Research and Cultural Collection guide booklet - University of ...

Foreword 4Introduction 6The Danford Collection of WestAfrican Art and Artefacts 8The Institute of Archaeologyand Antiquity Museum 10Collection of HistoricPhysics Instruments 12The Biological Sciences Collection 14Medical School Collection 16The Silver and Plate Collection 18University Heritage Collection 20The Campus Collection of Fineand Decorative Art 22What we do 28Visit us 30Map 30Text by Clare Mullett, Assistant University CuratorAcknowledgements: Karin Barber, Holly Grange, David Green,Graham Norrie, Jonathan Reinarz, Dave Roach, Gillian Shepherd,Chris Urwin, Sarah Whild, Robert Whitworth and Inga WolfGraham Chorlton (b. 1953) View (detail). Acrylic and oil on canvas, 2008.

The Danford Collection of West African Art and Artefacts

4 Research and Cultural Collections: An introductionResearch andCultural CollectionsForeword by Dr James Hamilton, University CuratorFollowing an initiative taken in 1991 by the then Vice-Chancellor Sir Michael Thompson and the Registrar DavidHolmes, a survey was made of the miscellaneous groupsof pictures, sculpture, artefacts, and ceremonial objectsthat were to be found in and around the University.Sue Armitage led the survey, working with the photographerRon Swift, and the unexpected new knowledge they gainedgalvanised the University into appointing a part-time curatorto begin the task of cataloguing, organising and assessingthese newly identified collections, and any others whichmight later emerge.In the subsequent seventeen years the UniversityCollections (renamed in 2008 the Research and CulturalCollections) has developed through the incorporation ofthe Danford Collection of West African Art and Artefacts,the Archaeology Museum, the Historic Physics Instruments,the Historic Medical Artefacts, as well as the Fine ArtCollection (including outdoor sculpture), the UniversityCeremonial Silver Collection and the University Portraits.It is one of the most interesting, varied and active Universitycollections in the country, operating without its own centralmuseum building.The germ from which all university collections develop isthe acknowledgement that objects can uniquely loosenthe professor’s tongue and widen the understandingof students. Research priorities change over time andit follows that the value of a particular collection toacademics and students will correspondingly fluctuate.It is the job of the University Curator to distinguishbetween the use and the care of university collections,and to manage the continually evolving balance betweenthese two principles. Museum objects are repositories ofknowledge and information, but, more than books which areusually replaceable, they may also be the facts themselves.Since the mid-1990s a programme of redisplayhas continued in line with historical precedent. Whenthe University moved to Edgbaston in 1900 the newbuildings incorporated eight separate museums attachedto departments to aid teaching, and this practice was usedas a model for the 1990s. The Danford and ArchaeologyCollections were the first to be given museum-quality displaycases in their departments, thus drawing collections andteaching tightly together so that staff and students wouldbe constantly aware of the presence in their departmentsof their historic objects, and of their teaching value.The University’s art collections grew from the 1960sthrough the dedication of a small number of determinedacademics including Professors Janusz Kolbuszewskiand Anthony Lewis, Angus Skene and Kenneth Garlick.Together they laid the foundations of the collections withcommissions and acquisitions of work by artists includingWilliam Gear, Barbara Hepworth and Peter Lanyon. Theirexample encouraged the University to continue to fosterthe art collections from the 1990s, adding works by SoniaLawson RA, Julian Meredith, Humphrey Ocean, NicholasPope, John Walker, Austin Wright and others. Perhapsthe most generous recent gift was the sets of prints andthe bequest of plasters by Sir Eduardo Paolozzi RA.While being rich sources for teaching and research, theUniversity’s Research and Cultural Collections also havea vital decorative function. Buildings need pictures andsculpture, and continued campus enhancement is a centralplank of their purpose. Paolozzi’s monumental Faraday atWest Gate and Hepworth’s Ancestor I in University Squareare celebrations and signposts of our confidence in ourlandscape and in ourselves. Collections create a sense ofplace, as the high unsolicited and continuous demand fromcolleagues for art for their buildings further demonstrates.

