Maritime Museum Research Articles

Engaging Audiences on Ongoing Social Debates through Interactive and Immersive Exhibits

Museums have been influenced by technological innovations with a significant interest in so-called interactivity and the use of interactives has increased in the last twenty years (Kidd et al. 2011, 6). This takes place in an era when many museums have shifted attention from objects to processes with an aim of showing processes that bring them a recognisable relationship with the social issues . How do audiences engage in that process via the practices of interactivity? The audience engagement with digital interactives and interactive exhibits aspire to multi-dimensional spatial experiences. It is argued that these experiences allow numerous emotional, affective and personal encounters. This change alters the conditions of the audiences’ experience. Touch-screen interactives in the new galleries of the Museum of London aim to elucidate current debates on London. A large-scale interactive art installation in the new wing of the National Maritime Museum takes the visitors on a personal journey through climate change issues. Can interactivity via these environments integrate intuitive experiences and engage the audience in social debates? This paper discusses preliminary results from a qualitative research study that involves 107 audience interviews from both institutions that unveils ‘interactive engagement’ of audiences in relation to elements of emotions, curiosity, and factual knowledge.

The Edesö Wreck: the hull of a small, armed ship wrecked in the Stockholm archipelago in the latter half of the 17th century

In 2003 a well-preserved shipwreck was found north of Dalaro in the Stockholm archipelago. In 2007 and 2008 the site was surveyed jointly by archaeologists from the Swedish National Maritime Museum ...

Collecting across Cultures: Material Exchanges in the Early Modern Atlantic World ed. by Daniela Bleichmar, Peter C. Mancall (review)

Reviewed by: Collecting across Cultures: Material Exchanges in the Early Modern Atlantic World ed. by Daniela Bleichmar, Peter C. Mancall Zara Anishanslin Collecting across Cultures: Material Exchanges in the Early Modern Atlantic World. Edited by Daniela Bleichmar and Peter C. Mancall. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2011. 392pp. $49.95 (cloth); $29.95 (paper and e-book). Among the permanent exhibitions at the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich are two titled “The Atlantic: Slavery, Trade, Empire” and “Traders: The East India Company and Asia.” Seemingly worlds (or at least oceans) apart, these two exhibits are on the same floor and but a short hallway apart. In a matter of seconds, visitors to the museum can seamlessly shift from immersion in the world of Atlantic-based exchange to an apparently separate one revolving around the Indian Ocean. Clever visitors will soon realize (if they did not know already) that these worlds were not separate at all, and that the proximity of the two exhibits in the museum’s floor plan mimics the historical connectivity of these ostensibly separate regions. In much the same way, Collecting across Cultures: Material Exchanges in the Early Modern [End Page 883] Atlantic World goes beyond the regional promise of its title to trace the deep global connections embedded within the history of early modern collecting. In this well-illustrated, finely edited volume, coeditors Daniela Bleichmar and Peter Mancall give readers the intellectual experiential equivalent of stepping across the hall between Atlantic and Indian Ocean exhibits in the National Maritime Museum. Bleichmar and Mancall, fellow professors at the University of Southern California, bring together fourteen fascinating essays that place the history of collecting in its proper cross-cultural and transoceanic context, weaving back and forth between places as far flung as Peru, England, and Java. Famously, about a decade ago David Armitage wrote that “We are all Atlanticists now.”1 More and more, it seems, “We are all globalists now.” Or at least Atlanticists are often told that we should be so. In extending its geography beyond the confines of the Atlantic world suggested in the title, Collecting across Cultures fits neatly into current trends that call for expanding Atlantic world studies beyond the Atlantic to the Pacific, or indeed to the entire globe. Given the usefulness of regional confines for certain historical discussions, at times such calls can seem forced or even inappropriate. Readers of this compelling book will be convinced, however, that when it comes to the history of Atlantic world collecting, it is not only appropriate but also necessary to consider the region within a larger global context. Bleichmar and Mancall bring together an interdisciplinary, international group of art historians, historians, and museum professionals whose scholarship reminds us that Africa, Asia, and the Americas were not only places that were sources of exotic objects and images for Europe; they also were loci of collecting themselves. Africans, Asians, Native Americans, and Europeans alike were avid collectors. The meanings assigned to things (and people) by collectors shifted as they moved them around the globe, evidence of what Daniela Bleichmar, in her persuasive opening essay, aptly categorizes as the “slippery” nature of objects and cultural exchange. Or, to put it more specifically, as captivating essays by art historian Sarah Benson and historian Robert Batchelor, respectively, remind us: in the seventeenth century, European scientific instruments were as exotic in the court of the King of Siam as a Javanese keris, or ceremonial knife, was in London. [End Page 884] Readers might be less convinced by the book’s temporal expansiveness. Essays range from the early sixteenth to the latter half of the nineteenth century, and despite the very fine quality of the final two essays on the nineteenth century, readers might find being asked to stretch the temporal limits of the “early modern” period to the 1860s a bit discombobulating. For example, the final essay, by art historian Megan O’Neil, beautifully unpacks an album, Mexique, 1865, created by Louis Falconnet, a French officer stationed in Mexico during Emperor Maximilian’s occupation. Describing this collection as a “material record or cache of distilled memories” (p. 269), O’Neil raises valuable questions about differences between the personal souvenir and...

