I’ve been doing curatorial work for 25 years. As I child I loved museums and used to spend my pocket money collecting their postcards of portraits, costumes, and four-poster-beds. When I graduated from Royal Holloway University of London with a degree in English Literature I decided to try and find a job in museums.
Whilst I was temping part-time, I volunteered at museums in Bristol, where I’m from originally, and Bath, where I learnt how to handle, pack and catalogue objects before getting a place to study Museum Studies at the University of Leicester.
At this stage, while the history of dress and textiles are my passion, I didn’t think I would be able to get a curatorial job related to them as they are few and far between, so I focused on developing skills and knowledge of collections management and digitisation.
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Both strands came together at my second job interview for a Project Assistant temporary post at Brighton & Hove Museums. After a patchwork of temporary and part-time permanent contracts there, including one helping to manage weddings held at the Royal Pavilion, I moved to Glasgow almost 20 years ago, to take up the permanent post of Curator of European Dress and Textiles.
I’ve been interested in dress and textile history from a young age. Originally it was because of the look and style of historical garments, but as I grew older, I also became fascinated by how they often reflect the wealth (or lack of), social status, and beliefs of the wearer or user, as well as the wider political, economic, and technological climate of the period.
Today I enjoy finding out about the makers and wearers of the past and then sharing and making these histories relevant to our visitors.
I’m very excited to be working at The Burrell Collection. As a curator I will be assisting in the development and occasionally participating in the public programme of talks, tours, and events when the building re-opens in March following its upgrade and redisplay
I will be helping to facilitate visitors to discover and find out more about not only the objects in the new displays, but also the wider collection through our online Collections Navigator, digital programme, and accessible stores. In due course I will also be working with colleagues and communities on future display rotations.
As dress and textiles are light sensitive, we try to put items out on display for limited amounts of time to protect them from fading. It does mean that some of our visitors may find that their favourite tapestries and embroideries are not always out, but it also means we can bring out textiles that haven’t been on display in Glasgow before, many of which I hope will become new family favourites.
I’m one of those annoying people who look forward to Monday mornings because I really enjoy my job.
The best thing for me is making connections between objects, places and people, whether that’s finding objects across the collection that relate to historical figures, discovering a previously unknown maker or wearer, or seeing our visitors connect with something they’ve seen, read or heard about an object – maybe it was just a cheerful anecdote that made them smile, but other times it may be something that resonates with their lived experience or sparks a new interest or skill.
The Burrell Collection, managed by the charity Glasgow Life, will reopen 29 March 2022 following an ambitious building upgrade and redisplay, for more information, visit: http://www.burrellcollection.com
