Thanks to the Roman Society, I was able to undertake a two-week internship at the
Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge in September 2010. Having recently graduated from
my BSc Honours degree in Heritage & Architectural Conservation, this internship
provided a fantastic opportunity to witness and participate in the work of a highly
respected museum, gaining invaluable practical experience and knowledge for my
future career. Based primarily within the Antiquities Department, I was made to feel
very welcome throughout my internship and my mentor, Lucilla Burn (Keeper of
Antiquities), ensured that my experience was varied, interesting and beneficial.
I was able to contribute to the work of the museum by undertaking and assisting with
a range of work within the Antiquities Department. I spent a large amount of time
sorting, re-packing and labelling a vast number of Greek, Roman and Egyptian stone
seals, and once re-packed, reorganising the storage drawers in the storeroom and
moving all the seals into them. This was a fiddly and time-consuming task, however I
thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity to handle and examine the beautiful stones. I also
assisted with tasks relating to the display and preventative conservation of the
collection. One task, placing object labels in display cases, soon revealed the
difficulty of what had appeared to be the most mundane of tasks within a museum, as
I experienced the complexities of opening the display cases, removing the old labels
and then inserting the new ones. The quarterly inspection of the insect traps around
the museum, involving identifying, counting and recording the types of insect in each
trap, while essential for the continued conservation of the collection, was not a job for
the insect (or spider) phobic! In addition to the range of practical work I undertook, I
was also asked to write an ‘Object in Focus’ article for the museums’ website. This is
a feature of the website which allows the public to gain a deeper insight into the
history and technology of specific objects throughout the collection.
I was also invited to sit in on a number of staff meetings covering a range of topics,
from designing a new display case and creating a new children’s activity trail, to
organising events for Gay History Month. These gave me an insight into the range of
work undertaken within museums, as well as the organisation and decision processes
that take place. In addition to my work within the Antiquities Department, I was also
able to witness and assist with a range of work across other departments. This
included watching the schools sessions by the Education Department, shadowing the
Paper Conservator as he conserved, mounted and displayed drawings, and received
loans from other museums, and assisting the Technicians from the Applied Arts
Department with the preparation of a display case and the removal of some stained
glass roundels from their display case.
All of these opportunities have given me a great insight into the inner workings of a
museum and different roles that are available, helping me to make an informed
decision about my future career path. A huge thank you to the Roman Society and the
Fitzwilliam Museum for making this internship possible and making it such a
fantastic and valuable experience!
Rose Hodkinson