Discovering the Landscape #20: James Corner speaks at joint MERL and Landscape Institute Annual Lectures

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Written by Claire Wooldridge (Project Librarian: Landscape Institute)

James Corner speaking at MERL and Landscape Institute Annual Lecture, University of Reading's Great Hall, 22 October 2015

James Corner speaking at MERL and Landscape Institute Annual Lecture, University of Reading’s Great Hall, 22 October 2015

Yesterday evening cutting edge landscape architect James Corner – renowned for designing New York’s much loved High Line and the South Park Plaza of London’s Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park – delivered a fascinating lecture in the University of Reading’s Great Hall.  This was a highly successful joint venture between MERL and the Landscape Institute, serving as the annual lecture for both organisations.  Corner was introduced by the University of Reading’s Pro-Vice Chancellor Professor Steven Mithen and the President of the Landscape Institute, Noel Farrer.

Pop up exhibition of treasures from the LI collections prepared by MERL Archives and Library staff

Pop up exhibition of treasures from the LI collections prepared by MERL Archives and Library staff

Pop up exhibition of treasures from the LI collections prepared by MERL Archives and Library staff

Pop up exhibition of treasures from the LI collections prepared by MERL Archives and Library staff

Corner delivered an excellent lecture to a packed audience.  Drawing upon a wide range of themes relating to landscape architecture, Corner spoke about how Jellicoe and Ian McHarg had influenced his early ideas on landscape and the nature of the relationship between architecture and landscape architecture, where landscape design can be most successful when considered as the first element of construction of large scale building projects.  Corner’s talk was illuminated by his use of many striking images including photographs of one his most significant and well known projects, the New York High line, alongside diagrams and graphic illustrations of other projects he and his team are involved in, such as waterfront projects in Seattle and Hong Kong.

Pop up exhibition of Jellicoe material from the LI collections prepared by MERL Archives and Library staff

Pop up exhibition of Jellicoe material from the LI collections prepared by MERL Archives and Library staff

A key theme of Corner’s talk was the importance and relevance of public spaces to people’s lives; be these spaces urban or rural, or in private or public realms.  The landscape architect can influence how people move through a landscape, the public space people inhabit and how they interpret, use and interact with that space.

Getting the Great Hall ready for the lecture

Getting the Great Hall ready for the lecture

Members of the Landscape Institute and FOLAR (the Friends of the Landscape Library and Archive at Reading) enjoyed a packed day here at MERL, which included (in addition to the public lecture!) a meeting of the LI Council, the LI’s AGM, representation from FOLAR and a FOLAR run duplicate book sale and two pop up exhibitions highlighting treasures and Jellicoe material from the LI collections curated by MERL Archives and Library staff.  The Great Hall also hosted a MERL pop up shop before and after the lecture, with James Corner signing copies of his books after the lecture.

FOLAR duplicate Landscape Institute Library book sale in the Great Hall

FOLAR duplicate Landscape Institute Library book sale in the Great Hall

FOLAR banner in the Great Hall

FOLAR banner in the Great Hall

Behind the scenes library tours

Behind the scenes library tours

The unrivalled library and archive of the Landscape Institute are currently being made available at the Museum of English Rural Life.  For more information contact us on merl@reading.ac.uk.

Museums, archives and GIFs: a fine line between fun and foolishness?

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Written by Adam Koszary, Project Officer for Our Country Lives.

GIFs have seen an explosion in popularity over the past few years, taking advantage of a more browsable internet and a multitude of social media platforms. As more and more museums, galleries and libraries have been communicating with GIFs online, it’s no surprise that it has been chosen as a Culture Themes hashtag on Twitter today.

If you don’t know what the Graphic Interchange Format (GIF) is, it is essentially a type of image that can be both static or animated. They play automatically in your browser and usually loop so that they play infinitely. They’ve become very popular on sites such as Reddit and Tumblr as a means of communicating, most commonly through ‘reaction gifs’. The downside of GIFs is that there is no sound and the animations tend to be short (although people have managed to fit the entire Star Wars saga into a single GIF..). Yet, they are a breath of fresh air for what is still a surprisingly static internet.

This GIF is a simple animation of the rain on the rooftops of our Grade II-listed building. Its original purpose was to warn Reading Festival goers of the poor weather, but has been picked up by Tumblr users for its atmospheric feel.

This GIF is a simple animation of the rain on the rooftops of our Grade II-listed building. Its original purpose was to warn Reading Festival goers of the poor weather, but has been picked up by Tumblr users for its atmospheric feel.

