University of Cambridge Museums

Sedgwick Museum Director Liz Hide explores how Darwin's specimens don't just tell us about the development of his geological theories, but also give us a glimpse into nineteenth-century resource extraction and global economic networks.

Hear about the geology of the summit of Everest

Here how the first ever rock specimen collected from the summit of Mount Everest ended up at the Sedgwick Museum

This audio was created as part of Museum Remix 2023, coinciding with the University of Cambridge Museums' programme of Power and Memory. It was put together by Kiki Bordean, Heidi McEvoy-Swift and Katrina Dring with the help of the Museum Remix and wider UCM teams. The Museum of Classical Archaeology is filled with sculptural expressions of the human form, including many heads. In one corner of the gallery, nestled among a display of busts, are two heads with ragged, broken edges around the neck. These came from bronze sculptures of Roman emperors Augustus and Claudius; the sculptures having been decapitated as a symbol of resistance during local uprisings by the Kushite and Iceni, respectively. Nearby in the gallery is another instance of decapitation, this time carried out by the Roman Empire. The scene from Trajan's column shows the severed heads of two Dacians being presented to Trajan on the battlefield; a symbol of Rome's enduring power and expanding empire. Rather than re-tell or verbally extend the information already given in the captions about these heads, we decided to complement it with a (hopefully!) thought-provoking collection of sounds. In the soundscape, we wanted to explore the circumstances of these heads – what they symbolise(d), how they came to be detached from their bodies, and how their stories both overlap and diverge. The wolf played an important role in Celtic, Dacian and Roman mythologies and, even today, is often seen as symbolic of wildness and freedom. We invite the listener to reflect on the themes of identity, power, and expression which we ourselves were occupied by during the two-day programme. Featuring the voices of Kiki Bordean, Heidi McEvoy-Swift, Katrina Dring, Ruchika Gurung and Barney Brown.

This audio was created as part of Museum Remix 2023, coinciding with the University of Cambridge Museums' programme of Power and Memory. It was put together by Kiki Bordean, Heidi McEvoy-Swift and Katrina Dring with the help of the Museum Remix and wider UCM teams. The Museum of Classical Archaeology is filled with sculptural expressions of the human form, including many heads. In a small case near the entrance are four broken terracotta figurines from Naukratis, a Greek trading post in Egypt. These figurines have been suggested as having features which might indicate individuals of African heritage – features which are not often seen in other sculptures from the classical period. Who were they? The figurines were made from a mould so presumably lots of these figures were made. By whom? For what purpose? Sadly, we don't know much more. Rather than re-tell or verbally extend the information already given in the captions about these figurines, we decided to complement it with a (hopefully!) thought-provoking collection of sounds. In the soundscape, we wanted to explore the circumstances of these heads – what they symbolise(d), how they were made, used and broken, and what they might tell us about Greek life in Egypt. We invite the listener to reflect on the themes of identity, power, and expression which we ourselves were occupied by during the two-day programme. Featuring the voices of Kiki Bordean, Heidi McEvoy-Swift, Katrina Dring, Ruchika Gurung and Barney Brown.

Credits: Written by Annabel Worth and Kirsten Huffer Read by Annabel Audio editing by Emma Pratt This piece concerns the Iguanodon fossil cast in the Sedgwick museum. "For us this was a really important story to tell, as it highlights how the university has benefited, and continues to benefit, from slavery and colonialism, in a way that is usually hidden. One can appreciate the object itself, marvel at its great size, thinking how amazing it is that something like this ever existed, and be excited about all it has taught us about dinosaur biomechanics and movement, but we believe it is necessary to recognise its history, as well as past wrongdoing by the university and others. Despite the obvious benefits of having such a wonderful cast in our possession, both in terms of academic study and inspiring and exciting the public, this piece's origins are complex and dark. As you will hear, the dinosaur could be considered part of Leopold II's attempt to encourage his European neighbours to overlook the suffering being inflicted on the people of the Congo at the end of the 19th century - something which deserves to be acknowledged."

