Film: Small Blessings: Animating the Pitt Rivers' Amulet Collections

Small Blessings was a project funded by Arts Council England’s Designation Development Fund in 2012. The project documented and curated a collection of several thousand amulets, and created a dedicated project website featuring image galleries, films and more.

Another important outcome was the creation of a two-part ‘masterclass’ film tracking the project’s development over seven months to completion. Made by a freelance team, the film aims to share learning and best practice for training purposes within both the Museum and the wider cultural sector, and provide a document of the behind-the-scenes activities and personalities. The film explores both the practical issues that impact on staff and considers the wider professional context and issues associated with such work.

The film is in two parts, focussing on Collections and Access. It seeks to demonstrate the major benefits Designation and its funding have stimulated, to create a visual record of best practice and the challenges and advantages of cross-departmental working - from collections management to display to education to technology - and to make a useful contribution to the growing body of work reviewing contemporary museum practice and sharing lessons learnt. It is hoped the films will be of interest not only to colleagues working in other museums and institutions, but also to students and those who are considering a career in the cultural sector.

The films can be accessed here: http://www.prm.ox.ac.uk/smallblessings_masterclass.html Both approximately 28 minutes in length.

We'd love to hear what you think about the films. Please send any feedback to amulets@prm.ox.ac.uk

Find out more about the background to the project: http://www.prm.ox.ac.uk/smallblessings.html

Explore the new Small Blessings website: http://web.prm.ox.ac.uk/amulets/

Tell us what you think of the Small Blessings project site by taking a few minutes to answer ten quick questions: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/L3BVRN2