Research and Cultural Collections: An introduction5Detail of Egyptian Anthropoid Wooden Coffin Lid of Ahmose.Painted wood, 500 BC.We would not have been able to develop the use andcare of the collections without the help of many peopleincluding Phyllis Benedicz, Holly Grange, Alan Leary,the late Binnie van der Raay, Gillian Shepherd, RobertWhitworth, Inga Wolf and our many volunteers. Mycolleague Clare Mullett, Assistant University Curatorsince 2002 and the author of this booklet, is persistentand unflagging in her work for the University.The Research and Cultural Collections are a brightlycoloured twist in the fabric of the University. The Universitywould function without them, but it would indeed be adrab place.Eduardo Paolozzi (1924–2005)Moonstrips Empire News. Screenprints on paper, 1967.Displayed in the entrance to the School of Law

6 Research and Cultural Collections: An introductionIntroductionFrom Archaeology to Zoology, from West African Masks to modern Britishlandscape paintings, the University of Birmingham Research and CulturalCollections hosts a vast range of extraordinary artefacts that play a valuablesocial, cultural and educational role in campus life and in wider communities.The Research and Cultural Collections is an array ofcollections on campus which variously play ceremonial,commemorative, decorative and didactic roles in Universitylife. The collections are housed in departments relevant totheir origins or purpose, and are dispersed throughout thecampus into the very places where students and staffstudy and relax.The Research and Cultural Collections is one of fiveindependently-managed museum structures at theUniversity of Birmingham. Along with the Barber Instituteof Fine Arts, the Lapworth Museum of Geology, SpecialCollections and Archives, and Winterbourne BotanicGarden, we provide a breadth and diversity in culturalassets ranging from public museums to small specialistresearch collections.The University displays and teaches from thousandsof objects within several distinct collections in theResearch and Cultural Collections. They are the DanfordCollection of West African Art and Artefacts, the Instituteof Archaeology and Antiquity Museum, the Collection ofHistoric Physics Instruments, the Biological SciencesCollection, the Medical School Collection, the Silverand Plate Collection, the University Heritage Collectionand the Campus Collection of Fine and DecorativeArt. There are also important objects which are yet tobe formalised into collections, such as an historicallyinteresting group of Chemistry artefacts. These includeequipment used by Nobel Prize winner Sir NormanHaworth when he synthesised Vitamin C at Birminghamin the 1930s, and various synthesised chemicals andcompounds such as rubber and Terpene from theUniversity’s original Applied Chemistry Museum.There are also a number of artefacts that relate tothe development of computing.Since our beginnings, objects have been integral toteaching and research at the University of Birmingham,with the result that some collections are embeddedwithin various academic departments. Other collectionsenhance their environment, and offer inspiration andenlightenment to all.The Research and Cultural Collections is a registeredmuseum. If you would like to know more about thecollections, please visit us online at www.rcc.bham.ac.ukor make an appointment to visit in person.