Credits: Written by Annabel Worth, Kirsten Huffer and Emma Pratt Read by Kirsten and Annabel Audio editing and soundscape by Emma This piece concerns Mary Anning's Icthyosaur in the Sedgwick museum. Once upon a time, 200 million years ago, dolphin-like marine reptiles, or ichthyosaurs, like this one roamed the Jurassic Sea. About 200 years ago, Mary Anning, mother of paleontology, found this ichthyosaur fossil along the craggy cliffs of England's southern coast. If fossils could talk, what would this ichthyosaur say? What could it tell us about the experiences of its collector, Mary Anning, who was widely excluded from scientific circles of her day? And what could it tell us about Adam Sedgwick, who purchased it—possibly with the money that he gained from the labour of enslaved people? What stories of power and memory, gender and colonialism, could this ichthyosaur bring to life?

The Museum as an institution is not neutral. A response to the colonial 1875 Jigsaw Globe on display in the Museum's Globe Gallery. Creators: Fu Ge Yang, Sally Yan and Annie Tomkins. This audio was created as part of Museum Remix 2023, coinciding with the University of Cambridge Museums' programme of Power and Memory.

‘This Globe is Broken'. A poem about how the globe as an object is not neutral. A response to the colonial 1875 Jigsaw Globe on display in the Museum's Globe Gallery. Creator: Annie Tomkins. This audio was created as part of Museum Remix 2023, coinciding with the University of Cambridge Museums' programme of Power and Memory.

Barra Journal: Audio by University of Cambridge Museums

Surtsey Journal: Audio by University of Cambridge Museums

In the Museum of Classical Archaeology's Cast Gallery two wrestlers are locked together in eternal combat... and an eternal embrace. Colin Clews untangles the queer resonances of one of classical antiquity's most famous sculptures in this extract from his Bridging Binaries tour. Part of the University of Cambridge Museums' Bridging Binaries LGBTQ+ tour programme.

Klara Widrig explores how received wisdom about gender even impacts on how scientists interpret Tyrannosaurus Rex fossils. Sit back and enjoy this extract from Klara's Bridging Binaries tour of the Sedgwick Museum of Earth Scientists but... beware the jaws of Big Mamma! Part of the University of Cambridge Museums' Bridging Binaries LGBTQ+ tour programme.

A penguin egg in the Polar Museum is more than it seems... Join Julia Peck for a tale of sexual speculation in this Bridging Binaries tour extract. Part of the University of Cambridge Museums' Bridging Binaries LGBTQ+ tour programme.

Ellen Purdy tells a story of monks, matrimony and martial arts, inspired by a Noh mask in the Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology. Part of the University of Cambridge Museums' Bridging Binaries LGBTQ+ tour programme.

Behind the doors of a medicine cabinet in the Whipple Museum of the History of Science is a story of romance between two pioneering female doctors... Join Meg Roberts for this extract from her Bridging Binaries tour, part of the University of Cambridge Museums' LGBTQ+ tour programme.

The Greek hero Hercules was famous for his many labours, and his many lovers... Luis Jimenez ushers us into the presence of a legend in this extract from his Bridging Binaries tour of the Museum of Classical Archaeology. Part of the University of Cambridge Museums' Bridging Binaries LGBTQ+ tour programme.

Glimpse the interior life of artist Gwen John in this extract from Oliver Warren's Bridging Binaries tour of the Fitzwilliam Museum. Part of the University of Cambridge Museums' Bridging Binaries LGBTQ+ tour programme.

Join the revels of the ancient god Dionysus... Lucian Stephenson shares a story from the Museum of Classical Archaeology, part of the University of Cambridge Museums' LGBTQ+ tour programme.

In the Whipple Museum of the History of Science is a very special microscope... Meg Roberts explores what Charles Darwin did and didn't see in this story from the University of Cambridge Museums' Bridging Binaries tour programme.

Where to start with the story of the Roman Emperor Caracalla - with his murdered brother, or his many lovers? Travel to ancient Rome with Luis Jimenez and a story from the Museum of Classical Archaeology, part of the University of Cambridge Museums' Bridging Binaries LGBTQ+ tour programme.

Lucian Stephenson unravels a tale of transformation from the Museum of Classical Archaeology, part of the University of Cambridge Museums' Bridging Binaries tour programme.

A barrel organ in the Polar Museum's collection opens up a world of polar pantomime fun... Julia Peck tells an LGBTQ+ story from Polar Museum, part of the University of Cambridge Museums' Bridging Binaries tour programme.

Discover the life and loves of Alexander the Great... Anthony Bridgen shares a story from his LGBTQ+ history tour of the Fitzwilliam Museum, part of the University of Cambridge Museums' Bridging Binaries tour programme.

