Maria Chiara Scuderi

My research The Circulation Histories of the Dryad 'Handicrafts' collection: Exhibitions, Global Network and Craft-practice Education explores what linkages with global and colonial contexts a collection can reveal. It highlights which network of imperial and non-imperial ‘agents’ facilitated the circulation of material culture from ex British colonies and the wider world to Leicester. Activities related to research, data analysis and communication include:

• Gathered and organized information for research purposes, mainly through museum and archival fieldworks.
• Curating the exhibition "Dryad Basketry: A Global Collection", and related engaging activities for a broader audience, such as handling sessions with community groups and exhibition visits.
• Organizing the seminar series "Culture, Things and Empire", and the symposium "National Identity and Exhibition Histories: From Fin-de-siècle World's Fairs to Contemporary Art Biennials".
• Writing blog posts for The University of Cambridge's Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology and for The British Library.
• Presented research findings at national and international conferences, raising the profile of the institution and developing my network.

Conferences:

07/01/2025, Guest lecture at the School of Museum Studies, University of Leicester: Unpacking the Dryad 'Handicrafts' collection: towards a global movement of 'arts and crafts' in Leicester.

13/12/2024 (Circulations of Pedagogies: Craft Teaching in a Colonial and Post-colonial Context, Institut National d'Histoire de l'Art, Paris): Animating the Dryad 'Handicrafts' collection: towards a craft-practice encyclopaedia of leaflets and booklets.

05/12/2024 (Centre for Regional and Local History, University of Leicester): Unpacking the Dryad 'Handicrafts' collection: towards a global movement of 'arts and crafts' in Leicester.

06/06/2024 (ICOFOM International conference "Transnational Island Museologies", organised by the University of St Andrews): "A collection of baskets showing the patterns possible": representing Borneo in the Dryad 'Handicrafts' colleciton.

15/05/2024 (Craft History Workshop, online, organised by Queen's University at Kingston): The Dryad 'Handicrafts' Collection: a Global Movement of 'arts and crafts' for education.

07/03/2024 (Exhibiting Cultures, The University of Birmingham): Missionary Exhibitions as Object-Lessons for Imperial Propaganda: the Case of Other Lands in Leicester.

31/01/2024, Guest lecture at the School of Museum Studies, University of Leicester: Unpacking the Dryad 'Handicrafts' collection: towards a global movement of 'arts and crafts'.

26/10/2023 (The Backstage View: a Mundane History of Collecting, jointly organised by the University of Lausanne and the University of Poznan): Missionary exhibitions as mundane sites for private collections: the case of Dryad 'Handicrafts'.

17/10/2023 (Increase Visibility and Attractiveness of Islands' Heritage: a 21st Century Issue for Museology, International Conference jointly organised by ICOFOM - International Committee for Museology, AMEPNC - Association of Museums and Heritage Institutions in New Caledonia, and the University of New Caledonia): The insular colonial factor in the Dryad basketry Collection.

15/09/2023 (The 3rd Conference of The European Association for Asian Art and Archaeology, The University of Ljubljana): Intertwining asian cultures: baskets from the Dryad 'Handicrafts' collection at Leiecester Museum and Art Gallery.

31/01/2023 (Cultural History Workshop, The University of Cambridge): 'Let us remember that our motto is "educate, educate, educate"': missionary exhibitions as object-lessons for imperial propaganda.

02/04/2022 (Global Leicester History Festival, De Montfort University): Global Leicester: the Dryad 'Handicrafts' collection at Leicester Museum and Art Gallery.

11/12/2020 (online): Harry Peach: Life and Legacy.

25/08/2020 (online): The University of Leicester Sikh Manuscript in 3D.

• Collaborated with cross-functional teams to develop innovative digital solutions for clients' needs. In particular, working as social media assistant to develop the digital strategy during the period of Covid-19.
• Collaborated with stakeholders to develop and deliver ideas for the museum’s website.
• Engaged audiences with online events and educational projects.
• Researched best practices on how museums were dealing with the pandemic, to present a paper at the School of Management of Artistic and Cultural Events at the IULM University, Milan.

• Supported staff members in their daily tasks, reducing workload burden and allowing for increased focus on higher-priority assignments. e.g. Evaluated the exhibition Get Together and Get Things Done with qualitative and quantitative metrics.
• Evaluated a new model for exhibition making based on co-production and innovative 'democratic' approaches to interpretation that give people’s opinions parity with museum staff (constituent process).
• Gained valuable experience working within a cultural industry, applying learned concepts directly into relevant work situations. e.g. developed learning programmes for different audiences (children, teenagers, adults), and events for making, talking and de-stressing.
• Explored ways the civic role of the museum can be realized through gallery collections, displays and public programmes, by ensuring creativity, care, and consideration.
• Collected, arranged, and input information into database system, and developed a report of the activities.

• Worked in a team project to develop learning programmes within the exhibition Slip of the Tongue, curated by Vietnamese-born Danish artist Danh Vo.
• Engaged audiences in debates around social issues within museum objects.
• Collaborated with diverse audiences (families, tourists, art collectors).
• Led interviews and collected evidence to write a report on the impact of the exhibition programme.