Art Gallery & Museum Studies MA
I have recently completed Semester 2 year 2 of the Art Gallery & Museum Studies MA at the University of Manchester, and am currently writing my dissertation. For my thesis I am undertaking an autoethnographic account of my interactions with digital objects, exploring their potential to initiate visceral reactions and meaningful connections. In particular, I will be investigating their digital material characteristics. Blog posts primarily contain reflection on such virtual encounters, but also discuss theory and how it impacts my ideas, progress and research design. Previous blog posts were written whilst on placement with the Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool, and also during the design of an online exhibition about the disproportionate impact of Covid-19 on local communities in Manchester which was developed with a group of fellow students.
Volunteering at the Portico – Part 5
Over the past 2 months I have volunteered in a number of different capacities at the Portico library: Further book cleaning and minor-repairs using glue: using 3 different types of glue including ‘Cellugel’ described as ‘A safe, penetrating consolidant for leather book cover affected by red rot (powdery deterioration). Will not harm paper or other…
Volunteering at the Portico – Part 4: Conservation cleaning
For the second day of collections care or conservation cleaning with Jim, myself and another volunteer cleaned 2 shelves of oversized books including the shelf itself (shown in the photograph at the beginning of this post). Very simply we were instructed to do the following: Remove the books from the shelf and carefully carry them…
Volunteering at the Portico – Part 3
Over the past 2 weeks I have volunteered at the Portico during the following events: Thomas De Quincey’s Confessions of an English Opium Eater – talk by Journalist and Historian Ed Glinert. I was primarily responsible for preparing for the event, serving and selling drinks, arranging furniture and assisting people while they viewed and handled…
Abbie Hawkins - Professional Development Blog 