Meet Antinous, the boy who became a god... Anthony Bridgen shares a story from his LGBTQ+ history tour of the Fitzwilliam Museum, part of the University of Cambridge Museums' Bridging Binaries tour programme.

“When as Queen Anne of great renown Great Britain’s sceptre swayed, Besides the Church she dearly loved a dirty chambermaid..." Jasmine Brady shares the gossip from Queen Anne's court, inspired by the Fitzwilliam Museum's Queen Anne plate. This recording is part of the University of Cambridge Museums' Museum Remix project, bringing you stories from the Bridging Binaries LGBTQ+ tours.

Liz Hide takes a walk around Barrington in Cambridgeshire in search of quarryman Arthur Hardman. This track is part of the Museum Remix: Unheard project, and was inspired by the Barrington Quarry Rhino archive photograph from the Sedgwick Museum of Earth Sciences. You can find out more about the Barrington Quarry Rhino archive photo here: https://www.museums.cam.ac.uk/magic/barrington-quarry-rhino

Lewis Harrower and Andrea Elder's soundscape explores the story behind Phyllis Wager's Typewriter in the Polar Museum's collection. When Phyllis Wager travelled to East Greenland as part of a British expedition in 1935, it was so unusual for women to travel to the Polar regions that special permission was needed from the Foreign Office. What can her typewriter tell us about her work? Lewis and Andrea write: "We share an interest in old technologies and were excited to tell a different story of the Polar expedition showcasing the day to day as well as the hiking in freezing conditions. Our approach was to imagine the lives of these researchers behind the reports. The stories we tell through the soundscape were gathered from the obituary of Phyllis and other research. We hope to have encapsulated the whole experience in just a short time and allow the listener to imagine for themselves what it may have been like." Charlotte Connelly, Museum Curator at the Polar Museum responds: "I really enjoyed listening to this and imagining Phyllis typing up her notes while she reflected on travelling through the Greenlandic landscape or socialising with her fellow expedition members. It felt like a brilliant whistle-stop tour of the expedition, thank you!" This track is part of the Museum Remix: Unheard project. Find out more at www.museums.cam.ac.uk/museumremix You can find out more about Phyllis Wager's typewriter here: https://www.museums.cam.ac.uk/magic/phyllis-wagers-typewriter

Fern Teather and Sam Thurlow imagine the music that might have accompanied the dances and performances at which this Ibo maiden spirit mask might have been worn at the turn of the 20th century. The carved wooden mask was made around a hundred years ago by the Ibo people of Nigeria, and is now in the collection of the Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology. We don't know the names of the Ibo people who made it, saw it, wore it to dance, or made the music for the performance; or of the maiden spirit the mask represents. The mask also tells of the negotiation of gender roles, as the mask was worn by a male dancer to evoke a feminine ideal. Fern writes, "This submission is a piece of African-style music played by percussionist Sam Thurlow using instruments common to Nigeria, where the Ibo Maiden Spirit Mask was found. The featured drum in the piece originates from the Ibo culture like the mask, and is often simply called an Ibo drum. However, its traditional name is an Udu. The instrument creates a unique bass sound that some believe to be the voices of Ibo ancestors. I was drawn to this object because I had heard Sam playing the Ibo drum, and was intrigued by the maiden spirit mask from the same culture. Our aim was to create a piece of music that could help people imagine the sorts of festivities the mask might have been worn at. We listened to traditional Nigerian dance music used in Ibo celebrations, and have attempted to create something in the same style specifically for this exhibit. " This track is part of the Museum Remix: Unheard project. Find out more at www.museums.cam.ac.uk/museumremix You can find out more about the mask at: https://www.museums.cam.ac.uk/magic/ibo-maiden-spirit-mask

Giulia Gambino retells the story of the battle between the Lapiths and Centaurs, as depicted on the West Pediment of the Temple of Zeus at Olympia, through song. The sculpture - of which a plaster cast is displayed in the Museum of Classical Archaeology - shows a battle between humans and centaurs: a wedding party gone disastrously wrong. A woman fights off a centaur - a creature that is half-man, half-horse - with a well-placed elbow. Giulia writes, "My submission is a song inspired by the legend of the battle between Lapiths and Centaurs. I imagined the statue taking life and singing her story to the audience, explaining why she's reacting to the “abduction” of the mythological creature with all her might: it's a matter of principles and destiny, since -as we know- civility couldn't be beaten by irrationality, as Apollo’s presence confirms. But it’s also a love story: by surrendering to the Centaur, the protagonist would have lost life’s most deep purpose, Sappho’s “Theia Mania”!" This track is part of the Museum Remix: Unheard project. Find out more at: www.museums.cam.ac.uk/museumremix You can find out more about the sculpture at: https://www.museums.cam.ac.uk/magic/woman-elbowing-centaur

