Event title
- Info session — VCCC project placement opportunity
Location
Date
- Wednesday 16th October 2024, 2-4pm
Event speakers
- Daniel H. Mutibwa (Associate Professor of Creative Industries and Digital Culture, University of Nottingham, UoN)
- Esther Shaw (Community Participation Worker), Jemma Atkin-Barrett (Community Participation Worker), Alison Clague (Senior Curator), and Amanda Hanton (Cultural Participation Team Manager) (Leicestershire County Council, LCC)
- Matt Davies (Manager, Digital Transformations Hub, DTH, UoN)
- Hayley Revill (Faculty of Arts Placements Manager, UoN)
- Caroline Nolan (Senior Careers Advisor, Careers and Employability Service, UoN)
Event details
To learn more about the VCCC Project Placement Opportunity, ask questions, and meet the team faciliating the opportunity, students can register their interest by completing this Microsoft Form. Students will then be contacted about attendance nearer the start of the Academic Year 2024-2025.
Any queries about this event and the project should be directed at:
- Daniel H. Mutibwa (daniel.mutibwa(at)nottingham.ac.uk)
- Matt Davies (matt.davies(at)nottingham.ac.uk)
This project placement opportunity is titled Curating, Researching, Digitising and Exhibiting Leicestershire Museum Collections in Co-production.
The project is of interest and relevance to students who are:
- looking to learn new competencies and skills relevant to graduate careers in sectors such as the creative industries, heritage industries, digital media industries, and local government
- interested in gaining first-hand experience of working on an exciting and real-world project with tangible outcomes
- passionate about interacting with professionals from the above-named industries and gaining deep insights into their work
The project will comprise the following programme of activities which will take place from October 2024 to May 2025:
- An Info session has been scheduled for Wednesday 16 October 2024 during which students will meet relevant industry professionals, learn more about the project, and ask questions
- Two student trips will be made to two different Leicestershire Museum facilities during November. The first one to a Market Town Museum (Wednesday 13th November 2024), and the second one to the Collections Resources Centre (Wednesday 20th November 2024)
During the student trips, some basic professional training will be delivered by industry professionals as follows:
- a training session around LGBTQIA+ work (minimum 1 hour)
- a training session around object handling and collections care (minimum 1 hour)
- a training session on the co-curation approach used by the Libraries and Heritage Services at LCC
- a training session on LCC’s approach to online showcasing; and
- a Q&A session with key LCC professionals
In the Digital Transformations Hub (DTH) between October and December 2024, students will:
- receive training in photogrammetry — a method of producing high resolution digital 3D versions of objects using studio photography
- digitise curated objects and produce 3D versions in the DTH on campus
Simultaneously — and through to early 2025, students will:
- undertake some research on the curated objects.
- contribute personal responses to any chosen objects — and invite their peers to do the same regardless of whether peers identify as LGBTQIA+ or not. Selected responses will form part of the interpretation of the objects.
- have the opportunity to assist in the organisation of the planned exhibition — including taking part in the creative activities surrounding the exhibition and associated events.
- benefit from registering as volunteers for Leicestershire County Council — thereby taking advantage of this career-enhancing opportunity.
- be awarded end-of-project certificates signed by industry professionals. The certificates will acknowledge the invaluable competencies and transferable skills that students will have gained through participation in the project. Those competencies and skills are highly coveted by employers.
Queer narratives in Leicestershire Museum Collections
At LCC, this project comprises three overarching strands.
The first strand is developing new interpretation around the portrait of George Villiers (1592-1628) who was 1st Duke of Buckinghamshire. Famous within his own lifetime and beyond, Villiers was subject of intense speculation as to the nature of his relationship with King James I/VI. Significant study and historical evidence detail an intense closeness that might be described as queer today. Villier’s portrait will be exhibited in the autumn of 2024. This strand is being led by Alison Clague (Senior Curator, LCC).
The second strand involves working with creative practitioners and community groups to create new portraits which will serve as a further component of the exhibition. The portraits could be of celebrities, local people or self-portraits exploring themes on and around power, wealth, race, class, identity and sexuality. This strand is being led by Esther Shaw (Community Participation Worker, LCC).
The third strand involves digital engagement with diverse audiences who cannot access Leicestershire Museum collections due to several barriers. This is where students’ 3D photogrammetry work, research on curated objects and beyond, and responses to the objects will be showcased. This strand will be facilitated by the project team listed below. Students will be encouraged to join in with any or all of the above strands.
Project facilitation
Project leads
- Daniel Mutibwa (Associate Professor of Creative Industries and Digital Culture, UoN)
- Esther Shaw (Community Participation Worker, LCC)
- Matt Davies (Manager, DTH, UoN)
- Hayley Revill (Faculty of Arts Placement Manager, UoN)
Project team
- Jemma Atkin-Barrett (Community Participation Worker, LCC)
- Alison Clague (Senior Curator, LCC)
- Amanda Hanton (Cultural Participation Team Manager, LCC)
- Caroline Nolan (Senior Careers Advisor, Careers and Employability Service, UoN)
Convened by the VCCC team