University and Museum CollaborationsExperience and Challenges

Stana NenadicProfessor of Social and Cultural History

School of History, Classics and Archaeology

Collaboration timeline:

2005: application for AHRC CDA project. SN and Dr Hugh Cheape for NMS. Subject ‘Clothing and Textile Cultures in 18th Century Scotland.’

2006-2010: CDA project, Sally Tuckett. Cheape replaced by Dr David Caldwell at end of first year. Additional AHRC grant for conference for doctoral students, hosted by NMS, ‘Doing Research in Museum Collections’. Oct. 2008.

2011-13: RSE Major Grant in the Arts and Humanities. ‘Colouring the Nation: The Turkey Red Textile Industry in Scotland’. Based on the pattern book collection held by NMS. Dr Sally Tuckett, named researcher. NMS-hosted conference, Dec. 2011.

Research: Cataloguing Collection: Digital Photography: Online Catalogue, Exhibition and Essays

[NMS Curatorial, Photographic and IT Teams]

Turkey Red Pattern Book with NMS Colour Chart

Outputs: Online Catalogue and Exhibition: NMS Publication

Public Engagement Event: Turkey Red Community ‘Show and Tell’. Vale of Leven, Dec. 2012

Public Engagement Event at NMS: Dyes in TextilesMay 2013NMS Education & Programmes Team

Scottish Parliament Exhibition, Sept. 2013Additional Funding from RSE

Challenges

• NMS and other museums/galleries are complex institutions with separate curatorial, collections management, technical and education teams.

• Museum/curator agendas and outputs have a focus on collections and exhibitions.

• Museum collections are mostly in store, with access challenges (unlike a library or archive) and variable catalogues with uneven availability (much collection information is in the curator’s head].

Rewards

The Turkey Red RSE-funded project was a huge success – RSE model, REF Impact Case Study.

Turkey Red RSE project led directly to a current, larger Leverhulme-funded project ‘Artisans and the Craft Economy in Scotland c.1780-1914’ (2013-16). Multiple museum involvements.

Dr Tuckett now has a permanent lectureship in the Center for Textile History at Glasgow University, with close relationships with Glasgow Museums.