The Museum Makers: A Journey Backwards (Paperback)
  • The Museum Makers: A Journey Backwards (Paperback)
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The Museum Makers: A Journey Backwards (Paperback)

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£9.99
Paperback 272 Pages
Published: 01/07/2021
  • 5+ in stock

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Part memoir, part detective story, part untold history of museums - The Museum Makers is a fascinating and moving family story.'Rachel Morris is one of the smartest storytellers I have ever met ... a wonderful and beguiling book' James Rebanks, author of The Shepherd's Life Without even thinking I began to slide all these things from the dusty boxes under my bed into groups on the carpet, to take a guess at what belonged to whom, to match up photographs and handwriting to memories and names - in other words, to sort and classify. As I did so I had the revelation that in what we do with our memories and the stuff that our parents leave behind, we are all museum makers, seeking to makes sense of the past.; Museum expert Rachel Morris had been ignoring the boxes under her bed for decades. When she finally opened them, an entire bohemian family history was laid bare. The experience was revelatory - searching for her absent father in the archives of the Tate; understanding the loss and longings of the grandmother who raised her - and transported her back to the museums that had enriched her lonely childhood. By teasing out the stories of those early museum makers, and the unsung daughters and wives behind them, and seeing the same passions and mistakes reflected in her own family, Morris digs deep into the human instinct for collection and curation.

Publisher: September Publishing
ISBN: 9781912836826
Number of pages: 272
Dimensions: 198 x 126 mm
Edition: 2nd New edition


MEDIA REVIEWS
'Rachel Morris is one of the smartest storytellers I have ever met ... a wonderful and beguiling book' James Rebanks, author of The Shepherd's Life 'Skilfully interwoven, history, reflection and detective work bouncing off one another to build a spirited narrative ... engrossing.' Spectator 'Immensely thought-provoking.' The Herald 'Morris' writing is immediately welcoming, and the content is warmly familiar for any reader working within the museums and heritage profession (although this is not a prerequisite to enjoying the book) ... It is a timely book at a moment when the heritage sector is asking challenging questions' Ferren Gipson, Arts Quarterly 'In this elegant and eloquent book Morris explores the contents of the boxes under her bed to calmly piece together a family pattern of loss and extreme eccentricity. As a museum curator, she meditates on the nature of museums: the Museum of Me we all carry in our heads, and the public institutions in which variations of the world's history are told.' Julia Blackburn, author of Time Song: In Search of Doggerland 'A fascinating meditation on the life of objects and their power to trigger our memories. It awakened my curiosity to the realms of history, pain, and longing we access through the simple act of collecting.' Dina Nayeri, author of The Ungrateful Refugee

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Hardback

“Packed with detail about museums and about the author's family”

The synopsis of The Museum Makers tapped into that part of me that is fascinated with family history, both my own and other people's.

Rachel Morris is a museum maker, responsible for some amazing displays and... More

Hardback edition
Helpful? Upvote 8

“Part family memoir, part history and the thinking behind museums”

This is an unusual book with two streams which intertwine throughout the book; the memories of a family through one person’s discoveries, and the making and maintaining of museums. Rachel Morris’ family is dominated,... More

Hardback edition
Helpful? Upvote 8
elleestviolette

“A wonderful book!”

In this brilliant, poetic, tender, and infused with melancholic nostalgia part family memoir and part history book, Rachel Morris delves in the history of her family through memorabilia -- the objects her Gran, her... More

Hardback edition
Helpful? Upvote 7

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