We have adopted GIFs as a form of communication because we believe museums, libraries and galleries should be relevant. To communicate with new generations of visitors we have to speak in their language, and those who have grown up in the digital world are as comfortable communicating with emojis and GIFs as they are in simple text.

This GIF combines an attempt at humour and our own collections, which in this case is a plate from the 1796 Ichthyologie, ou, Histoire naturelle des poissons. A person saying ‘huehuehue’ is a common trope/meme of internet humour, but has little connection to the illustration.

This GIF combines an attempt at humour and our own collections, which in this case is a plate from the 1796 Ichthyologie, ou, Histoire naturelle des poissons. A person saying ‘huehuehue’ is a common trope/meme of internet humour, but has little connection to the illustration.

We know that the narratives, lives and themes bound up in our collections are supremely relevant to all: young or old, town or gown. In 2015, however, not everyone can visit our museums and collections in person, sequestered as our buildings are are on university campuses. To convince prospective audiences that we are worth their time and interest we had to go to where they live: the internet.

This GIF was part of a series celebrating the 200th birthday of Robert Hooke, the author of Micrographia. Hooke discovered cells using a microscope he designed himself, and the GIF above shows how it was used with a close-up of cells found in cork.   

This GIF was part of a series celebrating the 200th birthday of Robert Hooke, the author of Micrographia. Hooke discovered cells using a microscope he designed himself, and the GIF above shows how it was used with a close-up of cells found in cork.

This is why the University of Reading’s other museums and collections are on Tumblr, a micro-blogging site with a diverse but very often young audience that relies heavily on GIFs. We were inspired by institutions such as the Smithsonian Libraries, who bring static images to life through quirky but illuminating animation.

This GIF was a way of tracking the progress of MERL’s redevelopment, showing the removal of wagons which have been suspended above visitors’ heads for over ten years. A simple insight into our behind-the-scenes work but one we thought was more effective than a photograph.

This GIF was a way of tracking the progress of MERL’s redevelopment, showing the removal of wagons which have been suspended above visitors’ heads for over ten years. A simple insight into our behind-the-scenes work but one we thought was more effective than a photograph.

And, as you can see from the images in this blog-post, our own GIFs vary in their quality, relevance, impact and purpose. As museum professionals we are used to reviewing the point of what we do so that we can justify ourselves to our funders and to the public, and we already feel that we’re treading a fine line between frivolity and respect for the collections. There is nothing in our Mission Statement about making funny GIFs.

But can a University museum afford to ignore a model of communication used by its student body? Is it okay to use GIFs with no obvious educational value if it strengthens the image and reputation of a museum with younger audiences? And what are the ethical implications of subjecting our collections to digital manipulation? We already started this discussion after last year’s #ArchiveSelfie Day, when we photoshopped smartphones into archival photographs. After much thinking we decided that our photographs are off-limits for manipulation because they feature real people who may still be in living memory, but out-of-copyright illustrations are okay on a case-by-case basis. If you have an opinion, please let us know by commenting on this blog or tweeting @MERLReading or @UniRdg_SpecColl .

Our Country Lives update

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Can you believe it’s Autumn already? Since our last update in May we’ve had an extremely busy Summer finishing our research, laying cement and visiting farmers. Here’s a round-up:

1. We’ve had exciting new research into our objects, such as this shepherd’s surprising connection to Thomas Beecham of Beecham’s pills.

Henry Beecham's walking stick

Henry Beecham’s walking stick

 

2. We’ve finished the building of our new extensions, and we’ve already christened our Introduction Space with a McMillan Coffee morning!

It may not look like much, but our extensions will give us much-needed room for exhibitions and events!

It may not look like much, but our extensions will give us much-needed room for exhibitions and events!

 

3. To make the MERL more relevant to visitors old and new we’ve continued recruiting for our Student, Family and Countryside Forums. This is so we can make sure we’re presenting as true and balanced a picture of the countryside as possible. If you’re interested in helping us tell the story of the English rural life, please email us at: merl@reading.ac.uk

Anne and Frank beer and milk

 

4. We’ve just about finished writing the labels for all of our galleries. Have you ever tried condensing the story of the English countryside into 150 words or less? It’s certainly a challenge but one we think we’ve met, and we can’t wait to show you what we’ve written.

IMG_9504

 

5. Our cross-collections Tumblr blog was recognised as a Trending Blog by Tumblr’s own staff – give it a visit to find out why we deserved it.