8 Research and Cultural Collections: An introductionThe Danford Collection ofWest African Art and ArtefactsThe Danford Collection of West African Art and Artefactscelebrates the extensive cultural traditions and artisticexpression of countries in West Africa.The Danford Collection ranges from domestic andceremonial utensils to contemporary fine art, andis one of the finest collections of its kind in Europe.The collection is an active teaching resource in theUniversity, comprising approximately 800 objects,including woodcarving, metalwork, pottery, textiles,painting and domestic and votive objects.The nucleus of the collection was collected between1943 and 1957 by John Danford OBE, a professionallytrainedartist who was for some years a British Councilrepresentative in Nigeria. Danford lent the collection initiallyto University College, Ibadan, Nigeria (1957–63), but in themid 1960s he moved it to the University of Birmingham’sCentre of West African Studies (CWAS). Carvings andother artefacts acquired during Danford’s final posting inSierra Leone (1966–69) were added in July 1970, sometwo months before his death.The Danford Collection was purchased by the Universityfrom Danford’s estate in 1975, with help from the W ACadbury Charitable Trust, John Cadbury, and the Victoriaand Albert Museum Purchase Grant Fund. It has beenregularly augmented by gifts, bequests and loans fromvarious donors, notably Sister Evelyn Bellamy, whosecollection of Ghanaian artefacts were donated in 1968.E H Duckworth, founding editor of NIGERIA magazinewho was an influential patron of Nigerian craftsmen duringthe 1930s, was another generous donor, as was W ACadbury who contributed artefacts collected in Angolaand the Gold Coast (now Ghana) between 1908 and1931, and Pete Tunley who has lent a wide range ofHausa craftsmen’s tools and craft products collectedin the mid 1970s.The strength of the collection lies mainly in the Yorubamaterial Danford assembled while in Ibadan in the early1950s, stemming from his role as a patron of traditionalcarvers such as Bamgboye and Lamidi Fakeye at a timewhen chiefly and religious patronage was already declining.Their magnificent sculpted masquerade head-pieces,houseposts and divination bowls form the centrepiece ofthis beautiful collection. The oldest pieces in the collectionare approximately 100 years old and the collection is stillgrowing. Members of CWAS visit African countries everyyear and bring back objects to augment the collection.The Danford Collection is popular with both staff andstudents on campus and is an important resource forschools in the West Midlands and the local communityin general. Education groups visit the collection to beinspired by its contents, and respond to the artefactsby producing their own versions. The collection alsohosts musicians who perform traditional African musicand teach education groups about African instrumentsand song. The Centre of West African Studies regularlyholds poetry readings and performances by prominentAfrican, Caribbean, Black British and related writersand artists in the Danford Room amongst the collection.Those who have performed include Linton Kwesi Johnson,Niyi Osundare, Kwame Dawes and Femi Oyebode.Centre of West African Studies, Arts Buildingt: 0121 414 5128e: cwas@bham.ac.uk

10 Research and Cultural Collections: An introductionThe Institute of Archaeologyand Antiquity MuseumThe Institute of Archaeology and Antiquity Museum is an actively usedteaching collection of approximately 2000 examples of Greek, Mycenaean,Roman and Egyptian pottery, funerary, domestic and religious objects.In the University of Birmingham’s early days, JohnHopkinson, an enthusiastic lecturer in Greek, purchasedantiquities to be used for inspiring his students andexciting their historical imagination. He was granted£100 to spend on Greek Archaeology, and thus thenucleus of the collection was formed.In addition to the displayed objects, there is a large andvaluable collection of pot sherds, assembled over thetwentieth century by members of staff from the Instituteof Archaeology and Antiquity (IAA). The rediscoveredEgyptian sarcophagus lid from Beni Hasan, Egypt, c.550BC, is a highlight of the collection. It was cleanedin 2001 in order to remove dirty paraffin wax pouredover the lid in the early twentieth century in an attemptto ‘age’ it. The restoration revealed freshly coloured paintand also traces of gold leaf applied to the human facecarved on the lid. The sarcophagus was given by JohnGarstang, excavator of Beni Hasan, to the University in1904, and was subsequently displayed for many yearsat Leamington Spa Museum.Advances in technology gave the University’s archaeologistsfurther clues as to the contents of a Canopic jar madein Ancient Egypt to hold vital organs as part of themummification process. After being CT scanned,medical experts from the Queen Elizabeth Hospitalconfirmed that the jar contains an organ with the densityof liver or intestines. After further analysis it should bepossible to obtain more information about the persondescribed in the jar’s hieroglyphics and the period inwhich he lived. In this respect, IAA’s study of the ancientworld has benefitted from inter-disciplinary research andtechnological advancement and has produced a valuablenew ‘reading’ of information within an object that hasbeen analysed numerous times.The Institute of Archaeology and Antiquity’s Visualand Spatial Technology Centre (VISTA) is one of thebest equipped archaeological visualisation laboratoriesin Europe. In 2003 an ancient terracotta stemmed cupmade in East Greece in the seventh century BC wasscanned in the VISTA centre to create a 3D image andreconstructed in metal by the University’s Departmentof Metallurgy and Materials using modern technologiesbased on those used by Ancient Greeks.The Archaeology and Antiquity Museum is a majorteaching and research resource for the departmentand is also the home to an undergraduate MuseumStudies option.Institute of Archaeology and Antiquity,Arts Buildingt: 0121 414 5497e: arch-ant@bham.ac.ukwww.iaa.bham.ac.uk/museum/museum.htmwww.vista.bham.ac.uk

