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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.

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."

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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.

#4

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Mr.Brownstone
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Here's an interesting fact, this football was made only 20 year after the fall of the Aztec empire in 1521.

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#5

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chi-wei shen
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

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.

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#6

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April McPeak
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

"Come on, let's get this game moving, I have places to be, royal things to do..."

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Electric Ed
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

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.

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Janine B.
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

And it was sewn by ladies that usually produced female underwear.

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Martha Meyer
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

“Fell into the hands“ - you mean he stole it or how does a royal sword end up in the hands of a commoner?

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KombatBunni
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

At least if this bad boy chased you, you'd be able to get away..maybe?

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Raph cuddy
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

one of my favorite prehistoric mammals, could literally kill a saber toothed tiger or a larger entelodont with it's bare hands

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Quentin Brown
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7 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Ive seen this one!!! Its massive, way bigger than the mastodon display next to it.

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Quentin Brown
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7 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Ive seen this one. Its massive!!! Way bigger than the mastodon next to it

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ispeak catanese
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

The fun thing about this is that Florida had sloths, among other animals like lions & sabre-toothed tigers.

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#27

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Parmeisan
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Oh, I haven't seen any sex chairs yet. Guess I'm gonna keep reading for a bit longer, then...

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Rabbit Carrot
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

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.

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GrantMuseum Report

Note: this post originally had 93 images. It’s been shortened to the top 30 images based on user votes.