faces who knew the story from lessons at school. We also took with us this short video made by UNESCO demonstrating the puppets in action so people could get a real sense of the skill, movement and context involved.

Families could then, if they wanted, make their own versions of Prince Rama, Princess Sita, the demon Ravana, or the monkey god Hanuman and perform with them in our mini, portable puppet theatre. The glorious Midsummer sunshine, although appreciated, did make getting shadows from torches a little difficult at times, but the team were able to improvise using the ready-made theatre of the tent walls and the sun!

Video (90 seconds) of the puppet theatre booth in action!

It was great to take our event to people outside Oxford who might not have heard of the Museum, or realised just how close they are to it, or who maybe needed some inspiration to re-visit. More than 350 people of all ages flowed through the tent over the course of the two evenings, including some of the circus performers who were curious to learn about other performance traditions from another side of the globe. In turn, we had the chance to watch the spectacular circus ourselves before rushing back to take the puppets out to greet people during the interval.

All in all, the event was a great success and a lot of fun, with one visiting parent commenting, "This was an absolute joy – wonderful to have the children distracted during the interval and continuing the creative process! Thank you. More please!"

For more information about shadow puppets, the Multicultural Canada website features an interesting collection held at the Simon Fraser Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology.

Giffords Circus info and tickets here.

Alex Ross, volunteer