Thank You and Farewell, ITP 2019 (George Peckham, ITP Assistant)

Written by George Peckham, ITP Assistant

On Saturday 17th August, we said our goodbyes to the fellows of ITP 2019. The evening before was a wonderful celebration of the last six weeks. Barbecue food and drinks were shared well into the evening between this year’s fellows and British Museum staff. While the rain unfortunately forced us inside, no less fun and laughter was shared as we looked back on another very successful ITP.

It was a bright and early start the following morning at Schafer House, where at 7am we said our first goodbye to our wonderful group of 23 fellows. Khine Mon Kyaw planned to spend her final day in London with her brother, who lives in the UK, before flying home to Myanmar and the National Museum in Yangon.

Throughout the day as more fellows began to leave for the airport, it got no easier for some to say goodbye. While some tears were shed, we hope our fellows are comforted in the knowledge that over the last six weeks they have built friendships and networks which will keep them connected well beyond the summer programme. There are even already some plans for visits to each other’s countries!

I think I can speak on behalf of everyone at the British Museum who has worked on ITP 2019 that it has been a pleasure to work with this group of fellows. We thank them for being such willing and passionate participants on the programme. It has been fascinating to learn about your work and your home institutions and it has been such fun to explore London, the UK and its museums with you.

Thank you to the team at Constantine Ltd for once again safely delivering our fellows to Heathrow and Gatwick and making sure they made it through the airports with ease.

We wish all of this year’s ITP fellows all the best for the future! The Museum is already a much quieter place without you!

Claire, George, Emily and Mohamed