Inside the Museum of London

Today’s post features two young voices describing the process of training, preparation and capturing of the exciting events at the recent Gladiator Games event:

Hello, my name’s Jenny and I’m doing an internship at the Museum of London this summer.  For the past couple of weeks I’ve been lucky enough to have been helping with the Stories of the World  programme and working with Junction, the Museum’s fantastic youth panel. 

I’ve been helping with Junction’s activities during the Museum of London’s Gladiator Games, held recently on the 30-31^st of July.  In a nutshell, Junction planned to film the Games to produce a short journalistic style video as well as using lots of different social media (such as Twitter, facebook, Tumblr, etc) to document the event. Alongside this, other Junction members would be working on a stall selling t-shirts and creating fantastically gory fake wounds on willing spectators. 

Training for the event took place between the 27-29 of July, led by a company called SoundDelivery who specialise in digital media training and production. Our first day of was devoted to looking at how we could use social media channels to promote and document the event, and so Junction created a Twitter account under the identity of ‘Maximus Tweeticus’, a retired Roman Gladiator who would act as Junction’s inside-man reporter.

Junction Youth Panel's @MaxTweeticus profile page on Twitter.

 Junction members started tweeting just that afternoon, with regularly scheduled ‘tweet o’clocks’ to drum up publicity and new followers!  

Thursday and Friday focused on getting used to working with the camera and working with Alex, our trained cameraman. Alex started off by getting Junction members to play a game which practiced framing shots, and as you can see from the pictures below it resulted in some pretty inspiring positioning!  

Junction member Katie directing the shot...

...Which ended up looking like this!

In the afternoon, we visited the Guildhall to meet Dan Shadrake of  Britannia  and to see where the Games would be staged. There was even time to get in a bit of last minute training for Junction member Kay, who agreed to be a trainee Gladiator on the day! Then we headed home to prepare for the long day ahead…

Junction Panelist Kay gets into the part!

At this point, we hand over to Junction panelist Shakira to describe all the activity of the games:

The atmosphere was buzzing on the day of the event, but an underlying sense of tension and anxiety amongst the gladiators and spectators was apparent. The Roman market had many visitors intrigued by the smells and sights that surrounded them. There was a blacksmith making a weapon to be used for a fight that day, a woman grinding grain, bards singing and playing their instruments, as well as other stalls that sold scrolls, trinkets and food.

The Emperor Domitian made a spectacular entrance into the courtyard in a horse-drawn chariot, accompanied by a squad of soldiers for his protection. The crowds roared and were eagerly waiting for the first fight to begin. They were split into two opposing cities; Londinium in the red corner and Camulodunum (Colchester) in the yellow. The crowd were also expected to take part in the games by helping decide the fate of a defeated gladiator, but ultimately the decision was up to the Emperor.

The Imperial Emperor enters the Amphitheatre

So, the games began. Spectators were enthralled by the sight of angry gladiators and the sound of clashing weapons. The gladiators were thoroughly impressive, demonstrating their signature moves and mighty skill, but the fake blood still made us squirm. However, there wasn’t time to watch the games as Junction had to capture the action. We were keeping our Max Tweeticus  twitter followers updated as well as uploading pictures and interviews onto Tumblr and facebook.

Panelists Dolly and Nicola support Kevin to interview a Gladiator.

The Junction stall was extremely busy selling t-shirts and wounds (fake of course, although the soldiers were willing to wound visitors for free). The wounds proved to be very popular, they looked disgustingly good.

Jenny concludes:

To look back, all in all it was a very successful, if extremely busy weekend! The volunteers on the stand did a fantastic job and there was a massive amount of hard work by those who were filming and recording.  From my point of view as a newcomer to the Stories of the World project, I think that all of Junction should be extremely proud of what they achieved over those few days – not only creating the films, audio recordings and taking photographs, but also how they all pulled together as team and got everything done on time.  

I feel very lucky to have been able to help with the work that Junction have done. I’m really looking forward to seeing their film of the Gladiator Games as part of the Our Londinium 2012 exhibition next year! 

Junction production team giving their best gladiator poses. Wonder what Maximus Tweeticus would say?