Theo Sayers imagines the story behind an archive photograph in the Sedgwick Museum of Earth Sciences. In 1900, in Barrington, near Cambridge, three men pose for a photograph alongside a partially-excavated fossil rhinocerus skill. How can we imagine the interactions between these three men from very different social classes. Were they respectful of each other's knowledge? Or was it strongly hierarchical? Theo writes, "I was drawn to the object for its local origin and the opportunities the photograph presented for storytelling. Focusing on quarryman Arthur Hardman, I used some creative license to imagine aspects of his life and how he may have felt towards the other men in the photograph. I wanted to pay tribute to Arthur as I saw him as the most humble of the three men. I think museums should more often celebrate figures like Arthur, who are instrumental in finding these objects." This track is part of the Museum Remix: Unheard project. Find out more at: www.museums.cam.ac.uk/museumremix You can find out more about the archive photograph at: https://www.museums.cam.ac.uk/magic/barrington-quarry-rhino

Katy A. Whitaker's spoken word piece imagines pioneering archaeologist Dorothy Garrod (1892-1968) talking about her war work and remembering inter-war excavations. It was inspired by a prehistoric necklace excavated by Garrod from Mount Carmel in Israel in the 1930s, now in the collection of the Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology. Katy writes, "I was thinking about how varied Dorothy Garrod's life was during the period 1914-1945, during which the necklaces were excavated, and what she might have been thinking about while engaged on war work in each World War. I wanted to tie together these amazing strands of her life, and thought that a common thread could be her relationship with the women she worked with, albeit in such contrasting circumstances. She was at her very best working with teams of women, whether on site or in uniform. I saw the necklaces as a visual metaphor for links in and across her life. Objects aren't only about the people who made and used them, but are presented in museums divorced from their finders and from those people's rich, complex lives. That's a shame, because (archaeology) museum collections are there by reason of their excavators, not because of the people who made and used the objects." This track is part of the Museum Remix: Unheard project. Find out more at: www.museums.cam.ac.uk/museumremix You can find out more about Dorothy Garrod and the necklace at: https://www.museums.cam.ac.uk/magic/necklaces-mount-carmel

Laura Grace Simpkins explores the miniature world of foraminifera - tiny marine creatures which feature in the fossil record as early as 50 million years ago - inspired by Charles Elcock's microscope slide kit in the Whipple Museum of the History of Science. As a professional "microscopist", Charles Elcock built his career on his ability to produce microscope slides. His microscopy kit and slides reveal his incredible skill. But Elcock and craftspeople like him don't often feature in the stories we tell about scientific discoveries. Laura writes, "Why does my deep dive from Elcock’s slides to pink beaches make me so excited? Why is pink sand just cool? To me, it’s proof that nature is bright and fun. That nature is colourful, diverse, queer. That there isn’t a distinction between "art" and "science" in nature. That "nature" itself is a construct. Those are all human-centric ideas, borne out of the European Enlightenment. There is little to be gained from continuing those distinctions. Elcock’s scientifically-useful and aesthetically- pleasing slides invite me into imagining new ways of performing science. I’d like to see a pink-sandy kind of science, one that is creative and queered. A science that has to respond to nature expressively, that has a dialogue with it, that works on a give-and-take relationship. A science that moves beyond mere order, control, and labelling, towards appreciation, connection, and imagination."

Miriam Waters gives a musical voice to an unnamed woman fighting in the battle between the Lapiths and Centaurs, as depicted on the West Pediment of the Temple of Zeus at Olympia. The sculpture - of which a plaster cast is displayed in the Museum of Classical Archaeology - shows a battle between humans and centaurs: a wedding party gone disastrously wrong. A woman fights off a centaur - a creature that is half-man, half-horse - with a well-placed elbow. Miriam writes, "I wanted to give a voice to a silenced woman ... who had been erased from history. I felt that song was a powerful way to express this, as well as explore ancient Greek music." This track is part of the Museum Remix: Unheard project. Find out more at: www.museums.cam.ac.uk/museumremix You can find out more about the sculpture at: https://www.museums.cam.ac.uk/magic/woman-elbowing-centaur

