Material culture, the public and the extraordinary – “Unloved” museums objects as the tool to fascinate

Zinn, Katharina (2025) Material culture, the public and the extraordinary – “Unloved” museums objects as the tool to fascinate. Open Archaeology - Special issue Engaging the Public, Heritage and Educators through Material Culture Research. ISSN 2300-6560 (In Press)

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Abstract

Museum-excavations – discovering unprovenanced and forgotten objects in museums’ storerooms – open new opportunities for engagement and highlight the consequent necessity to (de-)contextualise the discovered artefacts. Despite being unprovenanced – or even because of that – it is important to make sense of these "ordinary" finds. Developing strategies of unmasking the EXTRAordinary within such objects – an approach on which I presented in my paper Narrating the Extra the Ordinary has: “Re-excavating” objects in storage rooms of local museums as part of an archaeology of unloved objects as part of the workshop "Excavating the Extra-Ordinary - Challenges & merits of working with small finds" (JGU Mainz, 08-09 April 2019 – Zinn. 2019a) – and communicating them as part of imaginative activities for the wider public and the research community has been at the core of the described cooperative project, aiming at the literal and cultural (re-)discovery of ancient Egyptian artefacts. As Cyfarthfa Castle Museum and Art Gallery serves the local South Wales valleys, it was seen difficult to incorporate the Egyptian collection into the narrative of the museum’s permanent exhibition. The project brings these objects back to life by simultaneously creating different types of cultural representations via academic outputs, exhibitions, storytelling, a Museum of Lies and artwork inspired by the items. All these methods center on the materiality of the objects from which different meanings are drawn. This approach connects these objects with several identities in which they are placed. The engagement with all audiences/stakeholders proved crucial for the success of this project and leads to a sustainable interaction with neglected artefacts.

Item Type:	Article
Subjects:	A General Works > AM Museums (General). Collectors and collecting (General) D History General and Old World > DE The Mediterranean Region. The Greco-Roman World G Geography. Anthropology. Recreation > GV Recreation Leisure L Education > LB Theory and practice of education > LB2300 Higher Education N Fine Arts > N Visual arts (General) For photography, see TR
Divisions:	Institutes and Academies > Institute of Education and Humanities > Academic Discipline: Humanities and Social Sciences
Depositing User:	Katharina Zinn
Date Deposited:	02 Apr 2025 09:40
Last Modified:	02 Apr 2025 09:40
URI:	https://repository.uwtsd.ac.uk/id/eprint/3673

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