P.S.  Have a look at Maximus Tweeticus  – he always likes new followers.

Introducing Jessica (left) and Madie - Junction youth panellists bringing you this blog post

I’ve been working on the Stories of the World project for 18 months now and it is just one year until the exhibition that is part of this project (called Our Londinium 2012) opens. Young people are co-curating this exhibition of interventions in and around the Roman gallery. They will draw connections between the city 2000 years ago and today. Recently Junction, the Museum’s youth panel spent a week with staff and artist Andy Merritt to come up with a series of modern object interventions that will be displayed alongside Roman objects. The idea is that by placing the modern and Roman objects together visitors will compare and contrast life past and present. Two of our youth panellists, Madie Howard and Jessica Bailey, tell us how the week went.

Natasha doesn't seem so impressed with her pareidolia artwork

Madie begins….’Taking place at the London Archaeology Archive and Resource Centre, Monday morning began with a tour of how objects are stored and an introduction to the Roman objects we would be working with. The history behind objects like curse tablets and Hadrian’s head were a fascinating stimulus for how we might draw comparisons to modern objects and it became apparent that thinking laterally was on the agenda! To aid our mission we were introduced to the artistic term pareidolia and encouraged to create our own inkblot masterpieces in order to start thinking more creatively.

If Jessica gets close enough the photo of the Roman earring inspiration will strike

Artistic activities like this continued throughout the week so our creative juices were truly flowing, as we made object screen prints that accentuated the contrast between Roman and modern times. We created mind maps that were full of connections and details (to the sweet/sickening sound of Michael Buble, swing and big band, courtesy of online radio stations) which gave us embryonic ideas of what our modern objects might be.’ 

Elissa screenprinting

Ed and artist Andy screenprinting

Jessica continues…’Using our colourful masterpieces we then proceeded to make lists of objects under the banners of chosen themes such as religion and home life, drawing directly on the images of historical treasures to be displayed at the Museum. Everybody was excellent at striking the balance of finding a modern counterpart that was recognisable, creative, challenging and educational. By late Thursday we had a good old (or new) list going. The creative exercises helped to take our minds away from fact searching. It really was quite pleasing to see all our colourful maps and lists on the walls at LAARC, it made me feel rather important.

Madie and Ed thinking hard

Richelle screenprinting with concentration

Remke: Films, fair, food and fun!

On the first day of the internship I arrived, the customary half hour early, expecting to go through a lot of information about Stories of the World. I could not wait to hear what I would be working on. I definitely was not disappointed on hearing that Catherine and I had our work cut out for us. After half a day of project briefing by Lucie (Inclusion Programme Manager, and our line manager) we were ready – after we recovered with some lunch- to go.

London Calling project group

One of the most rewarding projects for me was working with the pupils from the Asta Centre in Silvertown on the SOTW film project ‘London Calling’. It was hard work trying to keep the young people’s spirit up after 4 re-takes when it was pouring down with rain, but together we managed. This last week of my internship saw the film premiere at the Weston theatre, viewed by all those who had worked on it. It was amazing to see the final product and to spot a glimmer of pride in the attitude of the young people. They have really achieved something and boosted their confidence!

Remke and Catherine at the the Careers Event

What I loved about this internship was the responsibility I was given to organise and deliver events. As part of the Plug-In festival (a series of events aimed at young people) I organised a careers fair. It turned out to be a successful event with about 50 young people and 20 staff exchanging experiences and career plans, through presentations, workshops or an informal chat. As with all SOTW events the available snacks contributed to the good atmosphere that evening; never underestimate the importance of food in a museum J!

Young people meeting staff at the Careers Event

Catherine did an amazing job on the Electrolate, the late opening of the museum to young people with lots of exciting performances from Illumini. I really enjoyed the event and the interaction with the Union Too dancers who I supported throughout the evening. Obviously Lucie and Lucy (Youth Programme Coordinator) were involved in the event organisation as well and I think we managed to make the whole festival a success.

