Fiona Candlin awarded Leverhulme Fellowship
Fiona Candlin, Senior Lecturer in Museum Studies, at Birkbeck, University of London, has been awarded a 2012 Leverhulme Research Fellowship for a project entitled 'Micromuseology'.
Fiona Candlin, Senior Lecturer in Museum Studies, at Birkbeck, University of London, has been awarded a 2012 Leverhulme Research Fellowship for a project entitled ‘Micromuseology’.
Beginning in September 2012, Fiona will tour the British Isles to visit small independent museums devoted to single subjects and themes. Many of these ‘micromuseums’ are located in outbuildings or private houses, are run by individuals, have little or no security, and rarely conserve or label their objects. They do, however, offer visitors the chance to talk to the curator and their families, to handle objects, sometimes even use or ride in them, and they have a very different ambience to major museums.
Noting that micromuseums are often dismissed as amateur or even ‘mad’, Fiona takes them seriously. She asks how an analysis of their sites, displays, and practices might provide fresh perspectives on established debates and prompt new avenues of museological enquiry.
Fiona teaches on the BA History of Art, MA History of Art and MA Museum Cultures.