Voices of the Royal Pavilion & Museums

Oct 30 2020 7

Voices of the Royal Pavilion & Museums Podcast artwork

A podcast made by staff and volunteers of this museum service in Brighton & Hove on the south coast of England. Dr Sophie Frost meets some of the people who keep these civic museums relevant for the 21st century, and discovers more about the work that goes on behind the scenes -- from the sublime to the ridiculously mundane. Presented by Dr Sophie Frost and edited by Lo-Fi Arts, this podcast is supported by the One by One Research Project, The Keep, and Arts Council England.

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16. Finale!

Oct 30 2020 38 mins

In the final episode of Voices of the Royal Pavilion & Museums, Sophie interviews Nicola Adams, Digital Marketing Officer and Tasha Brown, Museum Futures Trainee - two individuals who perhaps typify the future of our museums - about their hopes and dreams for the future of the organisation. This episode meditates on how, more than ever, the stories told by museum staff and volu

15. People First, Technology Second

Oct 28 2020 38 mins

This penultimate episode explores the ever-increasing role of digital technology in our cultural organisations by talking to Kevin Bacon, Digital Manager at Royal Pavilion & Museums. Kevin takes us on a whistle-stop tour of his own experiences of working with technology at the museum over the past 20 years and provides an insight into how it has tried, failed and tried again to

14. A Prince's Treasure

Oct 23 2020 37 mins

In 2019, over 120 items of furniture and decorative objects from the Royal Collection Trust were loaned to their original home at the Royal Pavilion in Brighton after 170 years away. Dr Alexandra Loske, Curator at the Royal Pavilion, talks to Sophie about their homecoming, and explains the prescience of the Prince Regent’s infamous collection for Brighton and beyond.

13. The Art of Conservation

Oct 15 2020 50 mins

In the first episode of the final series, Sophie speaks to Amy Junker-Heslip and Carola Del Mese, two members of the conservation team at Royal Pavilion & Museums. Amy and Carola share stories about some of delicate, painstaking and surprisingly creative work they have undertaken to help ‘make things last forever’ at this museum service.

12. Rummaging Through Boxes

Jun 11 2020 35 mins

In the final episode of the series, Sophie goes behind the scenes with Dan Robertson, Curator of Local History and Archeology at Royal Pavilion & Museums. Dan’s seemingly infinite descriptions of Victorian Egyptologists, holy water sprinklers, German mausers, grid irons, Sussex loops and the deepest hand-dug well in the world capture the unique and complex history of RPM whil

11. Queer Histories

May 28 2020 47 mins

In this episode, Sophie is joined by Robert White and Kelly Boddington, two early participants of the workforce development programme at Royal Pavilion & Museums, who spearheaded LGBTQ+ interpretation in its current form across the organisation. Kelly, who works by day as Assistant Buyer in the Retail team and Rob, a Marketing Support Officer and Booking Office Assistant, worke

10. Frogs & Formaldehyde

May 21 2020 46 mins

The Booth Museum of Natural History is a museum of Victorian taxidermy (notably of British birds), but also insects, fossils, bones and skeletons. On TripAdvisor it has been described as “a place of wonder, with a bit of terror thrown in.” In this episode Sophie is joined by Lee Ismail, Curator of Natural Sciences at the Booth, who introduces the museum and explains its origins

9. Disrupting South Coast Colonialism

May 11 2020 48 mins

In this episode, Sophie is joined by Rachel Heminway-Hurst, Curator of World Art, and Edith Ojo, freelance Arts Consultant and advisor on the Fashioning Africa project. Rachel and Edith explain the history and culture behind Yoruba Aso-oke textiles from West Africa, helping us to understand the symbolic importance of a British coastal museum collecting such textiles, and how new mo

8. Life on the Frontline

May 02 2020 57 mins

Sophie meets some of the ‘walking encyclopaedias’ who work on the frontline at Royal Pavilion & Museums. Marcus Bagshaw, Sue Winkett, Clare Hartfield and Zak Flannery all work in the Visitor Services team across the organisation’s five sites. They provide a rollicking, unpredictable and alternative tour of Brighton’s museum service in this episode and their enthusiasm d

7. Workforce Development

Apr 25 2020 32 mins

In the first episode of Season 2, Sophie speaks to Nick Kay, Workforce Development Officer at Royal Pavilion & Museums. Launched in 2012, Royal Pavilion & Museums’ innovative workforce development programme is a unique example of an on-the-job museum training scheme. Nick talks about the ethos behind the scheme, what has made the initiative so successful and how in-house