By Matthew McMahon- Museum Collections Officer
Fig. 1
In the event you go to the Armagh Observatory and Planetarium this summer season you will notice our latest non permanent exhibition, centered on a number of the treasures held in our historic assortment of scientific devices and archives. Cupboards of Curiosity has been curated and designed by college students from Queen’s College Belfast Historical past division as a part of the module ‘Cupboards of Curiosity: Museums Previous and Current’.
The scholars concerned have been in a position to go to the Planetarium earlier this yr and work with our Heritage workers to know the right way to inform a narrative by way of exhibition textual content and the right way to deal with treasured historic items safely, whereas additionally studying about them. Researching these historic objects includes a spread of abilities, from secure dealing with to figuring out totally different supplies and manufacturing methods, in addition to a eager eye for hidden particulars like serial numbers, the names of makers, and stamps! After being educated they got entry to things from the gathering and inspired to pick out objects to show. The objects have been drawn from our intensive assortment of over 32,000 entries, and vary in age from the mid 1700’s to the late 1980’s!
The scholars have been in a position to come again a number of months later, having researched their chosen objects by way of books within the library at Queen’s, and the web. Earlier than the instances have been crammed, we did a ‘test-fit’ within the Armagh Observatory and Planetarium library which gave the scholars the chance to verify every thing would match, and to group objects into themes, in addition to time to experiment with layouts and guarantee every thing was seen from totally different angles.
Fig. 2
The objects have been assorted, and embody books, toys, uncommon scientific devices and even an digital calculator! Primarily based on the historic cupboards which have been distinguished in wealthy properties all through the Rennaissance and into the Eighteenth and Nineteenth centuries, the exhibition was a chance to spotlight the necessary position of objects within the every day lifetime of the Observatory and the individuals who lived there. A number of the objects have fascinating connections between one another, and we’d wish to encourage you to consider what connections you could find within the instances!
Due to Prof. Elaine Farrell and Prof. Christopher Marsh for choosing Armagh Observatory and Planetarium because the 2024 ‘Cupboards of Curiosity’ Venue, and to all the scholars for his or her wonderful work, we hope you benefit from the exhibition!
