PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE: Initial Research into The Guildhall Museum

The Guildhall Museum, Rochester

For the professional practice unit, I have decided to do the '100 Objects That Made Kent' exhibition at the Guildhall Museum in Rochester. I have chosen this topic for the commission because I would like to try and produce a professional video for one of the objects in the exhibition. I also already have a weeks work experience with Suite TV to look forward to so I thought I could do both to get two different experiences. I have also looked into the films by the student who completed this commission last year and the videos were very well thought out and presented and something I feel I could achieve.

The Guildhall Museum
The museum was built in 1687 and is one of the finest 17th-century civic buildings in Kent. Its staircase and main hall have magnificent plaster ceilings, given in 1695 by Admiral Sir Cloudily Shovell, who was the Member of Parliament for Rochester at the time. 

The museum was first set up in Eastgate House further along the high street and was moved into the Guildhall in 1979. The wide-ranging collections are housed in two separate buildings, the Guildhall and the River Medway Conservancy Board Building. The museum's entrance gallery contains a small shop selling souvenirs, a reception desk and an introductory exhibition highlighting the role that River Medway has played in shaping the environmental and human history of Medway.

Source: http://www.medway.gov.uk/leisurecultureandsport/medwayarchivescentre/museums/guildhallmuseum.aspx

Google Maps https://www.google.co.uk/maps/search/guildhall+museum/@51.452943,-0.074497,10z/data=!3m1!4b1?dcr=0

I found the promotional video on the museums Medway Council website and it has given me an insight into the museum already without visiting it:

Source: http://www.medway.gov.uk/leisurecultureandsport/medwayarchivescentre/museums/guildhallmuseum.aspx

The exhibition has its own website which is very helpful for me to have a look into the different objects that are on show. The website is also very easy to follow and has different historic time periods on the left side so you can jump back to a specific period in time.

https://100objectskent.co.uk/object/

https://100objectskent.co.uk/object/

Initial object ideas:

Mosaic Floor
- Roman mosaic atrium of a substantial town house with a paving of plain stone “tesserae” and mosaic geometric flower pattern insets. The house dates from 70 AD and was occupied until about 350 AD.
Canterbury Roman Museum
Source: https://100objectskent.co.uk/object/mosaic-floor/
















Lar: A Bronze Figurine of a Household God
- Household god, found in March 1888 near Quarry House, Frindsbury.
Guildhall Museum, Rochester
Source: https://100objectskent.co.uk/object/lar-bronze-figurine-household-god/
















Anglo-Saxon Silver Pennies
- Immaculate silver pennies minted in Rochester in the reign of Aethelred II 1000 years ago.
Guildhall Museum, Rochester
Source: https://100objectskent.co.uk/object/anglo-saxon-silver-pennies/















My next step will be to get in contact with someone from the museum to find out more about the commission, who I'll be meeting and what they'll expect from me and my video.