| Description: |
In 2007 the School of Creative Enterprise, London College of Communication embarked on a design-led integrated project involving first year undergraduates from ten different courses. Approximately 350 students including those studying interior design, marketing, creative advertising, public relations, retail management and travel and tourism worked together in 25 mixed groups to develop a new concept for a museum. Task:
Each group was set the task of devising a museum concept that could be whatever they wanted it to be provided they could justify its existence. Students were encouraged to think of the museum in its broadest sense by drawing on the information provided by guest speakers such as curators, museum journalists and archivists in addition to academic staff. Theoretical underpinning was provided by lectures that covered topics such as the history of the institution, curating fashion, local museums, interpretation, exhibition design and marketing communications for museums. This was augmented by recommended reading drawn from a range of disciplines including museology, sociology, cultural studies, anthropology and marketing. In addition to reading around the subject, individual and group research involved visiting a range of museums and exhibitions. Assignment outputs:
Each group was limited to a table top on which to display their museum concept. Visualisation could take whatever form was considered most appropriate to communicate the group’s ideas, for example, a model, graphic display, text, video or performance but it had to be restricted to the table top. In addition to visualising their concept, the groups had to produce a development diary recording the process of research, visits to museums and project development; a thousand word written rationale justifying the concept and relating it to relevant theory; and a photographic record of their table top display. Event:
The project culminated in ‘The Museum of…. Trade Fair’, an evening event with wine and music, where the 25 groups came together to display their museum proposals and sell their ideas to a panel of judges. The judges were Catherine Hamilton, Cuming Museum Collections and Museum Manager, Sharon Heal, Editor, Museums Journal and Dr Greta Pawlowski, Company Archivist, Aquascutum Limited. At the same time as the ‘experts’ were carrying out their assessment, a ‘public’ vote took place and the evening closed with a keynote speech and the official presentation of a prize to the group with the winning concept by Marilyn Scott, Director The Lightbox, Woking. Feedback:
The majority of students thoroughly enjoyed the project although they found working as a group challenging and sometimes difficult. Many of the first year students had only visited a museum once or twice and a number had never been into a museum. The project provided an opportunity for students to consider museums from a range of perspectives and to appreciate that contemporary museums are no longer defined simply by their collections but have expanded their role to fulfil a multiplicity of functions. |
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