Union Too and Paddington Academy dancers at the Electrolate

Overall my work here has been great fun; I have come to meet many different staff and pick their brains to increase my knowledge of working in museums. I sat in on meetings about community collaboration and inclusion and the upcoming 2012 SOTW exhibition in which my input as a young person was genuinely appreciated. It has really contributed to my understanding of the practicalities of working in a large museum organisation. Although I have a piece of paper that qualifies me to work in a museum, I think this type of experience is a 100 times more valuable.

Finally, of course, there were the meetings with Junction, the Museum of London’s fabulous youth panel. They contributed to many of the above events and will continue to do so: Watch this space (or rather the Roman Gallery) next year! Anyone who says young people aren’t interested in museums should really think again.

Miki and Alice, members of Junction, the Museum's youth panel

That just leaves me to say a big thank you to Lucie and Lucy for having me, although I really do wish my experience here could last longer and I am very sad to leave. If you happen to see a purple flash in the next few weeks coming from storage or hiding in the galleries I can assure you it is not me, it’s you (or is it?)

Catherine: Warning. This story contains no nudity or swearing just sickening enthusiasm.

First day travelling to work, on the train surrounded by suits – I must be a professional. Sadly I don’t skip the ‘classic’ B*Witched track on my mp3 which blares out and somewhat ruins the image. Oh well, C’est La Vie (yes, I said it). At the museum Remke and I are met by Lucie who takes us to get security passes – I feel confident mine would comfortably adorn the cover of Zombie-menace-dead-zombies 5. After a brief meeting Remke and I are now officially official museum peoples. Let the fun begin.

Visitors to the Electrolate enjoying virtual graffiti

Helping to organise Electro- Late was immense. A key thing I learnt from this is that the cliché of simple things are never simple is so very true. ‘I want to put up pictures of London youth subcultures’. Great. How will they stand up? Where do you get that backing? How do you attach it? What will they stand on? Is there enough space? Is that safe? Etc. Goodness knows why Lucy thinks I have a constant look of panic. Nevertheless Electro-Late was a success – nearly 800 people turned up – only 6 of them ‘gently encouraged’ friends of mine.

Evaluation for ‘AV outputs’ and an ‘AV digital interactive’ (that’s video/audio/images and touch screen interactive map in usual language) basically meant 3 days nattering. A word of warning though – approaching people with a clipboard encourages a niggling doubt whether you actually remembered to wash that morning. A significant personal plus to this work was that it helped me actually contribute to meetings, not just sit in awe of the procedure and detail that goes into decision making. Meetings can be fun though – this morning we talked about food.

London Calling group looking proud after seeing their finished work

Seeing young people involved with the Stories of the World viewing the product of their work made me realise that this work is so worth it. For the screening of the gladiator rap we went to their youth centre. It was amazing to see how many friends and family squished in to watch. Despite some embarrassed face-covering the atmosphere was so positive – perhaps helped by sugary snacks. London Calling was screened in the Museums Weston Theatre and again the mood was fantastic – there was such a great sense of togetherness and that they’d come all that way again showed how much it meant. Also – I didn’t know how to fit this bit in but kudos to Lucy Sawyer who you could tell really helped involve every person.

Ok. Now for the soppy bit. A lot of ‘I’s’ have so far been said but what really made it enjoyable and rewarding is everyone else. Staff were friendly and helpful – even when I confronted them with a confused question with maybe a vague point. Junction have been so welcoming and their dedication is inspiring. Remke was great, she once pondered ‘imagine if you didn’t get on with the other intern’ and I have to agree that getting on meant we could support each other – or at least she could support me and remember meetings! Finally I want to say a big thanks to Lucy and Lucie – for giving me this internship in the first place and also for their support, patience and friendliness.

Visitors watching a performance at the Electrolate

Though there have been times here that I have been hit by bouts of ‘mummy I’m not ready for the real world-ness’ I can genuinely say it has been very exciting and I will be less than ecstatic to go back to normal. And now I will put an end to the soppy.

We are looking for slam poets (or wannabe poets) aged 14 – 24 to perform at our Gladiatorial poetry slam, Tuesday 28 September 6.30 – 8.30pm. The best performance of the night will be the lucky winner of £100 and be crowned with a (fake) golden wreath!

