A day in Perth (Shubhasree Purkayastha, India, ITP 2024)

Written by Shubhasree Purkayastha, Manager – Education, Museum of Art & Photography (MAP) Bangalore (India, ITP 2024)

On a sunny Saturday, The ITP Glasgow team took a train to the charming little town of Perth. We have been moving across big and busy cities like London, Glasgow and Edinburgh since the programme began so this sleepy little town was a welcome change. 

We spent most of our time exploring the newly restored Perth Museum, where one of the highlights for me was the 3000 year old long boat. This ancient vessel, carved from a single oak tree, offers a glimpse into the lives of people during the Bronze Age. It has an amazing story of survival as well. Most of the boat was submerged underwater for the longest time, thus allowing archaeologists to excavate it almost intact.

The Stone Of Destiny is on a long-term loan in the museum and is presented to the visitor using a lovely audio-visual interactive. While walking through this space, I could not help but think about the Koh-i-Noor diamond and it’s history. The Koh-i-Noor is one of the world’s largest uncut diamonds. It was most likely quarried in Golconda (India), changed hands across many rulers over time and was ultimately seized by the British Crown in the late 1800s. It now sits on the crown of the monarch of England. It’s use in every coronation ceremony and it’s permanent place within the Crown Jewels in London continues to propagate the politics of the Empire through historical objects, much like the Stone Of Destiny.

As we spoke about these parallels between the stone and the diamond, we were led into a gallery of World Cultures, where the challenges of working with a collection that is intertwined with the history of the Empire have been addressed rather honestly through textual interventions and co-curation. During our time in Glasgow, I have been appreciative of the many ways in which museums have addressed decolonisation, whether through temporary interventions or permanent shifts in institutional statements. It is a welcome and necessary change.

The conversations around repatriation and restitution continued into lunch in the beautiful museum cafe, after which we were ready to go on a tour of the city with the Collections Officer, Dr. Mark Hall. As we walked around town with our knowledgeable guide, the history of this 800 year old town was almost palpable. Mark made Medieval Perth come alive with interesting anecdotes, pointing out locations and buildings (that do not survive anymore) and giving us a rooftop view of the town from the 10th floor of the Perth Concert Hall!

To end this lovely day, we wandered around a little more, before coming back to a busy and buzzing Saturday night in Glasgow.