Where Chemistry and Anthropology meet
Fourteen objects held at the Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology and originating from the First Nations people of the Northwest Coast of North America were analysed as part of a PhD research project by Lenore Thompson. Using a handheld XRF machine (also known as an XRF gun) she determined the elemental composition of pieces of copper used in several types…
How do you create a museum session connecting art objects and people when there are no objects and there are no people ?
We have been working with Arts and Minds since 2015, delivering sessions for their Arts on Prescription courses and providing spaces for the groups to meet in. Arts on Prescription is a series of weekly meetings, led by a counsellor and an artist, for people experiencing mental health challenges. In the museums, we usually speak to the group in the…
Knowing What Is Important: Rethinking collections with Maasai cultural leaders
In January 2020 a group of Maasai activists and cultural spiritual leaders from Kenya and Tanzania were hosted in Cambridge by the Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology (MAA) during a two-week visit to museums in Oxford and London. The encounter between Maasai men and women and their ancestral artefacts was emotional for visitors and museum staff alike, but from pain…