Sailors and Shelves: Renewing the Library at the Maritime Museum of British Columbia

This article examines the library collection at the Maritime Museum of British Columbia. It provides portraits of its collections and outlines their importance for maritime, genealogical, scholarly, and general interest researchers. As a little-known collection in an underfunded cultural institution, this library has not received the financial support it deserves and is thus confronting the deterioration of its artifacts. The museum board members and the collections manager have launched an initiative to fully catalogue and preserve the entire library. This article outlines their approach, which serves as an example for similar institutions.

The Galveston-Houston Packet: Steamboats on Buffalo Bayou by Andrew W. Hall (review)

Reviewed by: The Galveston-Houston Packet: Steamboats on Buffalo Bayou by Andrew W. Hall Barto Arnold III The Galveston-Houston Packet: Steamboats on Buffalo Bayou. By Andrew W. Hall. (Charleston, S.C.: The History Press, 2012. Pp. 144. Illustrations, map, tables, appendix, notes, bibliography, index. ISBN 9781609495916, $19.99 paper.) Andrew Hall's book The Galveston-Houston Packet: Steamboats on Buffalo Bayou is a welcome addition to both local history and the under-appreciated topic of water transportation in Texas. The author admirably succeeds not only on the level of local history but also in presenting an interesting and thoroughly researched maritime history. Hall is well suited for this research being a widely experienced and respected maritime historian, museum professional, and nautical archaeologist. Hall's deep knowledge of the Galveston Bay region is enhanced by his being native to the area. The route between Galveston and Houston was a vital one connecting the oceans of the world with the interior of Texas and the western United States. Hall explains how the riverboat leg connected and evolved with the railroads that grew vigorously after the Civil War. Railroads ultimately supplanted steamboats in importance, but the boats had a key role as long as roads were unpaved and the rail network incomplete. The author argues that the river steamboat should have an equal place alongside the dusty wagon train and the smoke puffing locomotive in our imagination of the American West. Chapter one covers the historical and geographical situation of Galveston Bay and the Texas coast, and in chapter two the author discusses the beginnings of steam navigation in the area. Hall uses the histories and stories of individual ships and their colorful captains throughout the book to show how the trade developed, flourished for but a few decades, [End Page 210] and then declined as the railroads gained ascendancy. The author relates the remarkable and interesting experiences of steamboat men, travelers, and merchants with a very enjoyable writing style. The trade began in the 1830s and saw its heydays in the 1840s and 1850s. By the 1870s and 1880s obsolescence set in. "The influx of settlers into Texas . . . during the period of the Texas Republic fueled the booming Buffalo Bayou trade. The 'great commercial emporium' of Houston . . . drove the upstream trade, while Galveston's preeminence as the leading port in the region guaranteed rapid growth" (112). Dry and stiff the account is not. At the same time, academic standards are very well met. With eight chapters in all, Hall follows the history in an evolutionary framework. He uses numerous period photographs, drawings, maps, newspaper advertisements, and quotes from letters and memoirs. In an interesting and skillful way these all provide life and understanding to the account. In the importance given to graphic illustrations the author parallels the present reviewer's own preferences. The Civil War and Reconstruction chapters are particularly well done, covering events such as Battle of Galveston. An appendix lists the boats that navigated the Galveston-Houston route with particulars on each. The author's map of Galveston Bay on pages 20-21 shows notable locations, hazards to navigation, and the sites of the most important historical incidents. A minor improvement might be to include a legend identifying the event for each number in addition to referencing the numbers in the text. The reviewer is happy to recommend this book to a wide audience: general readers, steamboat enthusiasts, and professional historians or nautical archaeologists. It sheds light on the important but little studied field of maritime history in Texas. Barto Arnold III Texas A&M University Copyright © 2013 The Texas State Historical Association

The natural history of scurvy: an introductory note

The articles in this volume were delivered as papers to a conference, also entitled The natural history of scurvy, held at the National Maritime Museum in March 2012. In the conference outline the ...

