Image 1. Victoria Gallery & Museum (McCoy Wynne Photography)
Did you know that the Victoria Gallery & Museum (VGM) is part of the department of Libraries, Museums and Galleries so we often work closely with the team and the best part is, we get to visit the beautiful red-brick building often and call it work!
Nicola Euston, Head of Museums and Galleries, tells us how her team have adapted since the beginning of lockdown and continue to make the Museum collections, and much more, available to the public.
One of the first things we did was add additional content to the existing web pages enabling visitors to view exhibitions from their own homes. The team used Art UK’s Curations Tool to create online exhibitions, one of which has been selected by the Collections Trust as a prime example of displaying collections online.
One of our early successes came through participating in the BBC’s #MuseumFromHome day at the end of April. Our Curator of Art and Exhibitions selected various paintings from the collection that humorously highlighted what we were all missing during lockdown – but also what we could do during this time. This micro-exhibition, called 'Stay Home/Stay Safe', was shared in a series of tweets, each featuring a painting.
We have also been able to highlight weird and wonderful items from our collections through our new Objects in Focus blog, sharing blog posts by our curators to give an insight into some of the amazing and lesser-known items that we have.
We have always strived to be as accessible as possible, and Covid-19 has not changed that for us: it has just made us think about how we can work in different ways. Moving content online has allowed us to keep in touch with our existing audiences, but also reach new audiences. We are also investigating how we can further engage and support our students, whether that is through producing more YouTube videos or through the development of free online craft workshops. There have been numerous studies that show the benefit of the arts for improving health and wellbeing and we recognise the vital role that our collections play in supporting this!
Image 2. Craft activities
Our biggest challenge throughout this period was trying to create content when we did not have existing digital material. Being unable to access the building for several months prevented us from obtaining certain images and information, making things a bit trickier, but the team overcame this by resourcefully using what we did have access to and sourcing free software to create engaging content.
Since regaining access to the building for staff, we have created virtual interactive tours of the galleries and will continue to do so as we change our exhibitions over. Our fantastic volunteers have provided video footage that we have turned into YouTube videos to provide more information on the different areas of the building that would have previously been covered in a volunteer-led tour.
Image 3. Victoria Museum & Gallery interior (McCoy Wynne Photography)
Now that we are once again in lockdown, virtual exhibitions and online engagement are more important than ever. We are continuing to change our temporary physical exhibitions even though we have not yet reopened the galleries to the public. Virtual versions will be created and made available to everyone and we feel that this is important for our audiences who might not be able to visit us when we do reopen, or may be nervous about visiting and would prefer to engage with us from the comfort of their own homes.
Find out more about the Victoria Gallery & Museum and to view other online resources and activities provided by the University, visit the Culture at Home pages.
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