One of our many Tumblr GIFs

One of our many Tumblr GIFs

 

6. We now know exactly what our galleries will be, what will be in them and what stories and facts we want to share with you. We have a rich variety of ways we’re going to explore English rural life in the new MERL, so keep your eyes peeled for more updates…

IMG_9161

 

7. We’ve begun a partnership with the Royal Berkshire Hospital in which we are using museum artifacts to help treat dementia. Discussing historic ways of life through objects and photographs is a wonderful way to bring back happy memories to those with dementia, and can help boost patients’ memories and help make sense of past events.

Reminscance-therapy

Audience Development Manager Phillippa at the Royal Berks. Photo Credit: GetReading.

 

8. We’ve also begun work on making the MERL far more inclusive of Reading’s local communities. We’ve had the pleasure of talking to Katesgrove Community Association, Reading Chinese Association, The Greater Reading Nepalese Community Association, The Rising Sun and so many more. We hope to establish a variety of projects such as community allotments, exhibitions and film projects.

chinese as

 

9. You may also have seen us out and about, as we’ve been taking the Museum to the people while we’ve been closed. We’ve been talking to our local communities at East Reading Festival, winning prizes at the Berkshire Show and discussing sustainability at the Reading Town Meal. Keep a track of what we’re doing on our Events page.

Our fabulous volunteer Jenny at the Berkshire Show.

Our fabulous volunteer Jenny at the Berkshire Show.

 

There is plenty more we could tell you, but we’re keeping a few things up our sleeve as we prepare for our re-opening. To keep updated on our progress subscribe to this blog or follow us on Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr and Instagram!

Volunteers’ Voice: Young Volunteers programme

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As part of the Our Country Lives Activity plan we have a Young Volunteer’s initiative which aims to encourage young people (14-18) to volunteer at the Museum. We’re working with external partners such as Reading College and Berkshire Youth to achieve this.

During the exterior building works the garden was turned into a builder’s village! The vines were overgrown, the lavender needed tidying up and the once glorious volunteer-run flowerbeds need to be transformed into allotments. This is where the Reading College students come in. They have set about tidying up our back garden with great enthusiasm. Even though the plans for the back garden have yet to be finalised, we need to make a start with the cleaning up and packing down for winter.

Reading College lavender

 

We started on Friday 25th September, coinciding with our Macmillan coffee morning. After filling up with tea and cake, the team set to work! Armed with shears, hoes, shovels and wheel barrows the students began. With the assistance of their tutor and my limited horticultural knowledge, our young volunteers did an excellent job. They even harvested our grapes, ready to be turned into juice at the Reading Town Meal.

Reading College grape harvesting

Every Friday until winter sets in the team will be here volunteering in the garden.

As well as the gardening project with Reading College, we’re working with Berkshire Youth. They’ll be looking at the lives of 19th century children in the countryside and the Swing Riots. Working with our volunteers who developed the Swing Riots  performance piece, they’ll be creating walks around Berkshire, based on the routes taken by the Kintbury swing rioters in November 1830. They’ll also put on an exhibition in our community exhibition space.

Next year we’ll be recruiting young volunteers (14-18) to be part of the public facing team when we reopen: object handlers, gallery team members, tour guides and front of house members. This will involve after school and holiday volunteering sessions.

There will be plenty of opportunities to get involved so if you’d like to find out more then please contact our Volunteer Coordinator, Rob Davies on r.j.davies@reading.ac.uk

Delivering grapes1

Rob delivering grapes for the Reading Town Meal

Rural Reads reviews: The Bees by Laline Paull

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the beesRob Davies reviews our latest rural read.

This September we read The Bees by Laline Paull. The Bees is set within a bee hive and tells the story of Flora 717 a sanitation bee who rises up through the ranks. The Bees has many tropes of a classic dystopian novel: totalitarian regime, secret police, oppression and that one individual who stands out against the state.

Paull has evidently done extensive research into bees and hive workings. For many of us, bees are the lovely bumble bees that hop from one flower to the next during summer. Paull breaks that perception and reveals the inner working of hives, along with the various bees that all play an essential role. The group particularly enjoyed this aspect of the book and we feel we have all learnt something new about bees. Learning something new about wildlife or farming is a common occurrence with the books we read!

The story line was rather straight forward, set at an easy pace, but seemed to meander off course at periods. I personally felt it was rather predictable with no surprises along the way. We thought it was interesting that the bees were very much aware of the world and other species, including humans. However, we felt there were levels of confusion between the bees and their understanding of the outside world. Paull had created a folklore for their world, intersected with humans and our understanding of reality, but at times it became confused.

The protagonist Flora 717 was an interesting character, we were all amazed how she managed to survive through such hardship. Flora 717 is a sanitation bee, she is not supposed to be able to speak and is treated as a slave by the rest of the hive. Flora 717 however develops speech, free thought and has an inner will which drives her through so many disasters which would surely destroy a weaker bee.

