1.5 Establishing an Event Structure

During the first semester of the course, our group began to brainstorm what our project would look like and how we can create something that pays respect and dignifies the descendants held within the collection. It was clear from the beginning that a traditional exhibition would not be a suitable format for the project. Given the sensitivities surrounding the display of human remains, we were torn between creating a digital exhibition which focused more on the provenance of the collection, or to host a symposium-style event. After presenting our ideas to our peers and the curators of the Anatomical Museum in November, we landed on the idea of hosting an event which would focus on passing over the microphone to specialist speakers from a variety of backgrounds in order to foster constructive and meaningful discussion.

Creating a title was relatively easy for our group. I sent in a proposed title of Face to Face: A Dialogue on the University of Edinburgh’s Skull Collection, and we all agreed this best embodied the purpose of our event. We immediately began work to establish which speakers and moderators would be attending the event, as well as creating marketing material which would be shared both within the university and at nearby partner institutions. Originally our event was scheduled for the 15th March 2023 inside the Anatomy Lecture Theatre. Unfortunately, the UCU strike action persisted longer than we anticipated, and our event had to be cancelled due to this. Having already advertised the event across campus, and secured a great list of speakers, we were very disheartened as a group when we heard the news of the strike impacting our event. Very quickly we reached out to our speakers to figure out which alternative dates they could make. Luckily, three out of four speakers were free the 29th March 2023. Our fourth speaker, Dr. Marenka Thompson-Odlum from the Pitt Rivers Museum in Oxford, was sadly unable to attend in person following the event date change. Luckily, Marenka provided the group with a pre-recorded talk, therefore ensuring her participation on the day virtually.

Updated event poster following the date change.

Back on track for our event on the 29th of March, we began to plan what the actual day would look like. As a group we determined that our speakers would be paired off based on research interests, and would take part in a discussion panel following their presentations. In the middle of the day we planned for a tour of the Anatomical Museum and a creative workshop entitled ‘Museum of Me.’ We re-sent invites to everyone on our guest list, and also ensured that those who had purchased tickets on EventBrite were aware of the date change. What could have been a major roadblock for the project turned into a valuable learning experience for everyone. We were forced to work under pressure with the change in date, and had to ensure everyone was kept up to date on all communications. The marketing material was re-drafted numerous times, but luckily was promoted widely by the Edinburgh College of Art, Anatomical Museum, School of History, Classics and Archaeology, the National Museum of Scotland and Surgeon’s Hall to name a few. This work brought the GRP group closer together, and our event really began to take shape at this stage of the project.