Sara Green's poem Typewritten is inspired by Phyllis Wager's typewriter, now in the collection of the Polar Museum. When Phyllis Wager travelled to East Greenland as part of a British expedition in 1935, it was so unusual for women to travel to the Polar regions that special permission was needed from the Foreign Office. What can her typewriter tell us about her work? Sara writes, "The idea of being invisible in science and history chimed strongly with me - it appealed to capture what the typewriter must have felt, but not recorded." Charlotte Connelly, Museum Curator at the Polar Museum responds: "I love the idea of the typewriter speaking directly to us, and telling us about its experiences. I especially enjoyed thinking about how the journey to Greenland would cause the typewriter to contract and creak. I also thought it was brilliant to explore how much of the work of an expedition is as transient as a heartbeat or footprints in the snow; only the clear black letters produced by the typewriter survive to tell the tale." This track is part of the Museum Remix: Unheard project. Find out more at: www.museums.cam.ac.uk/museumremix Find out more about Phyllis Wager's typewriter at: https://www.museums.cam.ac.uk/magic/phyllis-wagers-typewriter

Sophie Fletcher's poem is inspired by a wooden mask from southern Nigeria, now in the collection of the Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology. The carved wooden mask was made around a hundred years ago by the Ibo people of Nigeria. We don't know the names of the Ibo people who made it, saw it, wore it to dance, or made the music for the performance; or of the maiden spirit the mask represents. The mask also tells of the negotiation of gender roles, as the mask was worn by a male dancer to evoke a feminine ideal. Sophie writes, "I enjoyed taking the time to look at the object, watch the video, read about it, and when it came to writing a poem I felt I was unable to force a story on it. The truth about my relationship with the object and its real history, as communicated in the poem, is that I will never understand whose hands touched it, whose face and brain and gender used it, if any. But I can respond to it in a more surface-level way and still feel something by doing so as well." This track is part of the Museum Remix: Unheard project. Find out more at www.museums.cam.ac.uk/museumremix You can find out more about the mask at: www.museums.cam.ac.uk/magic/ibo-maiden-spirit-mask

John Hodgson's poem Transition is inspired by a prehistoric necklace excavated by pioneering archaeologist Dorothy Garrod (1892-1968) from Mount Carmel in Israel in the 1930s, and now in the collection of the Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology. Garrod became the first female professor in the history of the University of Cambridge. John writes, "Dorothy Garrod admits that the assembly of the necklace, originally at least, was a guess, there being no evidence for any thread to tie the assembly together. Equally there is no evidence beyond precedents that straight men make better professors of archaeology or knappers of flint or carvers of bone. The Natufian culture was a transition between nomadic and more settled existences. The era of gendered work privilege may be equally transitory in the historical record." This track is part of the Museum Remix: Unheard project. Find out more at: www.museums.cam.ac.uk/museumremix You can find out more about Dorothy Garrod and the necklace at: www.museums.cam.ac.uk/magic/necklaces-mount-carmel

In this mini-podcast, Tristram Riley-Smith explores the tangible and intangible connections between nine objects from the University of Cambridge Museums. You can view all the objects here: www.museums.cam.ac.uk/museumremix Tristram writes, "You inspired me to think about the way objects emerge into the world, and that relationship between objectivity and subjectivity, the unintentional and the intentional, impression and expression. This reflection ultimately led me to recognise the important role of the curator as a knowledge-broker (when material culture's equivalent to the Third Law of Thermodynamics deprives objects of meaning, in a remorseless passage from expression/significance to impression/insignificance). Ideally, museums should do whatever is possible to communicate and celebrate what can be multifaceted meanings associated with these objects." This track is part of the Museum Remix: Unheard project. Find out more at www.museums.cam.ac.uk/museumremix

Miriam Waters' poem Not Your Man responds to a pair of archive photographs in the collection of the Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology. The studio photographs were taken in the 1870s in colonial Samoa, and speak of complex colonial histories and different understandings of race, gender and gender fluidity. We don't know the name of the subject of the photographs: the labels simply say "man from Tutulia with hair bound [and] unbound". Miriam writes, "I thought it was fascinating to see how other cultures have been overlooked/oversimplified by anthropologists in the past and I wondered what this Samoan would say, if they could talk to us, and how that might be relevant to our own identity struggles today." This track is part of the Museum Remix: Unheard project. Find out more: www.museums.cam.ac.uk/museumremix You can find out more about the photographs at https://www.museums.cam.ac.uk/magic/man-tutuila-hair-bound-and-unbound