Overall the group really enjoyed the book, finding it an easy read with many interesting points and found the bee facts fascinating. Paull managed to intermingle the complex and diverse world of bees with a dystopian story.

October’s read is Common Ground by Rob Cowen. Visit the Rural Reads plus web page for more details.

Rip Roaring Reading Room News: Full opening from Monday 28 September 2015

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Our Reading Room

Our Reading Room

Great news everyone! We have extended our Reading Room opening hours. Up until now, although you have been able to visit our wonderful Reading Room Monday-Friday, 9-5, we have operated a restricted service on a Monday. This meant that, on a Monday, we opened later (10am) and we were unable to retrieve material from our store.

But we are delighted to say that from (and including) Monday 28 September – our Reading Room will be ready for your visit and fully accessible, open and with staff making trips to the store to retrieve material throughout the day:

Every Monday to Friday – 9am to 5pm!

Retrievals take place until 4.15pm, and we collect all closed access material in at 4.45pm.

(Allowing for a brief hiatus in retrievals from the store while our Reading Room staff take a hard earned lunch break between 1-2pm)

Our Reading Room

Our Reading Room

So why not pay us a visit?  You can find more information on using our Reading Room here.  If you have any queries or would like to order up material in advance, you can contact us at merl@reading.ac.uk.

The MERL Student Panel: now recruiting!

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One of the most interesting aspects to the museum’s redevelopment is that we are having many conversations with different people from diverse and varied backgrounds. All of these discussions are helping us shape the museum’s future. Audience Development Project Manager, Phillippa Heath, gives an update on one of our discussion forums: the Student Panel.

As the new academic year gets underway, it is an ideal time to begin our preparations for the forthcoming meetings of the MERL Student Panel and reflect on the discussions we have had to date.

Having begun in 2013 when we recruited students to devise and manage a 1951 Vintage Night event for Museums at Night, the MERL Student Panel has continued to go from strength to strength. With the museum’s redevelopment, our panel has been involved in and had their say on lots of different aspects of the museum’s work. Discussions around our new displays, how we are planning to interpret our collections, museum interactives and museum facilities are all helping inform how we shape the museum for all our visitors but, in particular, those aged between 18 and 25.

Members of the Student Panel exploring museum plans and some of our objects with museum staff

Members of the Student Panel exploring museum plans and some of our objects with museum staff

Although many members of our MERL Student Panel are students at the University of Reading, this is not a prerequisite for membership and the panel is open to anyone between the age of 18 and 25. It is a great way of meeting new people and developing experience and transferable skills in diverse areas including communication, event and project management. Members also learn about work in the heritage sector generally. For many of the individuals on the panel, membership is rewarding and fulfilling. One of our members, for example, said:

“It has been a great chance to see and be involved in what goes on behind the museum scenes. To see how processes go on and to be a part of the redesign and gain an insight has been a privilege…. I didn’t realise how much of a contribution the students would be able to have.”

This year, for the first time, membership of the panel can count towards the University’s Red Award (the University’s employability and skills certificate).

Some members of our 2013 student panel.

Some members of our 2013 student panel.

Our meetings will be commencing on October 14th and we are looking forward to our panel members getting involved in lots of aspects of our work over the year such as marketing, events planning to preparing for the museum’s reopening in 2016. We are also recruiting new members!

There is a lot to do during what will be a really exciting time for the museum as we prepare to reopen in 2016.
If you, or anyone you know, may be interested in becoming a member we would love to hear from you. Please email me (Phillippa) on p.heath2@reading.ac.uk for more information.

Discovering the Landscape #19: From New York’s High Line to London’s Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park (MERL and LI joint annual lecture on 22 October by James Corner)

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Written by Claire Wooldridge, Project Senior Library Assistant: Landscape Institute

James Corner's New York High Line

James Corner’s New York High Line

We are delighted to announce that cutting edge Landscape architect James Corner – renowned for designing New York’s much loved High Line and the South Park Plaza of London’s Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park – will deliver a lecture here at MERL on Thursday 22 October, as a joint MERL and Landscape Institute Annual Lecture.

Named by TIME Magazine as one of the ‘Top Ten Designers in the World’, James Corner is now working on several high-visibility urban projects around the world, such as San Francisco’s Presidio Parklands and London’s Battersea Power Plant Development.

The unrivalled library and archive of the Landscape Institute are currently being made available at the Museum of English Rural Life.

