Did you know that the Mary Rose did NOT sink on her maiden voyage?
You may be wondering how that is in any way connected to Aston Martin, and you would be right – it is not. But it is one of the facts I learnt last week having had the opportunity to attend the Association of Independent Museums (AIM) conference, hosted by the Mary Rose Museum.
The theme for the conference this year was ‘Museums in Motion: Building Resilience for a Changing World’, and the spectacular setting, besides the Mary Rose Museum, was Portsmouth Historic Dockyard.
The packed programme of inspiring and varied talks and activities were delivered by organisations from this country and abroad, and I loved it so much I thought I’d share some of my highlights with you.
As the conference opened we were treated to the song Living On The Mary Rose (available on YouTube, would highly recommend),performed by school students who are part of Portsmouth Music Hub. Written with the help of AI, and even including a back flip!, the song was created as part of the Mary Rose Trust’s Anchored in the Community project.
A talk of the same name delivered later that morning reflected on the work the Trust has done with local communities, which included street dance artists and Morris dancers amongst others. The message I took away was about how the museum has been used as a hub for engagement and sharing, with the collection central to inspiring people to do whatever they want to do.
This is one of the reasons I love working in museums and it was wonderful to hear about this project and see the impact it has made.
Community is a fundamental, important part of museums, and that extends to the community of museum workers in front of and behind the scenes. It was fantastic to hear about and learn from the wealth of work being done by passionate people all over, and see what shared learning I could bring back and put into action.
Admittedly, some of my highlights were also pure, nerdy fun. I had the opportunity to watch the sun set from HMS Warrior, go on a tour of Portsmouth harbour on an F8 carrier (that served in the Falklands), and a behind the scenes tour with the Mary Rose Conservation team. Who thought shelves of bricks would be quite so interesting – did you know the Mary Rose had two ovens on board?!
When the students from Portsmouth Music Hub first visited the Mary Rose Museum and saw the ship, one said;
“I’m here.
She’s here.
It’s history.
I’m in history”
I couldn’t have imagined better words to start the conference. It reminded me that that is what I get to do every day, of the joy and wonder that museums give, and to enjoy the incredible site that I was on. The sense of history and being in history that you get at the Dockyard is infectious and compelling, but wherever you find yourself – go jump into history!
