Hello from Ipswich, Sammi reporting here.
The month of July at Ipswich Museum was very busy with Saxon-themed events coordinated by Harjeet (Collections and Learning Curator). The sessions started with the Mini Mammoths workshop for our younger visitors, which consisted of storytelling and fun-filled activities. I took on the character of Beowulf, a brave Saxon warrior who was well known for slaying monsters and his ferocious roaring. With Harjeet’s story telling and Ben (Business Support Officer) playing the part of King Alfred the Great, we took our participants on a magical journey into King Alfred’s Kingdom, where they were able to make their own crowns, colour in coins and dig for treasures among other activities.
Fitting nicely around the newly displayed Rendlesham collection in the Anglo-Saxons Gallery, the Festival of Archaeology day at the end of July included a wide range of craft making workshops around the Museum. With help from the Visitor Service team and Volunteers, whose support enables our events to happen, we worked to ensure our visitors enjoyed themselves. The feedback from the day was very positive and we were joined by an Ipswich Star newspaper photographer to capture the event.
There are more activities running throughout the August summer holidays, including braiding your own friendship bracelet, museum trails (check out the one that I personally designed below) and a Mammoth drawing competition. That last idea came from the Trainees, to create extra publicity around the Object of the Year Award, which has began and you can vote for Wool-I-am the Mammoth on the Suffolk Museums website.
Throughout this traineeship, I feel we have faced situations that have pushed us outside of our comfort zones. It has been daunting, as it would be adapting to any new environment, and at the same time rewarding, attaining new skills. On this occasion, it was having to play the character of Beowulf that was something new, as I have to admit that acting isn’t my strongest attribute. The roaring was a particular challenge, as I am not a loud person. Although not the most perfect enactment of such a character, I gave it my all however. Normally I would shy away from being in the limelight, but I now feel more confident in my abilities when placed in challenging situations.
I think this sums up my views on the summer events that have taken place so far. There is so much more I would love to share with you all, for now I will leave you with the famous words of Mr. Schwarzenegger, “I’ll be back”.
Signing out for now,
Sammi
The Training Museum 