Steven Goodwin's soundscape Windswept No. 3 is inspired by Phyllis Wager's typewriter in the collection of the Polar Museum. When Phyllis Wager travelled to East Greenland as part of a British expedition in 1935, it was so unusual for women to travel to the Polar regions that special permission was needed from the Foreign Office. What can her typewriter tell us about her work? Steven writes, "This soundscape transitions from the literal to the abstract. Beginning with the Arctic blizzard, you can hear the typewriter being prepared for a session. Then, as the keys start hammering, the blizzard subsides and the key strokes become longer and longer to representing the slowing of time experience when writing. The typewrite sounds are stretched, and applied with effects such that they eventually sound like a blizzard, to reflect the authors experience - now of an internalised reality which has replaced the outside wind. Such is the intensity of the writing process that the listener hardly notices the outside blizzard has disappeared, and the key strokes become so long (to represent the 6-month long arctic days and nights) that they take the place of the outside wind. It is appealing because it reflects the way we internalise our thought processes in isolation. Whether a literal lockdown isolation, or a virtual one as experienced when playing games, or reading books. I approached it as an exercise in taking one sound from the object (the typewriter), and processing it until it sounded like the environment in which it was used (the Arctic.) Getting objects understood and reflect in situ, especially through alternate mediums, I find to be quite different to a museum's printed label." Charlotte Connelly, Museum Curator at the Polar Museum, responds: "I got a lot from this interpretation of the typewriter and the writer’s experience. For all that the expedition took place in a relatively isolated part of Greenland, the expedition members were living in close quarters for much of the time. I imagine writing could have been a retreat from the day-to-day activities of living in a remote part of Greenland, and really enjoyed the meditative feeling I got from this piece." This track is part of the Museum Remix: Unheard project. Find out more at www.museums.cam.ac.uk/museumremix. You can find out more about Phyllis Wager's typewriter at: www.museums.cam.ac.uk/magic/phyllis-wagers-typewriter

Tae Ateh and Izzy Collie-Cousins respond to a pair of photographs at the Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology (MAA). The studio photographs were taken in Samoa in the 1870s. The subject is unknown: the photographer's labels say "man from Tutuila with hair bound [and] unbound". They write, "This is a compilation of responses to the blatant colonial perspective that governs British museums, particularly those of anthropology and ethnography. It incorporates the political struggle for repatriation, personal poetic responses, and the reflections of an inexperienced observer. Neither of us are experts, and this is part of the problem. For real change to be affected, museums will have to employ academic experts to begin rectifying institutional imbalances, not merely open the floor to the concerned public. The sensory overload of multiple overlapping voices recalls the overload of information in museums, and the struggle of any one visitor to decipher the information that confronts them. We wanted to further platform the call for the decolonisation of museums, and chose this work because it directly demonstrates the othering of indigenous people by the western spectator. We both responded independently to the work, then combined our responses with the responses of decolonial protestors and specialists. Museums should approach these objects differently by highlighting the formal characteristics and provenance of the works that demonstrate the colonial, orientalist perspective they promote. Furthermore, museums should pay close attention to the ways photographic or artistic subjects present themselves in this work. It is clearly known by MAA curators that this person is fa'afine (roughly translating to Third Gender) - therefore, titling them a 'man' is incorrect. While acknowledging that the photographer and collector did not acknowledge this person's gender presentation as being outside of the binary is important, it is also essential to accurately and respectfully present this person as they present themselves. Moreover, museums should employ non-white experts to write on and curate their collections." Anita Herle, Senior Curator at MAA, writes, "This pair of 1870s studio photographs of an anonymous person from Samoa were put on display at MAA earlier this year as part of the University of Cambridge Museums' Bridging Binaries tours. Our understanding that this unknown and unheard person was likely a fa'afafine was based on conversations with Samoan researchers working with the collections at MAA. The invitation to assist with untangling the complex colonial context of these images has provoked a powerful and multi-layered response calling for the decolonisation of museums. It forcefully reminds us that there is a long way to go and that we need to work together both inside and outside the Museum. MAA has been working closely with numerous descendant communities from around the world for over two decades. We need to extend this work and make it more visible to multiple museum audiences. The employment of BIPOC researchers has been crucial to our work, but unfortunately it has been limited to temporary contracts. There needs to be more opportunities for people from diverse backgrounds to have secure employment in museums and across the university. We are working with colleagues across the University and more widely across the museums sector to understand how we can address this. The response is also a welcome reminder of the need to be careful with language when presenting historical material. While MAA's label text uses gender neutral language when describing this person, the quotation marks around the historic title have disappeared in your reading and instead the title has re-enforced the very stereotypes that the display question. I am grateful for the heartfelt response. Your comments will inform a re-writing of this and other display labels and encourage MAA to take a stronger stance in support of decolonisation."