Jacob Sam-La Rose poet and director of the London Teenage Poetry Slam, Camden Youth SLAM, Metaroar and the Foundry project will be compere on the night. But before then he will be selecting the best 7 slam performers.

To apply to perform at the slam please send an audio file featuring yourself performing one of your own poems, which can be about anything, along with written transcription by Wednesday 25 August. You will hear from us in early September.

Please send your entries to lsawyer@museumoflondon.org.uk

At the Gladiatorial poetry slam in September poets will have 3 minutes to perform an original poem inspired by the theme ‘Londinium.’ Hopefully you have guessed by now we have a bit of a Roman theme going on. Judges will include poet Ross Sutherland (featured in the Times’s list of Top Ten Literary Stars of 2008 and winner of many slams) and our Senior Curator of Roman Collections.

We have prepared some information to give performers inspiration:

The Romans founded London in around 43 AD. The town that grew up was called Londinium and remained part of the Roman Empire for the next four hundred years.

• More about Londinium
• An archaeological perspective of the ongoing discovery of Roman London
• An overview of the history of Londinium
• Find our more about life in London during the Roman period.

Visits:
You can discover more about life if Roman London in our galleries here at the Museum of London, where we chart the history of Londoners from prehistoric times to today. Find us at 150 London Wall, nearest tubes St Pauls or Barbican.

The Guildhall Art Gallery houses the remains of London’s Roman amphitheatre, a fascinating insight into the tastes and leisure time of Roman Londoners.

There are a number of Roman sites in London where evidence can be seen above ground.
Books:
Roman London –by Jenny Hall (our very own Senior Curator of Roman Collections)
Londinium, London in the Roman Empire –by John Morris

Love poetry but writing rather than speaking more your thing? No problem, we also have a written poetry competition – read our previous blog entry to find out more about it.  Loads of great prizes! Deadline is also 25th August.

This is part of our Stories of the World, one of the major projects at the heart of the London 2012 Cultural Olympiad. The slam event will be recorded and poems from the event may feature in our exhibition in 2012.

If you are aged 14 – 24 (or know anyone who is) and have a way with words, we’ve got the perfect competition for you. In addition there are some great prizes including a digital e-book reader and vouchers to get you motivated.

More about the competition and how to enter…

If you have read any of our previous posts about the Stories of the World project you’ll know we are doing lots of creative work with young people to explore the theme of place. We are focussing on the legacy and influence of the Romans. One of these projects, Speak to Me, looks specifically at language – from exploring how Latin contributed to the development of Roman London, to Latin’s influence on language today.

The poetry brief is: ‘Latin isn’t dead. Prove it by writing a poem inspired by a Latin word or phrase.’

All entries must be original and unpublished. Please send your poem to my colleague Lucy Sawyer, Youth Programme Assistant, lsawyer@museumoflondon.org.uk. Please include your name, age and full contact details with your entry. One poem per entrant, maximum 400 words.

The closing date is 25 August. Entry is free.

Junction, our youth panel, is hosting a Gladiatorial poetry slam Tuesday 28 September 6.30 – 8.30pm here at the Museum. Winners of this poetry competition will be announced at this event (although they will be contacted in advance), and read out either by the entrant or our compere, Jacob Sam La Rose. In addition the evening will include performances by up and coming young London slam poets. The event is free and open to all.

Alice, right and Richelle, left recording their podcasts in the Roman gallery

One of the important parts of Museum of London’s Stories of the World project is our new youth panel, called Junction, which you can read more about here. Junction panellists have the opportunity to take part in a number of training sessions, such as events planning and media for example. The skills gained in these workshops mean panellists can go on to run future events more confidently and gain some great skills for their CVs.

Alice, a Junction panellist, blogs about the podcast training she recently enjoyed…

“In the midst of most of the panel members exam season 3 of us were lucky enough to take time off and attend a podcasting and audio workshop. Under the supervision of Eric from SoundDelivery; myself, Richelle and Nicola along with Lucie (Museum of London Inclusion Officer) spent two days learning the basics of podcasting and each recorded and edited our own podcast.

