It's just after 16:oo and I'm in the British Library, surrounded by books covering Romany poetry, song, and recipes. I hadn't thought to include anything in the education pack that concerns traditional Romany food until I stumbled across a compilation called Medicines, Music and Meals by Robert Dawson. Given my particular interest in food and cookery, it's all the more strange. That aside, food is so often a defining feature of a culture and it might be worth asking some of the people whom we are interviewing what food they think of as being Romany.
A key element of the pack that I have wanted to include from its inception has been information on Romani. As I've been familiarising myself with Romany history, I've also been learning more about the evolution of Romani as a language. Romani has been key to charting the origins and migration of the Romanies, you see. Not having any mention of it in the pack would be entirely remiss, so earlier this week I began making enquiries as to how best to approach this. Nothing has come of it yet, but hopefully I'll have some responses soon.
Really, it has been a quiet week for me, immersed in books, punctuated by the odd visit to a website. Maybe next week there'll be more to report.
- Daniela
Thursday, 27 August 2009
Thursday, 20 August 2009
Meeting museums
It has been a good week so far, and seeing as it is Thursday lunchtime and I'm having lunch opposite the British Library, I'm fairly hopeful it will continue that way.
On Monday I met with Lisa, the Collections Manager at the Museum of East Anglian Life at Stowmarket, to discuss how Atching Tan could contribute to a new exhibition the museum is planning. Although it is early days, we're hoping that some of the interviews that we're conducting with members of the Gypsy/Romany/Traveller community in East Anglia can be used to support the displays that they are creating about lesser known elements of life in East Anglia.
Gypsies, Romanies, and Travellers have a long history in East Anglia, but much of it is silent, so the museum is hoping to draw it out - along with the stories of other group of people who have lived on the margins of society - and make it more widely appreciated.
If we can combine artefacts with the words of people associated with them, it will make it all the more powerful. Just think how much more resonant it is to hear someone describing the people in a photograph than it is to read dry facts about them.
The new exhibition is part of a larger development at the museum, so it is going to be some time before we can enjoy it, but I'm really positive about what we might achieve together here.
I was also pleased to speak with Ely Museum, who have taken an interest in the education pack that we are developing. I'd better get back to library and write some more of it so that I have something to show to them!
Catch you next week!
- Daniela
On Monday I met with Lisa, the Collections Manager at the Museum of East Anglian Life at Stowmarket, to discuss how Atching Tan could contribute to a new exhibition the museum is planning. Although it is early days, we're hoping that some of the interviews that we're conducting with members of the Gypsy/Romany/Traveller community in East Anglia can be used to support the displays that they are creating about lesser known elements of life in East Anglia.
Gypsies, Romanies, and Travellers have a long history in East Anglia, but much of it is silent, so the museum is hoping to draw it out - along with the stories of other group of people who have lived on the margins of society - and make it more widely appreciated.
If we can combine artefacts with the words of people associated with them, it will make it all the more powerful. Just think how much more resonant it is to hear someone describing the people in a photograph than it is to read dry facts about them.
The new exhibition is part of a larger development at the museum, so it is going to be some time before we can enjoy it, but I'm really positive about what we might achieve together here.
I was also pleased to speak with Ely Museum, who have taken an interest in the education pack that we are developing. I'd better get back to library and write some more of it so that I have something to show to them!
Catch you next week!
- Daniela
Wednesday, 12 August 2009
Searching for stories
August is always a quiet month whilst most of the world, or so it seems, goes on holiday. I've taken this opportunity, given that I'm still working, to research some of the materials that we will use in our educational pack. I'm really excited about the educational pack, and the vast range of resources that we are planning to include in it: stories, poems, maps, photographs, recordings, anything, really that we think can be used to help educate people about the Gypsy/Romany/Traveller community. I think this could be something extraordinarily valuable for use in schools, museums, and libraries and go a long way to breaking down barriers of misunderstanding.
And I'm getting to spend time in the British Library researching for it.
Okay, I admit it, I'm a geek and I love libraries. On Monday I was reading through books published in 1899 looking for traditional Gypsy and Romany folk tales. I've requested some even older books of poetry and folk tales for my next trip there. This is some kind of heaven for me.
Of course, I'm also hoping that some of the interviews with members of the Gypsy/Romany/Traveller community happening in one the other strands of the project are going to reveal some stories and poems, too. The strong oral tradition of the community gives me a great deal of hope for this, actually. What I'd really like to be able to do is show some links between folk tales told amongst different societies. Demonstrating similarities between different groups of people is an important step towards community cohesion.
If you happen to see me on the first floor of the British Library, do come and say hi. Quietly, obviously.
- Daniela
And I'm getting to spend time in the British Library researching for it.
Okay, I admit it, I'm a geek and I love libraries. On Monday I was reading through books published in 1899 looking for traditional Gypsy and Romany folk tales. I've requested some even older books of poetry and folk tales for my next trip there. This is some kind of heaven for me.
Of course, I'm also hoping that some of the interviews with members of the Gypsy/Romany/Traveller community happening in one the other strands of the project are going to reveal some stories and poems, too. The strong oral tradition of the community gives me a great deal of hope for this, actually. What I'd really like to be able to do is show some links between folk tales told amongst different societies. Demonstrating similarities between different groups of people is an important step towards community cohesion.
If you happen to see me on the first floor of the British Library, do come and say hi. Quietly, obviously.
- Daniela
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)