Here are the details, we look forward to seeing you for this exciting joint venture:

  • Thursday 22 October
  • 7.30pm (Doors open at 7pm)
  • Great Hall, London Road campus
  • Free admission
  • Booking required as places are limited
  • To book, please email merlevents@reading.ac.uk or call 0118 378 8660

Members of the Landscape Institute only: Follow this link to book your tickets for the Lecture and AGM

Image credit: High Line project © Iwan Baan

Discovering the Landscape #18: From Devon to Derbyshire, the Shell Guides to Great Britain

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Shell Guides on the shelf

Shell Guides on the shelf

Written by Claire Wooldridge, Project Senior Library Assistant: Landscape Institute

The Shell Guides, published between 1934 and 1984, were designed to be light hearted but engaging guide books to the countryside and historical sites of Great Britain for the growing number of mid twentieth century car owners.  Published by the Architectural Press and funded by Shell-Mex (more driving = more fuel…) the Shell Guides were intended to tag along with day-trippers, being less than 50 pages long they were ideal for a glove compartment.  Bold and visual, each guide contains an introduction to the area covered and descriptions of each place or landmark to be found there.

From Dorset to Derbyshire, Cambridgeshire to Cornwall, the guides covered most regions of Great Britain.  Different regions were studied by different writers, including a host of well know names including John Piper (artist, 1903-1992, writer of Oxfordshire published in 1938) and Paul Nash (artist and painter, 1889-1947, writer of Dorset published in 1935).  Paul Nash went to live in Swanage for a year to work on the book, suffering from shellshock from WW1, this was an opportunity for Nash to find peace in the countryside.  Sir John Betjeman (poet, writer and broadcaster, 1906-1984) edited the series and also contributed several titles, most notably Cornwall (1934).

Selection of Shell Guide covers

Selection of Shell Guide covers

We received several editions of the Shell Guides from the Landscape Institute library, some which were new to us and some which are different editions of titles we already hold.  Several of these were presented by Shell-Mex and B. P. Ltd to the Landscape Institute.  These new additions to the collection will sit alongside our existing ones in our Printing Collection (part of our Special Collections) with Landscape Institute provenance recorded in the catalogue records.

Shell-Mex presentation book plate in Shell guides received from the LI library

Shell-Mex presentation book plate in Shell guides received from the LI library

The guides have an enduring popularity (such as being the focus of books and two TV series, one featuring Richard Wilson and another with David Heathcote, a cultural historian who has written about the Shell Guides) and are very collectable today.  Thirteen Shell Guides were published before the outbreak of WW2 and were reissued after the war.  Different editions within the Shell Guides series, with contemporary typography and images, were published in later decades – making collecting all the different copies something of a challenge!  The Shell Guides from the Landscape Institute Collections make a wonderful addition to our existing holdings.

For more information see David Heathcote’s (2010) A Shell eye on Britain: The Shell County Guides 1934-1984 (Libri).

Rural Reads Plus book review: The Prodigal Summer

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Rob Davies reviews The Prodigal Summer by Barbara Kinsolver

During the humid month of July we read The Prodigal Summer by Barbara Kingsolver, a suitably clammy read for the climate. This book is a mammoth read set within Zebulon Country in America, following three narratives that are tenuously connected to one another but tell the story of the land.

The Prodigal Summer is a perfect read for Rural Reads Plus; it is packed with contemporary rural issues that span agriculture universally. Kingsolver used the narratives to explore these themes such as hunting, genetics, isolation within the countryside, inheritance and family, along with many other smaller but still significant themes.

The first narrative called ‘Predators’ follows Deanna who is a park ranger living an isolated life on the side of Zebulon mountain. Her voluntary isolation is broken when the hunter Eddie Brando walks into her life. This narrative isn’t just about the developing relationship between Deanna and Eddie Brando but also about the issue of hunting. As a group we had conflicting opinions on this narrative, I enjoyed learning about coyotes but the characters were too flat for me.

The second narrative is entitled ‘Moth Love’ and follows Lusa who was widowed one year into her marriage; she now finds herself lost in an enormous family who don’t particularly like or trust her, one of the reasons is because she is from outside of the county. To make matters worse for Lusa she has inherited her husband’s farm which is in a lot of debt and she refuses to grow the local crop, tobacco. This was my favourite narrative, Kingsolver writes about grief, loss and surviving so vividly, I was almost going through the emotions as well.

The third narrative ‘Old Chestnuts’ took the longest to warm up and develop. It’s about two elderly farmers who are neighbours with very different farming methods, in fact it comes down to organic vs GM crops. However, it’s also about disease within trees and the loss of species.

This was the second consecutive book we unanimously enjoyed and would recommend it to everyone. This August we’re reading A House in the Country by Jocelyn Playfair.