What would you ask a curator?
So waddaya wanna know—what have you always wanted to ask a curator?
“What’s your most valuable artifact?” “What’s the smallest piece in your collection?” At the very least, many people out there might like to know just what it is that a curator does. Well, that’s a tricky one: they do as many different things as there are museums, so best to ask one yourself.
And your chance to do just that was September 12. That’s the day the annual Twitter event #AskACurator Day took place on computers, tablets and mobile phones all over around the world.
And it really was all around the globe, with more than 1,500 museums from some 50 countries taking part. Canada alone had more than 160 participating museums. We enthusiastically jumped in, with Curator David Bergeron standing by to answer queries. Chief Curator Paul Berry also provided a few answers throughout the day.
This year was quite a success. We got conversations going with curators at the Royal British Columbia Museum, the Canada Science and Technology Museum, the Smithsonian National Museum of American History and the Royal Ontario Museum.
Kicking things off for us was a query from the Bank of England Museum about what our biggest artifact is. Well, that’s easy! That would be our 2-metre-tall, 1,800-kilogram Yap stone from the Micronesian island of the same name. It’s our gatekeeper, standing high up over our reception area.
We put out our own general query, asking about money and art:
#AskACurator : Any museums out there have artworks featuring currency, or made of currency? ??️
— Bank of Canada Museum (@BoCMuseum) September 12, 2018
Does artwork featured on currency count? The Hall of Honour in #CentreBlock, was used as inspiration for the new 10$ bill! #AskACurator pic.twitter.com/MHDhVzvpEG
— House of Commons (@OurCommons) September 12, 2018
I hope this piece from @britishmuseum counts! A beautiful #gold and #garnet #AngloSaxon pendant set with a #solidus coin. It was found in Wilton, #Norfolk in eastern England, and dates to the early seventh century. #AskACurator pic.twitter.com/eRNeQsnw4I
— Sue Brunning (@SueBrunningBM) September 12, 2018
We've got origami pieces made from dollar bills in our collection @amhistorymuseum #artfrommoney pic.twitter.com/MNURuNLdVv
— Hillery York (@yorkh44) September 12, 2018
We had nine museums contribute to that conversation, one of which joined the conversation from Mumbai, India. Also participating was the Canada Science and Technology Museum whom we later engaged with, sharing experiences about recently renovating our museums. Lessons learned by the CSTM: “Always leave money in the remedial budget…” Agreed!
Tweets went off on all sorts of tangents. A homesick Swede working abroad asked to see anything Swedish in our collection. The Smithsonian folks discovered we have more than 4,000 US coins in our collection, and we learned that they have 1,000 of ours! Yap stones, salt and a 10-metre-long coiled strip of fabric made from bird feathers came into that conversation. Field trips to Washington and Ottawa were proposed. One fellow asked the curators if they’ve ever tried to impress a date with their collection. [Our] David Bergeron did: “I once brought a date to our museum to show her how much money I had to manage!” That got a few likes.
Journalist and author Jack El-Hai tweeted:
Which items in your collections tell a jaw-dropping tale that too few people know about? #askacurator
— Jack El-Hai (@Jack_ElHai) September 12, 2018
From our curator David Bergeron: "Here's a counterfeit note from Edwin Johnson of Toronto. His entire family was involved in counterfeiting. In 1880, he was caught passing his own notes in a tavern. Check out the story in 'Memoirs of a Great Detective'!" #AskACurator pic.twitter.com/T5mwKs3l1q
— Bank of Canada Museum (@BoCMuseum) September 12, 2018
That banknote looks convincing to me! Thank you for the story, and I'll look up Murray's book.
— Jack El-Hai (@Jack_ElHai) September 12, 2018
Nobody said it was all going to be about sophisticated museology, but the layers of comment and the unexpected directions the #AskACurator Day tweets took proved how valuable it is for museums to talk with one another, to trade war stories and successes, and to build networks. Can’t wait for next year!
And by the way, the smallest item in our collection is…dust.
Gold dust, that is.
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The Museum Blog
November 18, 2013
Notes from the Collection: A Buying Trip to Toronto
By: Paul S. Berry
Recently, from October 3 to 5th, collections staff were at the Toronto Coin Expo, held at the Toronto Reference Library on Yonge Street. The show boasts informative lectures, a large auction of coins, tokens and paper money as well as a showroom, called a bourse, where dealers greet clients and buy and sell material.
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October 28, 2013
Director’s chair : A little help from our friends
By: Ken Ross
In one of my favourite cinematic moments, the 11 year-old chess prodigy, Josh Waitzkin, imagines sweeping the pieces off a chess board in order to help him think more clearly about an important game of chess. It is a championship game and he is on the brink of winning it all.
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October 7, 2013
The Cases are Almost Empty
By: Graham Iddon
For the first time since they went into their cases in 1980, over 2000 coins, notes, beads and shells are coming back out. The Museum’s curatorial staff are busily pulling panels from cases, placing coins into specially prepared drawers and sliding notes into acid-free Mylar envelopes.
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September 24, 2013
Curators Begin Removal of Artifacts
By: Graham Iddon
The doors were barely closed following Big Top Farewell event before Chief Curator Paul Berry and his team began emptying display cases that had been sealed shut since 1980. The biggest task involved removing more than 2500 bank notes from the room we knew as Gallery 8.
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September 16, 2013
Notes from the Collection : 2013 RCNA Convention Winnipeg
By: David Bergeron
Another convention of the Royal Canadian Numismatic Association (RCNA) wrapped up in July. This year the convention was held in Winnipeg, Manitoba. It was the first time in over thirty years that the RCNA Convention made a stop there.
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September 6, 2013
First Artifacts to Leave the Museum: And they were big
By: Graham Iddon
Before the museum closed for renovations on 2 July, technicians began to remove the heavier artifacts in late May. First to go was the strong box. Built of ¼” thick welded steel plates, this trunk was used by the Bank of Upper Canada in Toronto between 1821 and 1866.
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August 30, 2013
Director’s chair : “I don’t know why you say goodbye, I say hello.”
By: Ken Ross
Most of us know the first part of Alexander Graham Bell’s take on opportunity: “When one door closes, another one opens…” What we often don’t recall is the second half of that quote, where he says: “…but we so often look so long and regretfully upon the closed door, that we do not see the ones which open for us.”
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July 30, 2013
Remembering Alex Colville (1920-2013)
By: Raewyn Passmore
The Staff of the Currency Museum was saddened to learn of the passing of artist Alex Colville who died on 16 July at his home in Wolfville, Nova Scotia. He was 92. One of Canada’s most celebrated painters, Colville is not as well-known as a sculptor but if you look carefully through your pocket change you might just find an example of his work.
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