Research and Cultural Collections: An introduction13J&W Cary. Celestial Globe. 1816 (detail).Selection of Galvanometers and other Scientific InstrumentsSociété Centrale de Produits Chimique.Curie Gold Leaf Electroscope, late 19th century.W Jones of Holborn, LondonA New Portable Orrery. Painted metal, late 18th century.Max KohlHelmholtz’s Resonators. Brass on wooden base, late 19th century.

14 Research and Cultural Collections: An introductionThe BiologicalSciences CollectionZoologyThe Zoology Collection comprises approximately 2000zoological specimens, of which around half are liquidpreserved specimens, collected for teaching purposessince the 1880s. The spirit collections contain examplesof most major invertebrate and some vertebrate groups.The remainder comprises skeletal and mounted specimensof mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians and pinned insects.There is also a collection of microscope slides. The Schoolof Biosciences has a display case in the reception areawhich shows regularly changing exhibitions of zoologicaland related material.School of Biosciences, Zoologyt: 0121 414 5465e: c.m.urwin@bham.ac.ukHerbariumThe University Herbarium, or botany collection, containsapproximately 75,000 specimens of national importance,collected over more than one hundred years by botanistsfrom all over Britain. It includes material from local floracollections such as that amassed by Augustin Ley(1842–1911) whilst writing his book A Flora ofHerefordshire (1889).The collection is mainly comprised of vascular plants, butthere are also good examples of local bryophytes (mossesand liverworts.) There are also some significant collectionsof critical taxa that are of national importance includingRubus and Hieracium, or brambles and hawkweeds.Access to the Herbarium is limited but a digital repositoryis being developed. Enquiries about research loans andthe digital repository should be directed to the HerbariumCurator, Dr Sarah Whild on the following contact details:School of Biosciences, Herbariumt: 01743 355137e: s.j.whild@bham.ac.ukhttp://herbariaunited.org/athomeThe Biological Sciences Collections are curated by theSchool of Biosciences.

Research and Cultural Collections: An introduction15Selection of specimens from the Zoology collectionPlease supply imageZoologyArachis Monticola upper Volta Specimen. Herbarium (detail)Selection of butterflies from the Zoology collectionSelection of preserved reptile specimens from the Zoology Collection

