Recontextualizing the George Brown Collection through Creative Ceramics

TY - JOUR

T1 - Recontextualizing the George Brown Collection through Creative Ceramics

AU - McHugh, Christopher

N1 - Reference text: Adams, Julie 2014. ‘Making the Past Present: Paul Montague in New Caledonia’, conference presentation, Pacific Presences: Oceanic Art and European Museums , Corpus Christi College, University of Cambridge, 24 March 2014. Adamson, Glenn 2009. ‘You Are Here’, in Edmund deWaal Signs andWonders: Edmund deWaal and theV&A Ceramics Galleries . London: V&A Publishing, pp. 33–47. Barker, David. and Teresita Majewski 2006. ‘Ceramic studies in historical archaeology’, in Dan Hicks and Mary C Beaudry (eds.) The Cambridge companion to historical archaeology . Cambridge and New York: Cambridge University Press, pp. 205–231. Brown, Deidre 2007. ‘Te Ahu Hiko: Digital heritage and indigenous objects, people and environments’, in Fiona Cameron and Sarah Kenderdine (eds.) Theorizing Digital Culture Heritage: A Critical Discourse . Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, pp.77–92. Brown, George 1908. 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Kith and Kin: New Glass and Ceramics Stage 2—The Crinson Jug . <http://www.twmuseums.org.uk/engage/blog/kith-and-kin-new-glassand- ceramics-stage-2-the-%E2%80%98crinson-jug%E2%80%99/> McHugh, Christopher J 2013. ‘Towards a Sunderland Pottery for the Twenty-First Century: Materializing Multiple Dialogues in Museum Display Through Creative Ceramics’, Journal of Museum Ethnography , no. 26: 71–88. McKay, Carol 2014. ‘Christopher McHugh Flotsam and Jetsam (Portmanteau)’, catalogue entry in Mike Collier (ed.) Wordsworth and Basho-: Walking Poets . Art Editions North, Manchester: Cornerhouse Publications, pp. 106–111. McLeod, Malcolm 1985. ‘Paolozzi and Identity’, in Eduardo Paolozzi Lost Magic Kingdoms and Six Paper Moons from Nahuatl: An Exhibition at the Museum of Mankind . London: British Museum Press, pp. 15–60. Newell, Jenny 2012. ‘Old objects, new media: Historical collections, digitization and affect’, Journal of Material Culture , 17(3): 287–306. Olsen, B 2010. 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PY - 2015/3/1

Y1 - 2015/3/1

N2 - The George Brown Collection has a complex and contested history, reflecting a range of personal and wider socio-political trajectories. Brown largely accumulated the collection between 1860 and 1907, whilst serving as a Methodist missionary in Oceania. The collection has had a number of homes over the years, exercising the endeavours of a variety of people. In 1986, the majority of it was controversially sold by Newcastle University to the National Museum of Ethnology (NME), Osaka, Japan. Between January and April 2013, I was the recipient of an Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) international placement which took place at the NME. Although my doctoral project, of which the placement formed part, focuses on Sunderland Museum & Winter Gardens’ (SMWG) collection of mainly nineteenth century Sunderland pottery (see McHugh 2013), researching the George Brown Collection enabled me to further test my approach to collection and community, albeit in a substantially different setting.This paper will reflect upon my attempt to investigate, through creative ceramic practice, what status and role the George Brown Collection has within the community at its current home in Japan. I will also explore parts of the collection which, for various reasons, remain in UK museums. It is hoped that these insights will contribute to discussions of how collections can be rejuvenated and reinterpreted in alternative ways, particularly through arts practice, leading to increased access and collaboration.

AB - The George Brown Collection has a complex and contested history, reflecting a range of personal and wider socio-political trajectories. Brown largely accumulated the collection between 1860 and 1907, whilst serving as a Methodist missionary in Oceania. The collection has had a number of homes over the years, exercising the endeavours of a variety of people. In 1986, the majority of it was controversially sold by Newcastle University to the National Museum of Ethnology (NME), Osaka, Japan. Between January and April 2013, I was the recipient of an Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) international placement which took place at the NME. Although my doctoral project, of which the placement formed part, focuses on Sunderland Museum & Winter Gardens’ (SMWG) collection of mainly nineteenth century Sunderland pottery (see McHugh 2013), researching the George Brown Collection enabled me to further test my approach to collection and community, albeit in a substantially different setting.This paper will reflect upon my attempt to investigate, through creative ceramic practice, what status and role the George Brown Collection has within the community at its current home in Japan. I will also explore parts of the collection which, for various reasons, remain in UK museums. It is hoped that these insights will contribute to discussions of how collections can be rejuvenated and reinterpreted in alternative ways, particularly through arts practice, leading to increased access and collaboration.

KW - george brown

KW - collection

KW - ethnography

KW - museum

KW - engagement

KW - ceramics

M3 - Article

VL - 28

SP - 85

EP - 106

JO - Journal of Museum Ethnography

T2 - Journal of Museum Ethnography

JF - Journal of Museum Ethnography

SN - 0954-7169

ER -