Maxine Fay's soundscape Afternoon Sounds responds to a child's plate in the Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology. The small, rather damaged plate was excavated in the centre of Cambridge in the early 2000s. It features two alphabets, British Sign Language and English, and hints at the rich and complex history of Deaf culture not often explored in archaeology museums. Maxine writes that she took her inspiration from "The idea that not only could deaf people not hear everyday sounds but once they were not allowed to communicate using signs. I wanted a quiet piece to show how even the small sounds of an afternoon can be significant, when you can hear them. I also wanted to try something related to ASMR - an interesting idea that I am uncertain how to achieve!" This track is part of the Museum Remix: Unheard project. Find out more at: www.museums.cam.ac.uk/museumremix. You can find out more about the British Sign Language plate at https://www.museums.cam.ac.uk/magic/british-sign-language-alphabet-plate

Every cast in the Museum of Classical Archaeology is a hybrid – the work of both the ancient sculptor and the modern cast maker. Dr Susanne Turner, Curator at the Museum of Classical Archaeology, talks to us about a plaster cast taken from a carved marble head, identified as that of the ancient Greek god Apollo. But who sculpted the original, and who made the cast? This podcast series is part of an exhibition titled Artist: Unknown at Kettle's Yard in Cambridge. In collaboration with the University of Cambridge Museums, it brings together works of art from across the University’s collections from July to September 2019.

Nicholas Thomas, Director at the Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, talks about a 19th / early 20th century barkcloth. Both a museum object and an extraordinary work of art, the maker’s name was never recorded and the individual artistic value overlooked. This podcast series is part of an exhibition titled Artist: Unknown at Kettle's Yard in Cambridge. In collaboration with the University of Cambridge Museums, it brings together works of art from across the University’s collections from July to September 2019.

What happens when the artist doesn't want to be known, and why would that be? Josh Nall, Curator of Modern Sciences at the Whipple Museum of the History of Science, talks about the makers who aim to deceive. This podcast series is part of an exhibition titled Artist: Unknown at Kettle's Yard in Cambridge. In collaboration with the University of Cambridge Museums, it brings together works of art from across the University’s collections from July to September 2019.

Eliza Spindel, Curatorial and Research Assistant at Kettle's Yard, tells us about a tea bowl from Kettle's Yard and a case of mistaken identity. Not only does the maker change, but so does its story. This podcast series is part of an exhibition titled Artist: Unknown at Kettle's Yard in Cambridge. In collaboration with the University of Cambridge Museums, it brings together works of art from across the University’s collections from July to September 2019.

Whalers. Expert Navigators, but also expert artists? Charlotte Connelly, Curator at The Polar Museum, tells us about some atmospheric ink drawings and scrimshaw created by whalers voyaging in the Arctic. This podcast series is part of an exhibition titled Artist: Unknown at Kettle's Yard in Cambridge. In collaboration with the University of Cambridge Museums, it brings together works of art from across the University’s collections from July to September 2019.

Is taxidermy a craft or art? Can natural history specimens be an artwork? Who made this putty-nosed monkey? And while we're here, can a fox snarl? Jack Ashby, Museum Manager at the University Museum of Zoology, tackles taxidermy and its inclusion in Artist: Unknown. This podcast series is part of an exhibition titled Artist: Unknown at Kettle's Yard in Cambridge. In collaboration with the University of Cambridge Museums, it brings together works of art from across the University’s collections from July to September 2019.

What would a young woman's CV from the past look like? Helen Ritchie, Research Assistant at The Fitzwilliam Museum, talks about samplers and the role they played for young women in the 17th and 18th century, and why in this instance the artist is unknown. This podcast series is part of an exhibition titled Artist: Unknown at Kettle's Yard in Cambridge. In collaboration with the University of Cambridge Museums, it brings together works of art from across the University’s collections from July to September 2019.