16 Research and Cultural Collections: An introductionMedical School CollectionThe Medical School Collection contains a number of interesting historicalitems which reflect the development of particular specialties, includinganatomy, ophthalmology and dentistry, and artefacts which reflect thedevelopment of the medical school and medical education more generally.Items relating to the history of anatomy and pathologyare particularly rich. For example, the collection includesa rare group of late nineteenth and early twentieth-centuryanatomical wax models originally used for demonstrations.Relating to the history of embryology, the specimens weremade by the well known German modeller, Friedrich Ziegler.They are now used for teaching the History of Medicine.An extensive historical pathology collection, theChamberlain Museum of Pathology, surrounds a busystudy area in the Medical School. The collection datesback to the mid-nineteenth century and is still used forteaching pathology, although many specimens reflectconditions that are no longer prevalent in Britain, and soonly have an historical interest. A particularly interestingspecimen is the diseased hand of the pioneer radiologistJohn Hall-Edwards (1858–1926), whose hand wasamputated after developing skin cancer as a result ofexperimenting with x-rays on himself. The ChamberlainMuseum of Pathology is principally directed at medicalstudents and managed by the Medical School.Modern engraved glass surrounding the student commonrooms in the Wolfson Wing depicts scenes from AndreasVesalius’ anatomical Renaissance study De Humani CorpisFabrica (On the Fabric of the Human Body), anotherreminder of the centrality of anatomical knowledge tomedical training, past and present. In addition, the MedicalSchool displays numerous paintings and sculptures whichreflect its history. These include portraits of distinguishedphysicians who played key roles in the development of theteaching and practice of medicine in Birmingham over thepast two hundred years. Of particular note are two portraitsof the school’s founder, William Sands Cox, in his youthand old age, and a bust by Jacob Epstein depictingProfessor Dame Hilda Lloyd, the first female President ofthe Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists(1949–52).A recent donation of more than 700 artefacts whichformerly comprised the Nursing History Group Museumcomplements the existing collection and provides a usefulresearch tool for medical students studying in the Centrefor the History of Medicine. A handsome nineteenthcenturymedical cabinet, complete with early twentiethcenturymateria medica and donated by the family of ageneral practitioner who worked in the Midlands, makesan important historical addition. Similar donations includethe complete collections of early texts in the fields ofdentistry and ophthalmology.t: 0121 414 6804e: j.reinarz@bham.ac.uk

Research and Cultural Collections: An introduction17Friedrich ZieglerWax Anatomical Model, late 19th century.Cornelius Saftleven (1607–1681)The Ages of Man. Oil on canvas.Friedrich ZieglerWax Anatomical Model of a Human Foetus, late 19th century.Henry Room (1803–1850)Portrait of William Sands Cox (1802–1875). Oil on canvas, late 1840s.Friedrich ZieglerWax Anatomical Model of a Human Heart, late 19th century.Jacob Epstein (1880–1959)Dame Hilda Lloyd. Bronze bust, 1951.

18 Research and Cultural Collections: An introductionThe Silver and Plate CollectionThis collection, which is entirely ceremonial, comprises silver andplate commissioned for and presented to various departments orschools within the University during the twentieth century.Principal among it are the two ceremonial maces:one, the Arts and Crafts University Mace, was madein 1900 by Philip Webb, and the other, the CentenaryMace, was made by Claire Davies commissioned in 2000by the Birmingham Assay Office for the University. Themaces are carried at every graduation ceremony. Otherobjects include bowls, goblets, salvers and candlestickscommissioned over the years by the Senior CommonRoom, the Guild of Graduates, Chancellor’s HallAssociation, University House, the Holdsworth Club(Law), the Medical School, the School of Dentistry, theDepartment of Chemical Engineering, St Francis Halland the Munrow Sports Centre. The silver is mainlykept in store but is used at congregation dinners andother special occasions.t: 0121 414 6750e: rcc@contacts.bham.ac.ukUniversity Mace designed by Phillip Webb.Silver parcel gilt with enamel, garnet and chalcedony inlay, 1902.

Research and Cultural Collections: An introduction19Robert Welch. Modernist condiment sets, 1964.Barker Bros. Edwardian three piece oval semi-reeded teapot, 1902.One of a pair of late Victorian baluster fluted peppers, 1888.