A Study on Development of Mobile Application Menu Structure through Analysis of Visitors' Movement for National Maritime Museum

A Study on Development of Mobile Application Menu Structure through Analysis of Visitors' Movement for National Maritime Museum

The Spectre of Empire in the British Art Museum

This article examines the virtual invisibility of colonial art in British art museums today, despite a wealth of recent scholarship calling for empire to be understood as central to British art history. While history museums tend to take a broadly inclusive view of the subject, fine-art institutions continue to define British art in its narrowest geographic sense, despite Britain’s imperial history. The art of colonial Britain is more likely to be seen in such institutions as the National Maritime Museum, where the grand oil paintings of artists such as John Webber and William Hodges sit comfortably within a narrative about British exploration and empire. The exhibitions and collection displays at Tate, on the other hand, effectively operate as the gate-keepers of an established British art-historical canon, despite the institution’s acquisitions policy, which promises to ‘frame and address changing historical narratives’. Why do colonial subjects continue to remain of minimal interest to British curators and directors today, despite a wealth of vigorous postcolonial scholarship over the last decade arguing that ‘the concept of empire belongs at the centre not the margins of British art’?

平成24年11月マリンエンジニアリング見学と講演会報告 -「なにわの海の時空館」の見学と講演会

平成24年11月マリンエンジニアリング見学と講演会報告 -「なにわの海の時空館」の見学と講演会

‘On Thin Ice’: The Polar Displays at the National Maritime Museum, Greenwich

The National Maritime Museum (NMM) holds one of the most important historical collections relating to Polar exploration in the UK. It includes artefacts relating to the great 19th century voyages of exploration to locate the Northwest Passage, as well as to the ‘heroic’ early 20th century expeditions of Scott and Shackleton. Many of the artefacts have a long history of display, and Polar exploration has been a near constant presence in the Museum since the 1950s.Representations of the Polar regions may seem to have little connection to British identity and Empire. However, the Arctic in the mid-19th century and the Antarctic in the 20th century can be seen as important places in their own right and central to constructing senses of national identity. There is a close link between the history of exploration and the history of Empire; Polar explorers were represented as heroic figures, providing powerful foci for the imagination of the nation. Polar exploration, Empire, science and national identity were interwoven.The impact of the end of Empire upon British culture and identity has been subject to much debate by historians. Although Empire has diminished in importance Polar exploration remained on display in the NMM, albeit in a number of different guises. This article investigates this phenomenon, the role museums play in promulgating ideas about Empire and nation, and asks what, if anything, happens to displays when Empire declines.

The Dreadnought and the Edwardian Age ed. by Robert J. Blyth et al. (review)

