Museums Battle Over Who Has The Best Object In Their Exhibition, And Here Are 30 Cool Submissions
With art institutions closed around the world due to the COVID-19 pandemic, house-bound museum staffers are finding all sorts of ways to showcase their exhibits to people online. One of the initiatives that really stand out is the #CuratorBattle on Twitter.
Organized by the Yorkshire Museum, the weekly challenge asks museums to share images of their possessions, trying to find out who has the best ones. So far, each 'competition' had a particular theme. Like, the best bum. Or the creepiest object. However, the #CuratorBattle has reached its grand finale and this time, there are no limits. Museums are giving it their best shots. Continue scrolling and check out their most-prized star objects.
This post may include affiliate links.
What began as a novel way for the Yorkshire Museum to engage audiences online has quickly transformed into an international movement. But it's slowly coming to an end. For Now. "Many museums in the UK at least are starting to reopen and we thought it would be perfect to end while the the battles were still really popular," Lee Clark, the communications manager for the York Museums Trust, told Bored Panda.
Clark said the theme was chosen to give museums the chance to promote their star objects to potential visitors who will then hopefully come and see the real thing. "It was a great way to finish the series and saw entries from all over the world."
The Yorkshire Museum is thinking about bringing the battles back in the future in some form or other, and at different times of year, say for example a Christmas Battle or Halloween.
The staff at the museum consider the Curator Battle a huge success. "More than 5.4 million people have seen one of our Curator Battle tweets, with more than 1.5 million engagements. We saw coverage on CNN, Washing Post, Guardian UK and other media around the world."
The staff at the museum consider the Curator Battle a huge success. "More than 5.4 million people have seen one of our Curator Battle tweets, with more than 1.5 million engagements. We saw coverage on CNN, Washing Post, Guardian UK and other media around the world."
It was 'The Creepiest' that remains the most popular battle and has made the series a global phenomenon. "'Best Bum' was second with some incredible coverage around the world. We knew it would be a fun and interesting thing to try but the extent of the popularity has been fantastic for us and we hope for other museums," Clark said. "We would like to thank all of the museums who joined in, as the battles would be nothing without all the brilliant entries submitted. It has been so much fun learning about other museums' collections and we have felt a real sense of community being created, something we hope we can build on in the future."
The pandemic, however, remains an an incredibly difficult time for museums. York Museums Trust lost £1.5 million (nearly $2 million) in income in the four months they have been closed and they are expecting the impact of the pandemic to be felt for a long time to come.
If you have enjoyed the curator battles, it would be fantastic if you could make a donation to the Trust, if you are in a position to do so.
Here's an interesting fact, this football was made only 20 year after the fall of the Aztec empire in 1521.
I've seen a Gutenberg bible once. It's not just a printed book. All the ornaments and the initial letters are hand drawn. Even back in the 15th century they were very expansive and for sure not intended for the average household.
"Come on, let's get this game moving, I have places to be, royal things to do..."
The older my knitted socks get, the more comfortable they feel. But I usually get a new pair a bit before they look like this.
Really? I replace my socks every 2,000 years. You know, I'm sad the viking didn't last until his next fuzzy taco socks...
Load More Replies...
This looks like nålbinding, or needlebinding in English, if you will. The vikings used to make clothes using a needle in wood or bone with this technique and it is the predesessor of both knitting and crochet. I learned it back in 2005 and I teach it to anyone willing, as it is important to keep alive. Not many practice it today. They do talk about a sock which is needlebound on their website. It's a brilliant technique, much warmer than knitting and it doesn't unravel if you snag it, if you pull a thread it only makes a knot.
Another quarantine hobby to pursue! I have to say, there are aspects of this pandemic that have been enjoyable. Thankfully for my sanity
Load More Replies...
Sigh, all my socks seem to mysteriously disappear into an alternative dimension when I wash them.
That's why the Jorvik Viking Centre has only one of them, it was a problem back then too.
Load More Replies...
Looks like Nailbinding to me not knitting. It is a textile technique that predates knitting and was popular in Northern countries from earl times.
The Vikings managed to lose one of theirs too, just like us modern folk.
“Fell into the hands“ - you mean he stole it or how does a royal sword end up in the hands of a commoner?
