Plastics Network
Vision
- to engage varied audiences with the key role played by plastics in modern society..
Mission:
- to share expertise in the history, development, care and interpretation of plastics, within and beyond the museum community, in order to reduce duplication of effort and maximise audience benefits from plastics in museum collections in the UK.
Aims and objectives:
- to reach new audiences for plastics collections.
- to increase use of plastics collections with an emphasis on teaching and learning.
- to improve care, management, display and interpretation of plastics collections.
- to collaborate on outcome-based projects.
- to learn from and involve the plastics and design industries in plastics' collections.
Membership:
Membership is open to all collections of plastics, public and private; to archives with material relevant to plastics; and to societies in the plastics subject area. Current members are:
- Arts Institute at Bournemouth
- British Film Institute, London
- British Museum, London
- Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery
- Bradford Museums, Galleries and Heritage
- Buckingham Chilterns University College
- Croydon Museum and Heritage Services
- Design Museum, London
- Fleet Air Army Museum
- Gunnersbury Park Museum
- Hampshire County Council Museum and Archives Service
- Hereford Museum & Art Gallery
- Imperial War Museum, London
- Kingston University, London
- Manchester City Art Gallery
- Museum of Costume, Bath
- Museum of Science and Technology, Manchester
- Museum of Brands, Packaging and Advertising
- National Media Museum, Bradford
- Plastics Historical Society (PHS)
- Portsmouth City Museum
- Royal Cornwall Museum
- Royal Institution of Great Britain
- Science Museum, London
- Society of Plastics Engineers (SPE)
- Tate, London, Liverpool and St Ives
- Thackray Museum, Leeds
- University of Southampton
- Victoria and Albert Museum, London
- Wakefield Museum
Working structure:
The network is managed by a Steering Group consisting of:
- Steve Akhurst, Plastics Historical Society
- Ray Bush, Society of Plastics Engineers
- Susan Lambert, Arts Institute at Bournemouth
- Diane Lees, V&A Museum of Childhood
- Susan Mossman, Science Museum, London
- Derek Pullen, Tate
- Jacqui Ready, Hampshire County Council Museum and Archives Service
- Mark Suggitt, Bradford Museums, Galleries and Heritage.
The steering group is co-ordinated by the Arts Institute at Bournemouth. The steering group will take decisions in consultation with members.
Dialogue will be largely through telephone and email supplemented by bi-annual steering group meetings, and a biennial conference for all members. .
Members of the Network will meet physically, as a minimum, once every two years but it is expected that in practice many will meet more often through attendance at PHS and SPE events and at other events of mutual interest.
A newsletter will be produced three times a year, issued in May, September and January.
The Network will not charge for membership ‘for the present.
Recent and current work
The inaugural meeting was held on 13 December 2006 at the Design Museum, London,
Click here for Programme
and Record of talks and Q&As and discussion;.
We have also carried out a questionnaire on the nature of collections, the benefits of setting up an SSN and ways members might collaborate.
Click for Questionnaire results
We have received an MLA implementation grant to hold 4 workshops on ‘making the most of plastics in museums'. They will involve people with different plastics expertise: people from the plastics industry, scientists and conservators, educators and private collectors in dialogue with curators with plastics in their care. The direction of the workshops will stem from curators' questions. This pooling of experience will provide the material for an electronic handbook, useful also as an ongoing training tool, geared to curators' needs. It will set standards for the care and display of plastics in museums.
The Handbook will provide:
- a brief outline of the histories, characteristics and identifiers of different plastics
- guidance on handling, storage and display requirements
- strategies for interpretation, presentation and enjoyment of and interaction with plastics in the museum environment.
- annotated bibliography, expertise resource and collections' survey.
'Making the most of your plastics' workshop outcomes
Other planned projects include:
- A regular Plastics Month, enabling museums to focus on plastics in as big or as little a way as is useful and appropriate to their audiences, will be held from 2008. If you would like to participate please contact the SSN.
- Biennial lecture from 2009
- Touring exhibition from 2010 to be led by the Arts Institute at Bournemouth
Click for our aspirations for 2007-2010 and actions from January 2007 to May 2008.
Contact:
Susan Lambert
Head of the Design Collection Museum
The Arts Institute at Bournemouth
Wallisdown, Poole
BH12 5HH
T: 01202 363121
Email this Subject Specialist Network (SSN)
