Science Museum Group Journal Issue 4

Science Museum Group Journal Issue 4

Issue 04 of the Journal collates an interesting mix of original research and discussion articles, as well as a book review and an exhibition review. The content reflects the recent opening and acclamation awarded to the new Cosmonauts exhibition, with one article that reflects on the challenges of curating such an exhibition and another that analyses the modern interest in space tourism. We also have two articles which research historic Leonardo da Vinci exhibitions and their associated models and objects. Other articles focus on new methods in sustainable storage of museum collections, early microphone recording techniques relating to the Nightingale broadcasts, a favourable review of a new Lovelace and Babbage illustrated novel, and a review of one author’s visit to the Fairfield Heritage Centre.
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    The birth of a collection in Milan: from the Leonardo Exhibition of 1939 to the opening of the National Museum of Science and Technology in 1953
    (2015-11-12)
    Giorgione, Claudio
    The collection of Leonardo da Vinci historical models at the National Museum of Science and Technology in Milan is one of the largest and most important in the world. Created in 1952–53 to celebrate the fifth centenary of the birth of Leonardo and the opening of the Museum, the collection is made up of more than 140 models, interpreting the studies of Leonardo da Vinci and helping Museum visitors to understand and visualise his ideas. Before 1952, Leonardo models were already created and displayed in Florence (1929), Chicago (1933) and above all in the great Leonardo Exhibition held in Milan in 1939, which made a very important contribution to the knowledge of Leonardo as engineer to the public. It’s very important to clarify the role of these models, which are not original artefacts made by Leonardo himself nor replicas of no longer existing machines. They are really a very important interpretation device created by scientific museology between late 1920s and 1950s.
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    The Cosmonauts challenge
    (2015-11-12)
    Blatchford, Ian
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    Sidlina, Natalia
    Focusing on the experience of working with Russia’s cultural, industrial and political sectors, this paper investigates how the development of new contacts and partnerships has contributed not only to the loan of material of historic significance to the Science Museum’s exhibition, but more broadly changes perceptions about Russia and its space programme in the western world. Addressing the multiple challenges involved – legal, political and security, among others – it reveals the importance of many of the space objects themselves as well as demonstrating how the Science Museum has helped to maintain a dialogue with Russia even during the most testing times. In September 2015 the Science Museum opened the most ambitious special exhibition it had ever undertaken: Cosmonauts: birth of the space age. Whilst the creation of a ‘blockbuster’ exhibition might be the normal expectation of a great art museum, the fact that a science museum should undertake such an endeavour is equally worthy of comment, and this article seeks to illustrate the exceptional curatorial, museological, logistical, legal and political hurdles that this project had to overcome. Indeed, they would astonish even the grandest and most experienced of the international art museums. Art museums are delighted when they can display the acclaimed works of Monet, but even the most valuable paintings cannot be said to be have been official state secrets in the way that so much Russian space technology has been. The curatorial team kept its nerve because of a compelling sense that while the project delivery was high stress, the intellectual rewards would be considerable, and especially the opportunity to present a story of human endeavour in which cultural and scientific excellence are so intertwined. When the project team started out they could never have anticipated that they would be seeking to deliver an audacious exhibition set against a background of very serious strains in the UK-Russia relationship. In the end, they learned a great deal about Russia itself and the importance of sustaining cultural dialogue.
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    The Science Museum and the Leonardo da Vinci Quincentenary Exhibition of 1952
    (2015-11-12)
    Bennett, Jim
    A large and successful exhibition to mark the 500th anniversary of the birth of Leonardo da Vinci was held at the Royal Academy, Burlington House, London, in 1952. It was an important event for the public appreciation of Leonardo’s genius. The proposal for the exhibition had come from the Science Museum, whose staff arranged a ‘scientific section’ of the exhibition, providing and displaying photographs and models. The story of these early models is particularly interesting in the light of the subsequent expansion in the use of mechanical models and animations to interpret and present Leonardo’s work. Questions that surrounded their introduction are accentuated by the ubiquity of models today. Some of the 1952 models will be displayed at the Science Museum in 2016, alongside an exhibition of a large group of ‘historical models’ first displayed in Milan in 1953. The occasion should provoke some thoughtful consideration of the current influence of this tool for research and display.