1.5 Event Day (Pt. 4)
After an entire semester of planning and a difficult date change, it was finally time for our event Face to Face: A Dialogue on the University of Edinburgh’s Skull Collection on March 29th from 1-4pm. As a group, we arrived at the Anatomy Lecture Theatre at 12pm on the day to begin set up, including testing out the microphones and recording devices, ensuring we had tables for teas and coffees, and presenting each speaker’s slides onto the big screen. We had a minor panic when we realised that the Arabic translation of our event handout had not been sent through in time for the event. Luckily, after some phone calls, we managed to get the final translation and proceeded to print copies of this on the day for any Arabic-speakers in the audience.
Getting set up before the event.
The Arabic translation of our event handout.
As our audience began to filter in, I helped our volunteers set up at various spots throughout the venue. Everything on the day went without a hitch! All of the microphones worked, our recordings were clear and the presentations were displayed properly. Our first two speakers were Zaki El-Salahi and Dr. Marenka Thompson-Odlum. Zaki’s presentation: From 1898 to Now:
Sudan, Scotland & Omdurman Shaheed Skulls paired excellently with Marenka’s talk on the Labelling Matters project occurring at The Pitt Rivers Museum. Although Marenka was unable to take part in the live discussion, Zaki received thought-provoking questions which concerned themselves with the acquisition of these skulls and future plans for repatriation. Following these talks was a break for the creative workshop and tour of the Anatomical Museum.
I was involved with the tour of the museum and taking part in the discussion titled Face to Face: The Hidden Histories. As a group, we wanted to actively connect the museum tour to the rest of the event, and were aware for many that not seeing the skulls could possibly be difficult to understand. To overcome this, I created an alternate label for the infant and fetal remains which are currently on display in the museum. This label covered issues surrounding consent and identity, and was followed by a brief presentation by myself on the ethics of displaying these remains. The talk went incredibly well, and was followed up by fruitful discussion with the audience members. Following the tour, our groups swapped before heading back into the lecture theatre for the final presentations.
Label created for Face to Face: The Hidden Histories.
The museum tour group beginning with an introduction to the museum in the Elephant Foyer.
Our final presentations were by Nicole Anderson and Dr. Tobias Houlton. Nicole presented on her current PhD work surrounding provenance research within the Skull Collection, and Tobias discussed how craniofacial reconstruction can be an active mode of justice work when dealing with difficult collections. We had a great live discussion following these two talks, and were relieved the hard part was now over! Following the presentations the rector of the University of Edinburgh, Deborah Kayembe, gave some closing remarks. Her speech was incredibly powerful and emotional and has ignited a genuine desire for change from an institutional level (listen here)
After the event we hosted a small reception within the Elephant Foyer next door. It was a wonderful opportunity to chat with our speakers on how the day went, and also to receive feedback from our audience. I was interviewed alongside one of the museum curators, Malcolm MacCallum for a scientific journal which was a new experience for me! I spoke about my enjoyment of working with the collection and the museum curators, and discussed how these skills will help me later in my career. Overall it was a wonderful day and the feedback we received afterwards was very positive!
*Photographs by Charlie Jeffrey*
