Ethnography Collection’s team

It would be impossible to take care of the collection without the help and commitment of our volunteer staff. This is the opportunity for us to thank them again for their amazing job. During last month, our staff was reinforced by John McNally from UCL Qatar, who chose to do his internship with us. He has been involved both in conservation and documentation projects and in the day to day activities of the collection. He explains everything in this post, written while he was still in the collection.
Thank you John for your help!

John McNally building conservation boxes

Hello everyone,

My name is John McNally and I am a student of Museum and Gallery Practice at UCL Qatar. I am currently doing a placement at the UCL Anthropology department’s ethnographic collection as part of my ongoing studies with UCL Qatar.
During my stay here I am looking to research the provenance and history of some 300 objects given to our collection here by the Wellcome Trust. Unfortunately, we have very little information on these objects held in the collection, so it’s up to myself and others to find out what they are and where they come from.
Typically when we think of damage done to an object we think of it in material terms. We think of the harm caused by biological decay, water, fire, war and general deterioration due to age. However, as detrimental to a collection as these agents may be, we often neglect to consider the damage done by the simple act of forgetting.
Collections held both by museum institutions and teaching collections seek to enlighten an audience by giving us the opportunity to encounter material things to better understand the world around us. However, if these things are divorced from their meaning and context then a collection is rendered largely useless and the distinction between curator and hoarder (a distinction which is perhaps shaky at the best of times) may be called into question.
So, for the next few weeks I will be pouring over archival material in the Wellcome Library in an attempt to sure up this distinction and ensure the collection here can fulfil its role as an indispensable tool for use in education within the department. This is why my work here is of great importance, and I feel privileged to take part in improving the collection in some small way.
I look forward to seeing many of you around the department, and if you have any questions or suggestions I’d be happy to hear them.

Until the next time.

John McNally.