Nicola, Alice and Richelle editing their podcasts

On the first day we learnt all the theory – such as “what is a podcast?”. Although most of us are familiar with the concept I don’t think any of us knew any of the specifics. When asked if we knew what an RSS feed was we were flummoxed! We all discovered how clueless we actually were but luckily Eric was really helpful and got onto the subject of what made good and bad podcasts. By learning from the mistakes of other podcasters we were able to discuss what we wanted our podcast to actually be. We discounted any fake dramas – as they just didn’t work and all fell a little bit in love with some children talking about a painting in the Tate Modern.

That afternoon we were let loose in the Roman gallery. We each had to choose something that really interested us in there and would each record our podcast about that object. I chose a vessel which still contained a cosmetic paste in it, Richelle chose a comb, Nicola a mortarium and Lucie chose a set of objects relating to Boudicca’s revolt. The discussion in the afternoon led us all to decide how we would relate our object to the present day and how we would plan our podcast. By the end of the day we had plans (for some of us these were pretty vague).

The second day was divided in two parts. The morning was our time to record and then in the afternoon we had to edit our audio. Recording in the galleries was not without its problems. The public in the galleries ensured that the sound levels were changing constantly and we had to keep remembering to record a “wild track”; this is 30 seconds of audio to use in editing to blend tracks. We also had to remember to press record in the first place. A mistake a few of us made – NOT RECORDING! Oops! Then in the afternoon we edited our audio. The room fell deathly silent as we determinedly edited our audio, getting rid of all the “ums” and “ahs” and beginning to hate the sound of our own voices. Editing was tough work but weirdly therapeutic. Once that was all done(ish) we listened to everyone’s finished project. It was really interesting how different people had made them and they were all really unique.

Alice editing her podcast

This training was really fun and rewarding and I had a great time doing it. It was a lot more complicated than I anticipated and I think we all appreciated Eric’s work. Now of course we must all put our teaching hats on and get ready to share our skills with the other Junction members. I think I’ve got a taste for podcasting and it’s a skill I really want to continue using so you’ll be hearing from me again soon.”

If you are aged 16 – 21 and are interested in joining Junction please contact us on junction@museumoflondon.org.uk

Rebecca Lang, Conservator, installing objects into the under floor cases.

As we draw closer to the opening of Galleries of Modern London I’m getting more excited to see what some of the inclusion projects I have worked on will look like. Over the last two years I have been involved in four different projects with Londoners from all backgrounds which will feed into our new displays. Back in summer 2008 I worked on ‘London Beneath’, a really interesting project that allowed me to work closely with our conservation department for the first time.

The participants were then on the Pathways to Work programme, which supports people on incapacity benefit into work. They worked with museum staff including curators, specialists, archive staff, conservators and designers, as well as an artist to research and design two under floor cases of objects. The opportunity allowed them to gain news skills and confidence… and it was great for us to have some fresh perspectives when creating a new showcase. We worked at our amazing archaeological archive and got to spend many hours exploring boxes of finds. The two cases reflect the period of rebuilding in London that took place after the Great Fire of 1666. Several hundred objects were selected including broken domestic pottery, slate, glass bottles, elm water pipes, dice, marbles, gold rings and a desiccated cat.

Two of the group later volunteered with the conservation department. Rebecca Lang, archaeological conservator, writes:

‘The selected objects needed marking (as museum display objects) and basic conservation work. This was carried out by two volunteers from the community group, plus conservation students, supervised by conservation staff. In some cases “un-conservation” was required, such as taking down the occasional fill and removing old joins and tape residues, as the objects needed to look freshly excavated. We did stop short of putting the soil back on, however!

The cases were designed to be well sealed and dustproof, and consist of metal boxes inserted into a false floor. They are lit with fibre optics. The case bases are filled with a layer of black “granular sand”. This is a material used in floristry that we have previously found useful in other archaeological displays such as the display of skeletons.

The granular material is not actually sand, but a manufactured carbon coated polymer. It is inert, dust free, pH neutral and provides good support for objects without scratching them.

The public will be able to walk over the cases, with the archaeological objects directly beneath their feet.’

I can’t wait to see the participants again at the opening event and to see how they react to seeing their work on display for all to see.