20 Research and Cultural Collections: An introductionUniversity Heritage CollectionMany objects in the University collections throw light on itshistory and developing traditions. These include commemorativeportraits, ceremonial robes and personal effects of some notablestaff and students.Objects range from the first key to the University, tothe small Union Jack taken on the Challenger SpaceMission which in 1985 carried a telescope built at theUniversity into earth orbit. There is material relating to thetwo World Wars, including a quilt embroidered by soldiersconvalescing in the Great Hall when this was used as ahospital from 1914–18, and shrapnel found by studentsafter an air raid in 1940. The collection also includesarchitectural fixtures and fittings such as Rolls ofHonour and commemorative plaques.The precursor of the University of Birmingham was JosiahMason’s Science College, first opened in 1880. Masoncame from modest beginnings, which drove his desire tocreate a college which was ‘easily accessible to persons ofall classes, even the humblest.’ The façade of the originalbuilding in Edmund Street was decorated with Mason’screst and the carved heraldic shields of Kidderminster,Worcester, Birmingham and Warwickshire. These are nowinstalled outside the west entrance to the School of Law.The University as we know it today was founded in1900 by Joseph Chamberlain whose vision for theUniversity was as ‘a school of universal instruction,not confined to any particular branch of knowledge buttaking all knowledge in its province.’ This is expressed instone over the main entrance to the Aston Webb buildingin a frieze of nine carved figures from the worlds ofart, philosophy, science and industry, including Plato,Shakespeare, Darwin, Watt and Faraday. Anothersculpture which represents University heritage is thelittle seen work by Alfred Drury of Edward VII (1912)who formally opened the University of Birmingham on7 July 1909. The sculpture was originally sited in theMarble Hall, but was moved after the First World Warto make room for the University’s war memorial rolls ofhonour. Plans are in hand to resite it more appropriately.At its base are words from Edward VII’s inauguralspeech: ‘to you the students I say that the honourand dignity of this University are largely in your handsand I look to you to initiate and hand down worthytraditions to your successors.’The Heritage Collection also includes artefacts that relateto the University’s manuscript and archive deposits, suchas personal effects of Edward VII, Joseph Chamberlain,Lord Avon and Noel Coward, commemorative medals,boxes, busts, plaques and textiles.t: 0121 414 6750e: rcc@contacts.bham.ac.ukAlso, Special Collections and Archives:www.special-coll.bham.ac.uk

Research and Cultural Collections: An introduction21Henry Pegram (1862–1937)Architectural Carvings of Beethoven, Virgil, Michelangelo, Plato, Shakespeare, Newton, Watt, Faraday and Darwin. Darley Dale Stone, 1907.Commemorative Key. Replica of the gold key used in theopening ceremony of the University of Birmingham, 1909.Commemorative Medals issued for the opening of theUniversity of Birmingham by King Edward VII. Bronze, 1909.Albert Drury (1856–1944)King Edward VII. Marble sculpture, 1912.

22 Research and Cultural Collections: An introductionThe Campus Collectionof Fine and Decorative ArtCommemorative portraitureThe Campus Collection of Fine and Decorative Artbegan to develop soon after the foundation of theUniversity when it commissioned portraits in oil, marbleand bronze, of distinguished University figures. Thereare portraits of Chancellors, Pro-Chancellors andVice-Chancellors which start with our founder JosiahMason and continue to chart the progression throughto the present day. A recent commission is the portraitof Professor Michael Sterling by Paul Brason.Official portraits create a sense of continuity and selfesteemfor an institution. Through them the history, purposeand longevity of their organisation can be expressed, be ita nation, a family, a commercial firm, or a university. Royalportraits reveal the fluctuating history of a nation, whilethose of a university reflect the changes in the way anacademic institution presents itself to its community.The portraits in Birmingham show these purposes clearly.The Chancellor portraits, displayed in Great Hall, rangefrom the formal late Victorian and Edwardian poses ofJosiah Mason and Sir Joseph Chamberlain, to the moreapproachable figure of the naturalist Sir Peter Scott,who seems ill-at-ease in his academic robes. He standsin front of the lake at the bird sanctuary he foundedat Slimbridge in 1946. In the corridor the portraits ofPro-Chancellors are hung. Most are shown wearingceremonial gowns, a fashion that was dropped in somemore recent portraits by Humphrey Ocean RA, PeterEdwards and Tom Phillips RA. The academic gown is astandard signifier for university portraits, but the artistsof the portraits of Sir Julian Bullard, Roger Burman andLord Hannay chose more personal ‘attributes’.Other notable figures from University life arecommemorated in paintings and sculptures whichhang in relevant departments. The portrait of the geologistCharles Lapworth by Bernard Munns (1914) hangs in theLapworth Museum of Geology, surveying the fossils andspecimens below him. Margaret Nettlefold before HerDining Room at Winterbourne, painted by John ByamShaw (1904) shows Mrs Nettlefold looking out of herwindow at Winterbourne Botanic Garden, and AnguishedSkein (c.1975–80), an unconventional commemorativesculpture by Patrick Maher, stands in the Financedepartment where it plays tribute to the personalityof the University Treasurer Angus Skene. Skene wasone of the driving spirits behind the development of theUniversity collections in the 1960s, and on seeing thiswork he wrote: ‘it conjures up all sorts of images fromthe Staffordshire Knot in the making, through the Angler’snightmare, and the graph of the progress of the FinanceOfficer, to the dilapidated phallic object.’ Other artists inthe portrait collection include Sir James Gunn RA, Philip deLaszlo, Norman Hepple RA, Tom Wood and John Notter.

