The object of the story

There’s only one way to start a post about the relationship between historic collections and storytelling. Are you sitting comfortably?

Once upon a time, a visit to a museum was mainly about peering at objects trapped behind glass. “Look don’t touch” was the mantra. Museums often relied on the pure power of their collection to hold people’s attention, an approach which can work brilliantly for some but not for all.

Now, visit most museums or heritage sites (and I visit a lot of them - perk of the job) and you’ll see how that experience has shifted - for the better, in my opinion. Museums are no longer just about their collection. They are aiming to tell their own stories in a way that engages people of all ages, and that doesn’t have to be done through objects; hands-on activities, recreations and living history, costumed characters, video and audio, digital content, and of course great interpretation can all do the job very effectively. So with the move towards more interactive visitor experiences, is it becoming harder to keep collections at the heart of the museum experience?

OK, perhaps it's a very daft question. After all, a museum wouldn’t be a museum without its collection, and visitors still want, and expect, to see objects on display. But go with me for a minute. I’m reminded of the incident in Italy earlier this year, when a visitor accidentally destroyed a sculpture of a chair by sitting on it while posing for a photo. Did he assume that because the artwork wasn’t in a locked case it could be engaged with in such a direct way? Does the move towards hands-on experiences mean visitors expect a much greater level of interaction with a collection? Is “don’t just look, touch” becoming the norm? And where does that leave a visitor’s relationship with historic objects that have to be kept at arm's length?

The answer to keeping the collection front and centre is, I think, to recognise that even if objects have to stay behind glass, they do not hinder a truly engaging experience. They are completely central to it. And that's because, quite apart from any intrinsic value or interest, there is an extraordinary and unique storytelling power in even the most ordinary objects which can bring alive a narrative like nothing else. And if this can be combined with, for example, digital or hands-on content, the impact is even greater.

One of my favourite examples is in the collection of an old stomping ground of mine, the National Emergency Services Museum in Sheffield. The museum holds the Sheffield Fire Brigade’s duty book for 1940. The book records day-to-day operations of the brigade; each day running to perhaps a page, sometimes less. That is until you reach 12 December and the first night of the Sheffield Blitz, and suddenly there are pages and pages of entries. You can almost feel, in those scribbles, the desperation of the men tasked with tackling the onslaught. It’s easy to talk to people, as I often have, about the overwhelming odds faced by the emergency services that night. To quote the figures of how many fires were started, and how few men there were to fight them. But the pages of that book tell the story so much better because it sets out, literally in black and white, the unprecedented and impossible scale of the task.

Of course, many museums and heritage sites are already doing this, and doing it brilliantly. I haven't stumbled on some great unknown secret. But in my own role as a heritage storyteller, I encourage people to think of objects as a powerful storytelling tool from the very beginning of their exhibition planning. What story are they telling? How can their collection be used to really engage people with that history? And are there any hidden gems that might not be the oldest or the most exciting objects, but pack the biggest narrative punch?

I would love to hear from other museum professionals what you think. Do you think hands-on visitor experiences are changing how people expect to engage with your collection? How are you keeping objects at the heart of what you do? And how do you embrace the storytelling power of your collection? Let me know your thoughts.

And I’m very pleased to say, the Sheffield Fire Brigade duty book is due to go on display at the National Emergency Services Museum later this year, as part of its new exhibition about the Sheffield Blitz. Obviously I’m biased but it’s well worth a look!