We are very pleased to announce the inclusion of Amy (AJ) Salter's recent MA thesis in the Leiden University Student Repository. AJ Salter has been an intern and volunteer at the TRC since the end of 2021, and she wrote her MA thesis partly on the basis of her work at the TRC. Her thesis has the title: Handling Museum Objects:. Encouraging Touch in Cultural Heritage Institutions in the Netherlands (2022).
Congratulations, AJ!
In her own words:
AJ Salter, intern and volunteer at the TRC, recently submitted her thesis on museum and collection studies."My name is AJ Salter and I am a Canadian currently living in the Netherlands. I completed a Bachelor of Fine Arts with a minor in Art History at the University of British Columbia where I focused on textiles and sustainability through the medium of photography. I moved to the Netherlands to pursue personal connections as well as a Masters at Leiden University where I majored in Museums and Collections.
As a lover of textiles I had the pleasure of following an internship during my studies at the Textile Research Centre in Leiden where I am continuing my volunteer research work after graduation. As an international in the Netherlands I appreciate the interdisciplinary work of the TRC and the diverse topics that can be covered by textiles. I hope to continue my research about museum collections and textiles in the Netherlands and maintain my ties with Leiden University and the TRC."
AJ Salter at work at the TRC, Leiden.
Amy's thesis is published for the Leiden University Faculty of Humanities, with the specialistion of Museums and Collections. Her supervisor was Dr. M. Keblusek. A brief introduction is given below:
AJ Salter: Handling Museum Objects: Encouraging Touch in Cultural Heritage Institutions in the Netherlands (2022)
Touch and interactivity are becoming increasingly popular in museums after decades of more traditional museum practices. New approaches to experience culture are being developed. This thesis examines five cultural heritage institutions in the Netherlands and focuses on new practices relating to touching and interactivity with objects, and their display for a general public.
Touching textiles at the TRC: Workshop on the appliqués from the Street of the Tentmakers, Cairo, Egypt, early 2022.Niel Kotler's 2004 article "New ways of experiencing culture: the role of museums and marketing" provided me with a starting point for a discussion of the position of museums in a cultural framework and for emphasizing the importance of experiencing objects for educational purposes.
This thesis answers questions about what museums are currently doing with their collections in order to meet the growing public demand for increased accessibility to museum objects and for a deeper understanding of objects within the broader field of cultural heritage.
One of the main themes of the thesis is the question how touching and interactivity contribute to people's appreciation of objects, and which methods the various institutions use to achieve their objectives of improving the public's access to the collections. Each institution is discussed in depth, through an educational and exhibition lense. focussing on how touching and interactivity are applied,
The conclusion of the thesis is that museums are far more open to touching and interactivity than is often assumed, by both specialists in museum studies and by the public at large. The efforts made by museums stress their realisation of the importance of handling and close interaction with objects in order to increase public knowledge and understanding of their collection. These efforts are essential for the preservation of objects as well as for their associated techniques, stories, cultures, and histories for years to come.
7 August 2022