Research and Cultural Collections: An introduction23Humphrey Ocean b. 1951Sir Julian Bullard, Pro-Chancellor (1928–2006), (detail). Oil on canvas, 1994.George Reid (1841–1913)Sir Oliver Lodge (1851–1940), (detail), FRS, Principal. Oil on canvas, 1919.John Byam Shaw (1872–1919)Portrait of Margaret Nettlefold before her dining room at Winterbourne.Oil on canvas, 1904.Peter Edwards b. 1955Roger Burman, Pro-Chancellor (1994–2001), (detail). Oil on canvas, 2002.

24 Research and Cultural Collections: An introductionRoger Eliot Fry (1866–1934)Landscape. Oil on canvas, 1910.Peter Lanyon (1918–1964)Arts Faculty Mural. Oil on board (detail), 1963.Art in public spacesSince the 1960s the Campus Collection of Fine andDecorative Art has developed through commission,purchase, loan and gift to include a variety of stylesand genres of work by many acclaimed artists. Theseworks are displayed throughout departments and spacesinside and outside, and across the campuses in Edgbaston,Selly Oak, Birmingham city centre and Stratford-upon-Avon. They have both commemorative and emblematicpurpose and enhance their surroundings, encouragingunexpected dialogues and responses, and reachingthousands of people.Acquisitions have historically been driven by particularindividuals, or by small ad hoc groups, notably in the 1960sand 1970s by the late Professors Kolbuszewski and Lewis,and the then University Treasurer Angus Skene. Together,they and others acquired works by Peter Lanyon, BarbaraHepworth and William Gear. Peter Lanyon’s Arts FacultyMural (1963) mingles reflections on the artist’s nativeCornish landscape, weather and light with the red brickand icy spaces of the University in the snow. This isLanyon’s last large work painted a year before his untimelydeath in a gliding accident. David Prentice’s series of mirrorpaintings Pleides (1971) was commissioned for the newMetallurgy and Materials building and relates to researchinto the formation of metallic lattices and grids on amicro-scale and also the structural lines of PhilipDowson’s concrete architecture.Since the early 1990s, gifts, commissions and purchaseshave included Sonia Lawson’s Guardian I and II (1994),full of vivid poetic imagery evoking companionship andreliability. Julian Meredith’s Sewen (1994), hangs in theLapworth Museum of Geology, its fish shapes carved froma tree trunk are preserved in printed ink as if fossilised likethe fish specimens from Wyoming displayed nearby. JohnWalker’s The Blue Cloud (1996) in the Arts Building useslandscape, figures and literature to consider the cyclicalnature of life and death; and sunflowers and a self portraitby John Bratby RA decorate the walls of the Bratby Barin Staff House. The bar was named for the artist, whowas given an honorary degree by the University in 1992.Notable gifts of works of art include a group of paintingsby Roger Fry, given by the artist’s sister Margery Fry in the1920s, and the bequest of John Galsworthy family portraitsfrom Rudolf Sauter in 1977. In 2001, six paintings weregiven to the University from the Royal Academy’s ChantreyBequest, including works by John Aldridge, Kum-Siew Makand Brian Robb. A substantial and particularly generousgift is that of the sculptor and printmaker Sir EduardoPaolozzi RA (1924–2005). Along with Faraday, the colossalsculpture at the West Gate, the artist bequeathed a seriesof plaster maquettes of his sculptures and also presentedfive sets of prints – Bunk!, Z.E.E.P., Moonstrips EmpireNews, General Dynamic FUN and Calcium Light Night.Various University colleges and departments, includingLaw, the Business School and American and CanadianStudies display Paolozzi’s prints in their rooms andcorridors. In 2006 Through the University’s Alumni Fund,Sport and Exercise Science acquired a series of prints byNicholas Pope to hang in the foyer of their new building.Such commitment demonstrates an investment in thedepartment’s surroundings, with works of art providing aninspiring and engaging environment for students and staff.

