Wednesday 30 August 2017

Museum Engagement Officer


Hello everyone I’m Sarah and this is my third week working at MoDiP as Museum Engagement Officer. I must say, everyone has been very friendly settling me into the team! 



I thought I’d take a few moments to tell you a bit about myself. I’m a Goldsmiths Girl! Well I went to Goldsmiths College, University of London graduating with a BA (Hons) Textiles in 2005. During my time studying I specialized in felting by hand. I became fascinated by historical textiles and costume in museums – it became my visual resource of inspiration. It came as no surprise that I then went on to study at Winchester School of Art, University of Southampton, graduating with MA Museums and Galleries; History of Textiles and Dress in 2007.

Since studying and becoming a qualified Museum Professional I have built up over 10 years’ experience curating and engaging audiences with museum collections. I achieved Associateship of the Museums Association in 2012.

I’ve worked within diverse organizations from conservation charity The National Trust at Tyntesfield, A la Ronde, and Sunnycroft to Trowbridge Museum, Wiltshire and a private collection at Dents Museum, Wiltshire. Before starting here I was working at Linwood School (Springwood Campus) Bournemouth, after completing a CACHE Level 2 Supporting Teaching and Learning in Schools.

What makes me tick?
I love gardening and although I don’t have a garden I’m still managing to grow vegetables on our balcony. This year I’ve grown peas from a seed and they’ve turned out to be quite tasty and sweet. 


One of my greatest passions is baking. My most proud bake to date is making an Alice’s Teapot Cake for my mother-in-laws recent birthday. Perhaps one day you might find me on The Great British Bake Off, until then enjoy these photographs of my creation - see the cake develop into a finished works of art. 



I’m currently working on a textile project for our Living room, which has been recently redecorated. My inspiration came from a visit to the Tower of London in 2014 to see an art installation: Blood Swept Lands and Seas of Red. The detail in the photograph below is a small scale sample of handmade felt - exploring ways to embellish the felt to bring it to life. Here, I have started hand embroidery to outline the outer edge of the poppies. 



If you haven’t already noticed I’m a creative person and have a flare for photography.

What am I going to be doing at MoDiP?

My post is a new addition to the team at MoDiP. I will be developing a programme of engagement. I will be working on ways to engage diverse audiences with the museum collection by advocating the importance of museum collections as resources for learning, inspiration and how they can change lives. I hope to deliver innovative ways of learning and teaching, creating a legacy of best practice in the theory and practice of creative learning

Watch this space…

Sarah Jane Stevens AMA (Museum Engagement Officer)

Monday 21 August 2017

A different view #60

There are many ways to look at the objects in the MoDiP collection.  With this series of posts I want to highlight the interesting views of objects that we may ordinarily miss.  These include the underside of an object, the surface pattern, or traces of manufacturing processes.



Title: Kokeshi Hanako bento box
Designer: Unknown
Manufacturer: Hakoya
Object number: AIBDC : 007761


Louise Dennis (Assistant Curator)

Friday 18 August 2017

Guess the object

MoDiP has the kind of collection that you may think you are very familiar with. We have objects which we all use every day, and some pieces which are more unusual.

By looking at this distorted image are you able to guess what the object is? What do you think it could be used for?



Post your answer in the comments below or to find the answer click here and you will be taken to the MoDiP catalogue.

Louise Dennis (Assistant Curator)

Monday 14 August 2017

BXL photographic archive #0131

In 2010, MoDiP was donated a large archive of images relating to a single company. Bakelite Xylonite Ltd, also known as British Xylonite Ltd or BXL, was possibly one of the first British firms to successfully manufacture a plastics material in commercial quantities. The company was established in 1875 and after a long history went into liquidation in the late 2000s. The images we have in the collection are concentrated around the 1960s through to the 1980s and show us glimpses of the manufacturing process, products and the company’s employees during this time. We plan to share an image each week to give a flavour of the archive. If you want to see more you can view the whole collection on our website.

This week’s image shows a vegetable rack.

To get a better view of the image and find out more have a look at it on our website http://www.modip.ac.uk/artefact/bxl--0696

We are still working on the documentation of the archive, some of the images we know more about than others. It would be fantastic if we could fill in some of the gaps in our knowledge, if you know anything about the company or specific images it would be good to hear from you.
Louise Dennis (Assistant Curator)

Friday 11 August 2017

Horners collection

The Museum of Design in Plastics houses two collections alongside our own.  One of these collections is that of the Worshipful Company of Horners.   

Here I will highlight just one of the objects in the collection.

Nit comb

Louise Dennis (Assistant Curator)

Monday 7 August 2017

A different view #59

There are many ways to look at the objects in the MoDiP collection.  With this series of posts I want to highlight the interesting views of objects that we may ordinarily miss.  These include the underside of an object, the surface pattern, or traces of manufacturing processes.


Title: Elephant
Designer:Charles and Ray Eames
Manufacturer: Vitra
Object number: AIBDC : 006729


Louise Dennis (Assistant Curator)

Friday 4 August 2017

Guess the object

MoDiP has the kind of collection that you may think you are very familiar with. We have objects which we all use every day, and some pieces which are more unusual.

By looking at this distorted image are you able to guess what the object is? What do you think it could be used for?


Post your answer in the comments below or to find the answer click here and you will be taken to the MoDiP catalogue.

Louise Dennis (Assistant Curator)