Tenth Anniversary Special
26 March 2021 marks ten years since the first blog posted on ‘Spoons on Trays’. I realised the imminent arrival of this auspicious date last year, while making use of lockdown to revamp my website (with thanks to Mike Cathro). Moving all of the content over to this beautiful new format gave me the chance to read old blogposts, remembering old thoughts, events and visits.
I realise quite how much has happened in those ten years. I’ve completed a PhD, had two hugely fulfilling curatorial jobs, moved house twice, got married, curated three exhibitions, two major permanent displays and multiple commissions, written one book, made many new friends, learnt and experienced so much. I have also written over 200,000 words of blog posts, enough for at least two books. It seems I still have things to say.
Fittingly this anniversary post will be the 299th. Looking back over so many words, I thought I would adapt my annual ‘Best of …’ round-up of museum and gallery visits and would pick ten blog posts from the last ten years. This is just one possible selection, an attempt to capture some of the histories, connections and successes of ‘Spoons on Trays’:
1. Paris object-ified (2 September 2011)
Early in the blog’s history, this was my first set of photographs seeking to capture a different angle of visiting museums and galleries. I remember that these had to sit separately on Flickr initially as Blogger didn’t have the capabilities.
2. Tastefully done? (5 July 2012)
This post connects across to the many posts that I wrote for the ‘Board of Longitude’ as part of my PhD, and sees the first expression of my ongoing love for Grayson Perry, for Hogarth, and for unpicking different iconographies.
3. I am an Anti-Pre-Raphaelite (7 October 2012)
Possibly my first attempt to articulate why I don’t like some kinds of art, however hard I try. This post seems to catch the attention of people introducing me at events, despite its age, and reminds me that it is okay to go against the grain sometimes.
4. Painted Things (17 June 2013)
Another link to other sites, this post marked the last session of the ‘Things’ seminar that I hosted at CRASSH in Cambridge, towards the end of my PhD. It’s an initiative of which I’m still immensely proud, and from which I learnt so much about researching material culture. Live tweeting the events also cemented my love of social media.
5. Art and Science in conversation: Why now? (7 April 2014)
One of many cross-posted blogs that I have been proud to write for Apollo since 2013, this was one of my first attempts on this site to grapple with questions surrounding art and science, which continue to inspire and intrigue me. It was also my first interview.
6. Among the Poppies (27 August 2014)
Some cultural memories remain with you forever, and this sunny bank holiday Saturday spent planting ceramic poppies in the moat of the Tower of London is one of them. The experience confirmed for me how much I love participating in art projects and links back to my foundational experience being part of Antony Gormley’s One and Other Fourth Plinth project in 2009.
7. From Neues to Altes: buildings and collections hand in hand at the Berlin museums (8 December 2014)
This visit really opened my eyes to the nuances in different national museum sectors, and how buildings and collections can work together to tell a story. I still think it might be the best of the many responses that I’ve written to being ‘A blogger abroad’.
8. A taongo of a trip (11 April 2017)
Another formative life experience was my trip to the Pacific in 2017 to research and record for the ‘Pacific Encounters’ gallery at RMG with my colleague. It was enriching, humbling, inspiring and nerve-wracking by turns and continues to teach me about how to be a better museum professional.
9. Dinos and dioramas (7 September 2017)
I still think this piece for Apollo is one of the best things that I’ve written, mixing book and exhibition review, cultural memory and museum commentary, it encapsulates the kind of interdisciplinary approach that has become central to the way that I work.
10. Shadows in the time of Covid-19 (9 April 2020)
Shadows have become a central part of my online presence, enshrining for me the joys of social media and the power of a hashtag. The pandemic created a strange context for blogging, in which I have written here in fits and starts, but which has also seen me enjoy the simple plays of light and shade on the wall by my desk.
Looking back over ten years, I realise how fortunate I have been to have access to such a wealth of cultural experience. These have been years of inspiration, challenge, collaboration and opportunity. 2021 offers many challenges to the museum sector. I hope I can be part of changing it for the better, and making the most of what the next ten years have to offer.