Reviewed by: The Dreadnought and the Edwardian Age ed. by Robert J. Blyth et al. Larrie D. Ferreiro (bio) The Dreadnought and the Edwardian Age. Edited by Robert J. Blyth, Andrew Lambert, and Jan Rüger. Aldershot, Hants and Burlington, Vt.: Ashgate, 2011. Pp. xii+244. 65. The British battleship HMS Dreadnought was launched in February 1906, just a few years after Edward VII ascended the throne. The ship was the brainchild of First Sea Lord Jacky Fisher, the hard-driving, forward-thinking admiral who, as a boy, had joined the Royal Navy aboard Horatio Nelson's old flagship HMS Victory. In the century that had passed since the battle of Trafalgar, warships and naval tactics had evolved in slow, halting steps. The all-big-gun, advanced-fire-control, steam-turbine-powered Dreadnought embodied a complete set of revolutionary technologies and tactics that instantly put paid to all previous battleships. Other navies were developing ships along the same lines—USS Michigan was already on the drawing board—but Dreadnought got there first. The name Dreadnought quickly became the metonym for the modern battleship, and its unique profile became instantly recognizable as an icon of British might. Over the subsequent century, the strategic and technological impact of Dreadnought has been written about and discussed perhaps more than any other warship of the twentieth century. Exactly one hundred years after its launch, a group of scholars convened at the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich, UK, to participate in an "experiment" (p. xiii) to examine, not the traditional "navalist" history of Dreadnought, but how it fits in a broader historiography. The eleven chapters in this fairly thin book are written by noted experts in their fields and place the ship within its symbolic, political, cultural, and operational contexts. Jan Rüger, who teaches modern European history, begins by showing how the Royal Navy, understanding the role of imagery in the projection of strategy, showcased Dreadnought's launch with a level of pomp and circumstance, including the use of newfangled searchlights, that would not be out of place in a modern Hollywood release. Andrew Lambert, an eminent naval historian, explains that Jacky Fisher chose the name Dreadnought very carefully; it is a fine old English word, first used by Queen Elizabeth I for one of her navy's ships. Martin Daunton, an economic historian, examines the shift in British taxation policies from tariff-heavy to those favoring a more progressive income tax, which allowed "the British government [to] afford both old age pensions and HMS Dreadnought and its successors" (p. 49). T. G. Otte, a specialist in diplomatic history, notes that "Britain's ability to project naval power was a component of her foreign policy" (p. 52). Dreadnought was an overt political statement aimed (unsuccessfully) at deterring foreign powers—notably Germany—from building up their fleets. Michael Epkenhans, author of numerous books on German military history, looks at Dreadnought [End Page 195] through the eyes of German admiral Alfred von Tirpitz, who at first saw the ship as a "golden opportunity" for Germany to build up its fleet and attain parity with Britain, since both navies were starting at "point zero" (p. 80). He came to rue this decision as Britain outspent and outbuilt Germany, and when war came, outfought it as well. In the next section, Lucy Delap and Max Jones look at Dreadnought as an icon in (respectively) "women's politics" (p. 95) and boys' papers. Delap describes with some irony how the Women's Social and Political Union took the aggressively masculine name of the ship for its suffrage paper The Woman's Dreadnought. The ship figured prominently in Boy's Own Paper and Chums as a continuation of their heroic representations of the navy and the sea. The final section locates Dreadnought within its more traditional historiography of technology and operations. Crosbie Smith, who has studied the concepts of efficiency and effectiveness in the works of Lord Kelvin, applies the same lens to Charles Parsons, developer of the steam turbine, and to the aforementioned Jacky Fisher. Naval analyst and historian Eric Grove provides a welcome potted history of HMS Dreadnought that would have perhaps been better placed at the beginning...

Negotiating historical distance: Or, how to deal with the past as a foreign country in heritage education

The current heritage fascination signals the omnipresence of the Present. Recently it has spawned a distinct type of teaching and learning: heritage education. In this article we argue that, despite its presentist connotations, heritage education offers interesting opportunities for understanding the foreignness of the past, a precondition for historical thinking. We examine how heritage education negotiates historical distance from affective, moral and epistemological perspectives. A comparison of two exhibitions on transatlantic slavery and some of their educational resources reveals distinctive constructions of historical distance. The Dutch NiNsee exhibition Child in Chains carries a strong affective and moral perspective through a bridging technique of rhyming. These perspectives can be adopted in assignments that discuss the synchronically compared contexts of past and present. The Atlantic Worlds gallery of the English National Maritime Museum constructs a more complex narrative with little reference to the present. Here students’ sense of the historical comes from the physical experience of authentic objects on display; some educational activities emphasise an epistemological perspective, allowing students to unravel the narrative plot. Precisely the performative dimension of heritage can challenge students in heritage education settings to make them aware of the dialectics of the pastness of the past and its inevitable presentness.

South Brisbane's Cultural Hub

Entering Brisbane's South Bank from the Victoria Bridge, we walk past the concrete 1980s Queensland Performing Arts Complex, the brick Queensland Conservatorium and the modern, glass-fronted ABC Broadcasting buildings, then past assorted cafes and pseudo-beaches until reaching the Ship Inn. Here, we enter an enclave of mid- to late-nineteenth-century architectural gems, surrounding and focusing on the small but tranquil South Brisbane Memorial Park (1923). Opposite the Ship Inn (1865), Cumbooquepa (1891) and South Brisbane Town Hall (1891–92), and adjoining the Maritime Museum (1881), at the eastern edge of South Bank Parklands stands a magnificent old building now known as the Griffith Film School. This building has been the cultural hub of South Brisbane for 130 years, and provides a stylish, heritage ‘bookend’ to today's South Bank Cultural and Educational Precinct.

