We are currently developing all of our education workshops and outreach programs for the Brunel 200 celebrations. There was a big meeting with all the different museums in the area that are planning events, and it looks like it's going to be a huge year! For those like me who would not know who Isambard Kingdom Brunel is before arriving in Bristol (or researching him for my job interview)- he is a famous engineer who had a huge part in shaping the development of England during the industrial revolution... building railways, steamships to the west and east colonies, the Thames tunnel, and countless other things. Basically 2006 is the 200th year anniversary of his Birth so there are all sorts of things in the works - one soda company is making a drink called Fizzimbard Brunel for selling at some of the events and celebrations.
It looks like it will be a good things for the Museum, because although the building we are in (Temple Meads Station) was built by Brunel, the focus of our actual galleries is entirely different... this way we'll be attracting people for the Brunel celebrations, but also giving them something to come back and see (the actual Museum)... alot of the other groups already have a huge focus on Brunel but we'll be getting good exposure and offering other options relating to the empire. Because we haven't had a focus on the building in the past we are doing a lot of work to educate ourselves and find resources on the topic.
.jpg)
FYI - this is the museum... The offices are in the front part that looks a bit like a tudor castle front, the galleries are in the part behind which used to be the old carriage shed of the train station.
I spent most of this week designing a tour of the building that talks a bit about some of the more ingenious aspects of Brunel's design, with a focus of giving some insight into the personality and character of Brunel through the interpretation of the building. I found a lot of really cool information about him - he seemed to be a bit of a megalomaniac obsessed with success and fame, resulting in an almost obessive personal involvement in all his projects. One example is that he would spend hours drawing incredibly precise plans for the most simple procedures so that everything would be done how he wanted. Furthermore, he didn't like to work with other well educated engineers because he didn't want anyone putting his plans into actuality to be able to reinterpret or review his plans with a critical eye... that way his workers had to build exactly to his specifications. The tour is basically done and we are going to test it out with a group of students who are visiting next week.
I've also been trying to collect resources that can be used in the education workshops we are planning - so I've been researching into the Brunel collections in the local libariries and archives and it looks like next week I'll be able to do some work out of the museum and actually get to go to the archives to do some research and pulling of resources.
Lots of cool things are going on, which is making my work day very enjoyable. I've started to go for walks a bit on lunch to explore the area around the museum a little more, i've taken some good photos so I will post them shortly.
Last night the Canadian lady at the Museum took me to her house for a good dinner with her family. It was really nice to have Barbeque (something they dont do much of here) and to just talk with some people in a family setting. Her son is about my age and lives in Canada, so I think she was fulfilling some of her material instincts by having me over and insisting that I eat as much as I could while I was there.
Tonight we are going out to the pub after work with some of the staff and I will get to meet Ondia who is the Canadian intern from two years ago... she has been in Bristol for a few years and is doing her masters in education here so I think we'll have a lot to talk about.
Other than that there isn't much new - Everyday I'm learning new things about Bristol and british culture... some things are just the same in Canada and some are totally different. It's helped having a Canadian in the office and my German housemate at home though to sympathize with me when people use words and slang I don't know.
For example a lady was giving me a phone number today and recited it 933-3-Not-45 and I had to ask her to repeat it twice over the phone before I totally gave up. Soon after I realized that "naught" is used interchangably with zero.
I'll try and get some photos posted this weekend... I think i'll hook up my laptop to the net at the Watershed tomorrow morning after I work (i'm coming in for that society for landscape history talk which I was working on finding a guest speaker for on my first few days here). It's not great to work a saturday but its only for a few hours and I'll take a morning or afternoon off in lieu next week.
- Chris
No comments:
Post a Comment