Finally we have our first complete collection in the museum! We have been working intensively on the Sunken Ship exhibit for the last few weeks and got word this morning that a boat just in from Olivia Isle contained a chest with the fifth and final artefact we needed to complete our display. It is an old ship rope on which sailors would hang special cargo to make a kind of coasting lead. An early form of echolocation.
Now that we have the whole display we can begin to do some real research on it and create some really good text for the guide and exhibition panels. There are some great examples of Sunken Ship-style exhibitions around at the moment. I went to the Antikenmuseum in Basel recently to see their Sunken Treasure exhibit that focuses on the Antikythera wreck – said to be the most ancient shipwreck ever found. It was filled with Greek art that would have been sold on the Roman market but also, and most significantly, it was found to contain a strange machine made up of bronze gears. This object, named the ‘Antikythera Mechanism’, is said to be the world’s oldest computer. Although we don’t have anything half as exciting in Township Museum, it was interesting to see how the Antikenmuseum was displaying their artefacts.
They have used large full-wall screens to simulate a seascape around the artefacts and make the galleries more atmospheric. It has a quite dark womb like effect and I think makes your experience of the objects on display more intimate without being tacky. A lot of the objects themselves are also set on a sort of undersea pebble/stone set up. We just use standard plinths in Township Museum but I think we could be a bit more creative. I found this video on YouTube when I came back which takes you on a walk around.
One thing I especially liked about the exhibition was the fact that in some of the cases there was a 3D model of the artefact along with the artefact itself so you could see other angels and details. Given that the wreck included this first supposed example of a computer, the Antikythera Mechanism, I think it’s a good technological thread to carry through the show. We don’t have a History of the Computer exhibit planned yet in the Township Museum but i think it would be super to start thinking of one.
Curator, Township Museum
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