Costumed Interpretation one day workshops

Just a heads up about some one day workshops on costumed interpretation that we are offering in collaboration with our pals from the Historic Royal Palaces and Past Pleasures, the UK’s longest running costumed interpretation company.

Performing the Past
Workshop 1: costumed interpretation on a budget
Workshop 2: creating historic costume

Past Pleasures at Hampton Court

Past Pleasures at Hampton Court

These unique one day workshops are perfect for heritage professionals and volunteers who want to learn about managing and planning costumed interpretation from the experts.

  • Chris Gidlow (Head of Live Interpretation HRP) will examine how heritage managers can be strategic about costumed interpretation.
  • Through a series of talks and workshops Past Pleasures team Mark Wallis and Kate Howard will offer valuable tips and advice. They will assist participants as they engage with best practice and identify models and strategies which will work for them.

Workshop 1: Monday 24th November 2014

Workshop 2: Spring 2015 Date TBC

 10:00-16:30 Museum of English Rural Life

Booking: £40 per workshop (includes lunch)

For further information, or to book a place contact:
0118 378 8660
merlevents@reading.ac.uk

Careers in Museums #3 ‘everybody’s talkin’

This week my colleagues have been sending me some interesting online articles about careers in museums: top tips; what it’s like to work in museums at the moment; and the pros and cons of a career in the sector. I thought I’d share them with you so you can get another perspective on museum work.

Museum work???

Museum work??????

The Ministry of Curiosity blog offers an ‘insider’s view to London’s museum-centric social life’. It’s always a fun read and their ‘top tips for getting into museums’ post is no exception. Their points about career funneling, tailored volunteering and the importance of networking and finding a mentor definitely resonate with the advice of most museum professionals that I know.

When You Work At a Museum is a fun Tumblr based blog/ GIF-fest and their crowd-sourced response to a request asking for advice on working in museums ‘so you think you want to work in a museum’ makes some really good points. 5. Don’t be smug and and 3. Be flexible are particularly important.

From a more official perspective here is a blog post from somebody with Arts Council England controversially titled ‘reasons not to work in museums’.The post recognises some of the difficulties of working in the sector at the moment but ends by celebrating the hard working people who make the most of a less than ideal situation.

Finally the wonderful Emily Graslie makes some thought provoking wider points about career planning and a work-life balance in this ‘finding your dream job’ video, which applies to the museum sector and beyond.