The University’s newly opened MacRobert building is hosting its first exhibition focussing appropriately on childhood and community.
A display of objects drawn from the collections of the University’s Marischal Museum are now on display in the MacRobert building, which is the new home of the School of Education.
Some of the objects include some studied by BEd (Bachelor of Education) students while visiting the museum earlier in the year.
From religious symbols to baby clothes, ideas of childhood commonly symbolise purity and innocence. The promise and danger of growing up also inspires artistic creation, including an amulet of the Ancient Egyptian God Bes and an Ottoman glazed tile depicting the Virgin and Child.
Neil Curtis, Senior Curator, Marischal Museum, said: “Despite play having been described as “one of the main bases of civilisation”, it is rarely treated as a serious activity.
“Likewise, the things that children play with have rarely been collected for museums. A few exceptions are on show at MacRobert, including dolls form Ancient Egypt, native South America and Angola, showing that play is a common feature of all times and places helping children to explore their roles in society.”
The highlight of the exhibition is a dramatic model of a procession through a market in Surabaya, Java with dozens of beautifully crafted models of porters carrying loaded baskets, street traders and shoppers mingling with foreign settlers and merchants.
Neil continued: “Through the market winds a royal procession, with uniformed troops, musicians playing a gamelan and dancers. It was probably made in the 1840s for a Western collector.”
Also on display on the ground floor of the building is a selection of pictures by children, while the reception area also displays four large pictures on loan from the artist Barbara Rae.
The exhibition, which is open to the public, is in the reception area of the MacRobert Building and will be on show throughout the coming term.
The MacRobert building was officially opened on December 12 by Scotland’s First Minister Jack McConnell and former Formula One World Champion Sir Jackie Stewart, after a £13million refurbishment project.
The building is situated at the heart of the King’s College campus and was completed in July this year after two years of renovation. It features state-of-the-art facilities, with an entire floor of computing facilities, available on a 24-hour basis. The building ensures the School of Education has access to unparalleled facilities to continue to provide innovative teacher education using the latest in technology.
The University of Aberdeen closes for the Christmas holidays on Friday (December 23) and re-opens on Wednesday, January 4, 2006.