National Windrush Museum’s Post

The Spring 2024 issue of Exhibition journal is now out. “Alternative Realities” surveys many ways exhibitions can question existing systems and open pathways to new and more equitable futures. At a time when what divides us can feel almost insurmountable, authors share how they are harnessing hope, challenging prevailing narratives, and upending established museum practices as they seek to reshape our vision of what is possible—within and beyond the museum. Exhibition is a journal of exhibition theory and practice for museum professionals published by the American Alliance of Museums. To learn more about the journal, this issue, past issues, and how to subscribe, check out: https://lnkd.in/eE5Vm9hR #museums #exhibitions #exhibitiondesign

Exciting News from Royston Museum! Royston Museum has secured funding from the North Herts Prosperity Fund and the Brian Leslie Racher Trust to upgrade the Collections Store and Art Store this winter. These improvements will boost storage capacity by 30%, helping to better preserve the Museum’s collections. To complete the work, the Museum is temporarily closed and plans to reopen in time for the February half-term. Follow @RoystonMuseum on social media or sign up to receive updates on the progress! To read this and more visit: https://lnkd.in/e4CxNV4v #RoystonMuseum #MuseumUpdates #RoystonHistory #MuseumNews #LocalHistory #CommunityNews #ReadMore

Thanks so much to the folks who attended our webinar last week—your questions were great and we learned a lot from you! In fact, we'd love to get more feedback from the museum community: Are you a museum or cultural institution that uses multiple systems for storing and collecting data? If so, could you spare 15 min to a half hour to talk to us for market research purposes? Let us know in the comments! #museums #museumdata #museumtech #museumanalytics #usmuseums

My latest blog post for the Museum of the Order of St John for @explorearchives is now available! Follow the link below to find out about a historical disco of sorts. https://lnkd.in/ehb4Xm-y  #ExploreYourArchive #EYADisco

We love expert guidance and actionable steps that help save precious time on research. Even if you’re not starting a new initiative, toolkits can be great for staying up to date on innovations and best practices in the museum sector. The only problem is that museum toolkits are usually scattered hither and yon across the web. Wouldn’t it be nice to have a repository of sorts? Come see the list at https://lnkd.in/gQHXGY9Q. Folks are out there doing LOTS of legwork to help other institutions thrive. It makes sense to take a closer look. #museumtools #museumresources #museumprofessionals #museumpros  #museummanagement #museumwork #museumsupport #museumeducation #museuminnovation #museumcommunity #museumstrategy

Yale Peabody Museum recently unveiled its first temporary exhibition since reopening, a unique collaboration with the Wu Tsai Institute, "Mind/Matter: The Neuroscience of Perception, Attention, and Memory." The exhibition was curated by Daniel Colón-Ramos, Associate Director of the Wu Tsai Institute and Director of the Center for Neurodevelopment and Plasticity. The exhibit features interactive stations, visual illusions, AI tools, and more, showcasing scientific contributions from Wu Tsai Faculty Members including Pietro de Camilli, Damon Clark, Luciano Floridi, John Lafferty, Kia Nobre, Cristina Rodriguez, Shreya Saxena, and Nick Turk-Browne. Read more: https://lnkd.in/eqSXVGfm

My latest blog post for the Museum of the Order of St John for @explorearchives is now available! Follow the link below to find out about some huge records in the St John Archive! https://lnkd.in/eeutWPXe  #ExploreYourArchive #EYAHuge

Did you know there's a difference between a car collection and a car museum? While Klairmont Kollections initially started off as a private collection, we now function as a fully public not-for-profit museum. Use this graphic to learn about the differences between the two! Want to learn more? We wrote a whole blog post about the difference - and about why we decided to make the switch. Read our blog post here: https://lnkd.in/gDu-zhhX

The Enigma machine was a sophisticated cipher device used by Germany during World War II to secure military communications. Capable of producing 150 quintillion possible settings, it was considered nearly impossible to decode. Originally developed in the Netherlands for transmitting banking secrets, the technology was acquired by Germany in 1923 for intelligence purposes. Polish intelligence made the first significant breakthrough by acquiring an Enigma machine and codebook from a French agent in the 1930s. Recognizing their inability to fully crack the code before Germany’s invasion, the Poles shared the machine and their research with the Allies. This pivotal transfer laid the groundwork for Allied code-breaking efforts. At Bletchley Park in Britain, a team of cryptographers, mathematicians, and engineers—including figures like Alan Turing—worked tirelessly to decipher Enigma-encrypted messages. By the war's end, they were decoding 10% of German communications, a critical advantage that provided vital insights into enemy operations. This effort was supported by the development of the world’s first electromagnetic computers, which automated much of the decryption process. The Enigma machine itself underwent several modifications, evolving from a design with three rotors to a more complex version with five. This increased encryption complexity forced the Allies to continually obtain updated machines and codebooks through espionage and captured materials. The intelligence gained from breaking the Enigma code was instrumental in the Allied war effort, influencing military strategies and operations. The success of the code-breakers at Bletchley Park not only shortened the war but also marked a milestone in the development of modern computing and cryptography. Today, the Enigma machine is regarded as a symbol of both human ingenuity and the importance of intelligence in warfare, celebrated as a key artifact of World War II history.

Have you ever wondered how works of art make it into museums? Our very own Dr. Joanna M. Gohmann, object historian and provenance researcher, discusses the work that goes into unearthing and documenting the lives of objects: https://s.si.edu/3TW2TCW #SmithsonianAsianArt #Provenienzforschung #ProvenanceResearch #TagderProvenienzforschung