28 Research and Cultural Collections: An introductionWhat we doResearch and Cultural Collections is managed by the UniversityCurator and the Assistant University Curator, with support andadvice from academic experts in relevant departments, and a teamof volunteers. The Biosciences Collections are solely managed bythe staff of the School of Biosciences as listed on page 14.Exhibition and displayObjects from the permanent collections are displayedthroughout the campus. Museum cases show objectswhich form a narrative through their relationship with eachother, and interpretation panels and labels offer furtherinformation. We work with colleagues from the University’sfive Colleges in commissioning or investing in works of artto enhance their environment. Objects are also loaned inand out from other collections for exhibitions.There is a popular programme of temporary exhibitionswhich are held in the Rotunda of the Aston Webb building.These renew and refresh interest in the permanentcollections, relate to different subject areas and introducethe work of contemporary artists to the campus. We alsohost events relating to the exhibitions such as guestlectures, poetry readings and art ‘happenings’.Collections managementThere is a careful balance between use and care ofthe collections. Preventative conservation in the form ofcleaning and monitoring prolongs the life of an artefact,and in consideration of this we work with conservators forspecialist treatments. The Collections are documentedon the museum management system MIMSY XG, whichis shared with the Barber Institute of Fine Arts and theLapworth Museum of Geology. Research and CulturalCollections is registered as a museum with the MLA.Interpretation and accessibilityThose parts of the Research and Cultural Collections thatare housed within teaching rooms and departments areopen to the public by appointment only. However, in orderto introduce them to a wider audience they are being madeavailable online via the website www.collectionsonline.bham.ac.uk. There is a Campus Sculpture Trail whichprovides highlights from the sculpture collection and othertrails are being developed. We also offer guided tours and‘behind the scenes’ talks.While some collections on campus are of a specialistnature, all displays are organised to be generally andintelligently engaging to all, with informative labels.Artists in residence are also invited to respond to thecollections and offer alternative ways of interpreting them.Education and OutreachThe Research and Cultural Collections are usedfor current teaching modules and form the basis andinspiration for academic research. Staff of Research andCultural Collections also provides lectures and seminarson aspects of museum studies for different departmentsand provide support and guidance for students studyingaspects of the collections.We host school and family workshops each year, featuringdifferent aspects of the Collections and regularly take placein The Big Draw, in conjunction with the Barber Institute ofFine Arts, Education department.The Research and Cultural Collections provide a tangibleexample of the high quality of life, learning and environmentthat the University offers and provides an accessible way forOutreach programmes to encourage local school groupsand communities to interact with the University.

Research and Cultural Collections: An introduction29Student Project programmeWe host an active volunteer programme involvingstudents from different disciplines across and outsidethe University, developing projects which are mutuallybeneficial. The students work on solo projects and ingroups to gain valuable work experience for developingcareers in the heritage sector.Education and Outreach activities

Text by Clare Mullett,Assistant University CuratorEdgbaston, Birmingham,B15 2TT, United Kingdomwww.bham.ac.uk3972 © University of Birmingham 2009. Printed on a recycled grade paper containing 100% post-consumer waste.