I have just started working on the Museum’s exciting London: World City project which is part of the London 2012 Cultural Olympiad. Young people all over London will be taking part in creative projects to reinterpret museum collections and put on exhibitions. Other museums involved include Geffyre, London Transport Museum and Horniman. Along with partnering smaller museums, each will look at different theme to explore how London became the amazing world city it is today.

Here at the Museum of London we are looking at the theme of place and focusing on the legacy left by the Romans. Between now and March 2011, we will be doing lots of exciting work with young adults, ranging from films, archaeology, podcasts, art and drama in a series of five key projects. Young adults are at the heart of the project and through this work we hope more of them find our fabulous Museum relevant and fun.

Key to the success of this project is our ability to involve young adults in the planning and development. We are also setting up a youth panel (called Junction) so that members can act as consultants and advise us on what young people want. There are two open recruitment afternoons in early February and we are looking for young adults ages 16 – 21 from all backgrounds.

Find out how you or anyone you know who may be interested can get involved (PDF 142kb, opens in a new window)

A book made by one of the group members.

Click here to see more photos.

I’m Shauna O’Brien, an intern on some of the Museum of London’s inclusion programmes. Today was our last session at Coborn Service for Adolescent Mental Health for My Museum project. Over the last few weeks the group have taken their inspiration from objects from the Museum’s collection. Their ideas have developed to include more modern objects in new creations through making collages, sculptures and films. Today the project artist, Emily Candela, taught everyone how to take old story books and make new accordion books.

Everyone each chose a book from a selection Emily bought in and we had to pull out the pages to leave just the cover board. We then removed the spine, leaving the two outside boards. Then everyone cut up some coloured paper to the height of the board and folded it in a zigzag to create the pages of the book. Once these were stuck down, with the addition of a ribbon to tie the book together, a heavy object was placed on the new book to help it stick.

After the break, the glue was dry and the group had books to fill with pictures from the project and new images from magazines to show their journey through the project. Everyone was so creative, and those that weren’t here from the start had the chance to print pictures of the internet and make an autobiography. The books looked really impressive and could be opened up fully to see the whole story develop.

Lucie Fitton (the Museum’s inclusion officer) also bought along some prizes for competitions to guess the historical period of Museum archive images. Everyone was so good and won some London based stationary and books to say goodbye on our last week here!

Click here to see more pictures.

Photos by Nick Landau

I’m Shauna O’Brien and have been working as an intern with Lucie Fitton (inclusion officer at Museum of London) on some of the Museum’s community projects. Today was our last day working on the Empire project with adult learners from Barnet College. Over the past eight weeks the group have been working on a piece of artwork inspired by Britain’s Empire for an under-floor display case in the new gallery space.

Judith Hope (the artist working on the project), Sousan Luqman (a tutor at Barnet College), Annette and myself worked on completing the waves. We measured out the position of the table and then worked out the placing of the waves. When we had everything right, we used double sided tape to stick them to the base-board. Lots of trimming was required, but at last they were completed, a victory that received a round of applause from the group!

Judith has been embroidering the silk tablecloth for the tabletop and it looked incredible. She used coffee-coloured cotton to stitch with and it looked great with the different sepia tones of the rest of the work. She made Britain much bigger than Africa and India to show the dominance. It fit nicely on the table and the group could see it all coming together.

Lucie, Andre, Maria, Dan and Marion (a support worker at the College) all worked on decorating the crockery with transfers. The blue floral transfers were carefully cut into individual flowers and placed around the crockery. It was really effective, and once glazed with pva glue they looked amazing.

Sousan, Lucie and Marion made some little boats to float across the waves. They used coffee beans, sugar cubes and peppercorns. They will add some interest to the base and are very sweet!

Everyone worked so hard today and it was wonderful to see it all nearly finished. We’ll get back together in a few weeks once the sugar cane table legs have been freeze-dried to finish off the rest of the piece. Everyone’s looking forward to seeing it in the Gallery and it’s been great to be part of the team.

One of the participants, Andre, wrote a blog for today’s session:
‘This was the last day for working on our project and there was a lot to do! We worked in two teams- one with the main display cutting the waves to the right length for the base. Another group worked on the ceramic objects. We stuck transfers on the ceramics to make them look carefully decorated’.