This semester during my independent study module I was given the opportunity to work with Dr Peter Forsaith, Research Fellow at the Oxford Centre for Methodism and Church History. I was delighted to be given the opportunity to get to know the art collections better as I had become very interested in them during my Curatorial Practice module the previous year. I was surprised that my university held such a diverse collection of artworks. These are spread throughout the university campuses, but a significant number are located at Harcourt Hill. One of the main tasks for this module was to check the descriptive information for the artworks from the Methodist Modern Art collection, and amend them on the Art UK website. Fortunately, I was able to find and modify most of these records digitally.
During my visits to Harcourt Hill I was given the opportunity to explore the art store and examine artworks from other collections, such as the Methodist Church House, Smetham, and Westminster College collections. It became another task to check whether these artworks were described correctly on the Art UK website. I also helped to measure a collection of sketches of everyday life in South India created by A. G. Hellier in the 1920s-1950s, and arranged a list to match together with the digitised images of these pieces. Working directly with the artworks and their digital versions gave me a much better understanding of how museum cataloguing functions, and I also acquired necessary cataloguing skills which will be essential for my future in the curating field. I really enjoyed this module and the time I spent at the Oxford Centre for Methodism and Church History.
Daria Chuikova is a third-year undergraduate student in the History of Art at Oxford Brookes University.
Westminster Oxford Research Network 