At least if this bad boy chased you, you'd be able to get away..maybe?
Doesn’t look very comfortable to walk on. Not sure I’d want a floor made of bones either. That’s some Jeff Dahmer s*** right there lol.
Note: this post originally had 93 images. It’s been shortened to the top 30 images based on user votes.
Museums need to totally do more like this! It makes me really want to go see them all the more.
Now THIS is what I wanted to learn about in history class
Load More Replies... 
I loved this article, and there are many very interesting submissions, but it seems some of the big boy museums were not invited. As a child I used to like to visit the American Museum of Natural History in New York City, which has a vast collection of a variety of "objects". I doubt their fossil collection can be beat, and I would like to nominate their nearly-intact Tyrannosaurus Rex Skeleton. And although I've never been there, I feel confident in nominating the U.S.'s "trump card": Washington, D.C.'s Smithsonian Institution National Air and Space Museum has the Apollo 11 Command Module - the spacecraft that first brought humans to the Moon and back.
I loved this but I hated seeing the ending that said there were originally 93 posts and they were cut down to 30. Please quit cutting posts down!
Below the author section at the end of the article there is a "Show All Contributors" link that should bring up the rest.
Load More Replies...
It's sad to be an American these days. CuratorBattle is over, because all around the world, museums are opening back up, and the curators are now back to their normal jobs. Except here. We aren't even halfway through our quarantine.
You guys should go to one of the ripleys museum of oddities. It has a whole bunch of crazy things like optical illusions, canible forks; shrunken heads, even the actual fiji mermaid P.T. Barnum had on display. The one i went to was in st Augustine, FL, the first city in the US, were you can find countless shops, museums and even a 15th century midevil castle
I would in a museum and would totally love to be able to do something like this. Unfortunately, bureaucracy and lots of other restrictions mean it won't be possible :(
Meanwhile, the Palace Museum in Taipei says, Hold my beer.... Have you seen a masterpiece of ancient Chinese art, calligraphy, bronze, jade, or anything? Most likely is in the Palace Museum.
Have your beer - Washington D.C.'s Smithsonian has the Apollo 11 command module.
Load More Replies...
Did you not see the tank from Austin Museum in here? Also, tanks are boring as all hell, the interesting stuff is much older than WW1
Load More Replies... Museums need to totally do more like this! It makes me really want to go see them all the more.
Now THIS is what I wanted to learn about in history class
Load More Replies... I loved this article, and there are many very interesting submissions, but it seems some of the big boy museums were not invited. As a child I used to like to visit the American Museum of Natural History in New York City, which has a vast collection of a variety of "objects". I doubt their fossil collection can be beat, and I would like to nominate their nearly-intact Tyrannosaurus Rex Skeleton. And although I've never been there, I feel confident in nominating the U.S.'s "trump card": Washington, D.C.'s Smithsonian Institution National Air and Space Museum has the Apollo 11 Command Module - the spacecraft that first brought humans to the Moon and back.
I loved this but I hated seeing the ending that said there were originally 93 posts and they were cut down to 30. Please quit cutting posts down!
Below the author section at the end of the article there is a "Show All Contributors" link that should bring up the rest.
Load More Replies... It's sad to be an American these days. CuratorBattle is over, because all around the world, museums are opening back up, and the curators are now back to their normal jobs. Except here. We aren't even halfway through our quarantine.
You guys should go to one of the ripleys museum of oddities. It has a whole bunch of crazy things like optical illusions, canible forks; shrunken heads, even the actual fiji mermaid P.T. Barnum had on display. The one i went to was in st Augustine, FL, the first city in the US, were you can find countless shops, museums and even a 15th century midevil castle
I would in a museum and would totally love to be able to do something like this. Unfortunately, bureaucracy and lots of other restrictions mean it won't be possible :(
Meanwhile, the Palace Museum in Taipei says, Hold my beer.... Have you seen a masterpiece of ancient Chinese art, calligraphy, bronze, jade, or anything? Most likely is in the Palace Museum.
Have your beer - Washington D.C.'s Smithsonian has the Apollo 11 command module.
Load More Replies... Did you not see the tank from Austin Museum in here? Also, tanks are boring as all hell, the interesting stuff is much older than WW1
Load More Replies...