Wednesday 26 September 2012

Pitt Rivers on film

A guest blog by filmmakers Udi Mandel and Alan Mandel

How do you make a film about the Pitt Rivers and represent the work that goes on behind the scenes of the Museum and the people who make this happen? This was the challenge we faced when we were invited to make a film following the Small Blessings project. Now, seven months ad 50 hours of footage later we are concluding our encounter with the Museum and its staff which is depicted in our film 'Artisans of Memory', from which we have posted clips over the last few months.

The idea was to document the stages that objects (in this case, amulets) go through as they circulate through the Museum and its various departments. Each stage – cataloguing, researching, storing, conserving, photographing, displaying – involves particular people, practices and skills and reflects specific experiences and relationships to the Museum and its collections. We approached our film by spending time with the people involved in these stages, as well as those involved in education and interpretation, getting to know what they do, how they work, and how this relates to the overall work of the Museum.

Documentary films, especially ethnographic ones, are always an encounter between the filmmakers and their subject(s). We were lucky to have been given privileged access behind-the-scenes and entrusted to document the work of those working here. We were also fortunate to be guided by our producers, Helen Hales and Kate White, as well as other members of staff who helped shape the film.

Our relationship with the Museum did not start with this film but some years back when I worked as a lecturer on the visual anthropology MA at Oxford University’s Institute of Social and Cultural Anthropology (ISCA) and every week I walked through the Museum’s door to teach in its seminar rooms. Gradually I got to know some of the people working here and was eventually invited to make a film about a visit by the Haida (a First Nation group from Canada) to the Museum in 2008. This was followed by two further films with Alan Mandel as part of the Body Arts project, one on Tattooing and another on Henna painting, after which we got to know the Museum more intimately.

Documentary films are always partial, we do not claim to have made the film which represents all the Pitt Rivers Museum in all its richness, diversity and complexity – an impossible task. Each visitor and staff member no doubt has their own vision of what such a film would be like. What we did do was follow the work of those working here – the ‘artisans of memory’ – through a moment in time, following the stages of the Small Blessings project as a conduit and guide to life in the Pitt Rivers. Given that this project involved the initiation of two new cataloguers, Alice Carr-Archer and Rosanna Blakeley, into the practices and culture of the Museum, the film also takes the viewer on a journey through their learning and experiences as they become more skilled, confident and contemplative in their work.

Udi and Alan interview and film artist Emma Reynard who
ran a community art workshop as part of the Small Blessings project

As encounters, films are dialogic - the end result of what emerges through conversations. This is clearly seen in the dialogues in the film, notably the voices of the filmmakers and the questions we asked were edited out. Less obviously this is evident in the quality of the conversation which allowed the dialogue to emerge, the tone and texture of the interaction between filmmakers and subjects. Rare are the people who are entirely at ease appearing on film, especially one that addresses their professional lives. Invariably issues of the personal versus the professional surface along with questions of how to do justice to both. As filmmakers we were interested in both these aspects, in the Museum as site of professional practice and social organization, but also as a place filled with people who care about their work and who bring meaning, emotions, values and identities to what they do. As staff warmed to our presence and the film project, and were less daunted by the tasks involved, both of these qualities were more easily seen.

After seven months we have emerged with a film that is a representation of our encounter with the Museum and a number (though not all) of those who work there, partial and dialogic but faithful to our time here. Along the way we had to make some tough editing decisions guided by factors such as film length, a clear narrative thread, and a set of identifiable characters and stories. The film shows the Pitt Rivers Museum as a warehouse of activity, a collection of artisans who care about the multiple and diverse artefacts entrusted to them from numerous cultures across time and space and who are keen to make these come alive, each object and its many stories giving a small glimpse of what it is to be human.

Udi Mandel
http://www.bris.ac.uk/archanth/staff/butler

Alan Mandel
http://www.alanmandel.com/

'Artisans of Memory' is in the final phase of editing and will be available on the Small Blessings 'Multimedia' section next month

Thursday 20 September 2012

Small Blessings website now live!

Hooray, the Small Blessings website is now live! 

Visit http://web.prm.ox.ac.uk/amulets/ to see the fruits of our 7-month project including:

  • Themed galleries of 49 amulets
  • a biography of de Mortillet
  • the best entries in our amulet photograph competition
  • an amulet Museum trail
  • video podcasts with subject specialists
  • all of our behind-the-scenes film diaries
Happy browsing!  If you can spare us a couple of minutes to tell us what you think of the site, you'd really help us by filling out this quick survey. Thank you.


Small Blessings homepage
Helen

Tuesday 11 September 2012

Encouraging Words

Our Comments Book is a great way for us to find out what our visitors think - what they like about the Museum and what they think could be improved. 

I thought I'd share this comment as it is evidently from a fellow amulet enthusiast. Well, when you've got something important to say, you need a whole page!


Helen

Wednesday 5 September 2012

A Charming Send-off

All good things come to an end. Last week the Small Blessings project came to its official close and we saw the departure of both amulets and people from the staff areas of the Museum.

Over the past seven months, more than 3000 objects have been physically numbered, catalogued and photographed. What an achievement! But de Mortillet was no slouch when it came to collecting and there remains a large number of religious 'medals' or tokens that will be processed in due course.

Just a few of de Mortillet's many medals or tokens


Meanwhile, the catalogued amulets have been repackaged and boxed up, ready to return to the stores.

Boxes of amulets in transit to our storage facility 


Originally they were in huge, old-fashioned trunks but with much more economic and organised packing, they are now contained within slimmer archival boxes which take up much less valuable space on our very crowded shelves!

Finding a new home for the amulets


Each amulet has been given a location (a box and shelf number) so will be easy to find should we need to retrieve it for display purposes or a visiting researcher.

We also had to say goodbye to our three contract project staff - Charlotte, Alice and Rosanna. It was a bit of a sad day, despite the copious tea and cake, as they had all become part of the Museum and we will miss them. We wish them well with their future endeavours and hope that they've enjoyed their experience at Pitt Rivers. One thing's for sure - having worked with amulets from around the world to protect against every conceivable disease, misfortune and evil spirit, or designed to bring prosperity, health, fertility and good fortune, there was little need for us to wish them 'good luck'...

A lucky cuppa © The Moon's Hobby Store and More

Helen