British Veterinary Association annual general meeting, 2012

The 2012 annual general meeting of the British Veterinary Association was held at the Merseyside Maritime Museum, Liverpool, on September 29, at the end of the Association's annual congress

REVERSE ENGINEERING AND 3D MODELLING FOR DIGITAL DOCUMENTATION OF MARITIME HERITAGE

Abstract. heritage in general. Despite this has been stressed with emphasis, three dimensional modelling of maritime cultural heritage is still not usual as for archaeology and architecture. Three-dimensional modelling in the maritime heritage needs particular requirements. Objects to be recorded range from small replicas in maritime museums up to full-scale vessels still in operation. High geometric accuracy, photorealism of final model and faithful rendering of salient details are usually needed, together with the classical requisites characterising the 3D modelling-from-reality process, i.e. automation, low cost, reliability and flexibility of the modelling technique. In this paper, a hybrid multi-technique approach is proposed for maritime heritage preservation and, as case study, the 3D modelling of a 3-meter-long scale model of a historic warship, the "Indomito", is presented. The survey is placed in a wider project aiming to realize the virtual maritime museum of Parthenope University of Naples, for making it available to a wider public and also preserving its cultural heritage. Preliminary results are presented and discussed, highlighting relevant aspects that emerged during the experiment.

Finding the Form of an Irregular Meshed Steel and Glass Shell Based on Construction Constraints

In the context of the search for an efficient structural shape to cover the Dutch Maritime Museum courtyard in Amsterdam, Netherlands, the authors briefly discuss the driving design factors that influenced the earliest glass roof coverings. The trends that emerged during the late 20th and early 21st century in the design of skeletal steel glass shells are exposed. These design developments range from sculptural to geometric and structural intentions. The discussion of the competition design development of the Dutch Maritime Museum steel glass shell roof shows the quest for a structurally efficient catenary form based on a poetic geometric idea. This paper presents a construction-driven design methodology that slightly adapts the numerical form found catenary shape with the objective of achieving planarity in all the triangulated, four-sided and five-sided mesh faces. The challenge of facet planarity is gracefully solved by an analytical origami approach and presented. This approach is compared with finding the Maxwell reciprocal network diagram. The final faceted shape shows elegance and structural efficiency.

Memory in the maritime museum: objects, narratives, identities

Maritime museums constitute an individual interdisciplinary chapter in the museum studies and heritage studies literature. Broadly speaking, on an academic level, maritime museums have been researc...

Bound by sea and pressed for time: geographical and transient dimensions of seafaring heritage in two Australian maritime museums

Of the different museums commemorating Australia’s past perhaps none are more popular – or potentially problematic, philosophically, aesthetically and politically – than maritime museums. In recent years there has been considerable interest in the nation’s seafaring history, helped along by new museums established on both sides of the country. Like any museum dealing with the past, maritime museums are no less likely than others to make for anachronistic history. They may ignore or fail to take their cue from a past composed of varied and different sensibilities and experiences to our own in order to compose a comprehensive account of seafaring cultures. Perhaps this is even more likely given the tendency to treat the sea, ships and boats with forgetfulness and nostalgia. However, in Australia, is this romance sustainable given the complexities of the nation’s maritime heritage? This paper explores the latent messages of two Australian maritime museums to show how the narratives conveyed therein are variations on the theme of ‘transience’. It describes how exhibits and displays work to manipulate the geographical and temporal aspects of seafaring so they make all arrivals largely inevitable and relative to one place and nation: Australia.

Technology Museums in Denmark

This article presents an exhibit review of some of the major technology museums in Denmark. First comes an introduction to the Danish museum "landscape." Second a total of six museums and their technology-focused exhibits are presented. Among the museums are the Fisheries and Maritime Museum in Esbjerg, housing one of the most impressive and representative exhibitions on the technology behind the strong Danish maritime sector. Another museum being mentioned is the Energy Museum, which covers the background for some of the major breakthroughs performed in Denmark within this area, particularly within wind power technology. Finally special attention is devoted to the Danish Technological Museum, the oldest and most elaborate of all the technology museums. The museum covers virtually every technological breakthrough with any relevance in a Danish section, with a special focus on aviation and electricity.

Seaworthy Saga

The creation of a mostly underground extension to London’s National Maritime Museum and the renovation of the interior of one of the facility’s historically protected buildings made for an adventure worthy of any seafaring yarn, complete with the discovery of skeletons. But despite the challenges of working within an area appearing on the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization’s World Heritage List, the design team completed the project ahead of schedule and well before this summer’s Olympic Games.