Behind the scenes at the museum

Today, 18 May, is International Museum Day and, in honour of our museum heritage, Flow is running a three-part series dedicated to museums. In this part, Flow Exhibitions CEO Janet Berger takes us behind the scenes of museum and exhibition work

On cold, wet, miserably short winter days in the north of England, the Bolton Museum was a haven of warmth, light and intrigue for two little girls. As a matter of course, grandparents would have to wait while my sister and I climbed the two imposing stone lions at the doorway. Then, it was a headlong dash to visit the favourite, creepy, dead people in the Egyptology Hall.

I suspect that these long-ago trips of my early childhood, which took me from the rather grim and grey reality of a Lancashire industrial town into the magical worlds of Ancient Egypt and other far-flung exotic places, were the beginning of my passion for museums and exhibitions.

Now, whenever I travel, my first level of research is to find the best museums to visit at any chosen destination. My family trembles at the prospect of the days when I am allowed to organise the itinerary, because of the scope and scale of museum visits that I envision we can fit in.

I find museums of all levels fascinating, from the buzz and energy of new edutainment venues like the Science Museum in London (which is all about scale and drama and awe-inspiring cleverness) to the quaint and somewhat archaic National Museum of Malaysia, in Kuala Lumpur. Here, stuck with display modes from the last century, bizarre nose flutes vie for attention alongside glossy beetles and you can learn how turbans are folded for Malaysian Royalty.

A learning experience like no other
For me, there is something powerful about the immersive environment of a museum or exhibition; it is a learning experience like no other. To see real artefacts and treasures is the only way to truly value their artistry, uniqueness, scale and importance. To see the detailed leathery skin of a 2 300-year-old man, preserved in the bogs of Ireland and on display at the Dublin Museum, imprints on your brain like no TV programme or book could ever do.

So, you can imagine my delight now to be behind the scenes at museums.

Flow Exhibitions is presently working on exhibition upgrades for Maropeng and the Ditsong Museum of Natural History in Pretoria. To understand how the Ditsong Museum works we were invited behind closed doors to visit the full collections, and to chat to the curators and researchers.

Exhibitions only reflect a miniscule part of what the museum is about, and it is behind the scenes, where collections are assembled, labelled, protected and researched, where most of the work happens.

It is also where a large amount of hidden magic resides, in rooms lined with old wooden cabinets, drawers open to reveal thousands of jewel-like butterflies dating back hundreds of years. In the bird facility, massive ostrich skeletons are seen alongside trays of tiny, fragile, beautifully hued eggs and imposing, taxidermic eagles in flight. It is uplifting to see the range of these vast treasures and the care taken to preserve and protect them for future generations.

It is also a huge privilege for our team to be part of the process of bringing the strange, magnificent, rare and valued parts of our history to the public’s attention through our exhibition designs.

While South Africans are not historically or habitually museum visitors, it is our hope that, through careful and creative interventions, this could change. Maybe future generations will not see a museum visit as just a welcome respite from the confines of a classroom, but as a transformative, entertaining and enlightening experience to enjoy again and again.