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Event: Simon Costin on The Museum of Witchcraft and Magic
Host: The Viktor Wynd Museum & The Last Tuesday Society
Event type: Zoom lecture
Price: Recommended donation of £4
Lockdown has caused numerous issues for museums across the country, with many struggling to engage their audiences in new and innovative ways outside of the traditional in-person visitor experience. This has been an especially challenging prospect for many smaller museums and cultural institutions, who often lack the staff or funding to create extensive online exhibitions or digitised collections.
One medium through which these institutions have best been able to continue to connect with visitors is through virtual talks, which are often accessed through sites such as Eventbrite. These talks, which are often free or low-fee events, give their audiences the opportunity to learn more about fascinating museums and their collections from across the globe. They provide an in-depth, specialised educational experience that many guests wouldn’t encounter during a typical in-person museum visit while also giving many small, independent museums the opportunity to promote their unique institutions and the collections they contain.
In mid-March I attended one such event, organised by The Viktor Wynd Museum & The Last Tuesday Society, which featured a talk by Simon Costin, the Director of The Museum of Witchcraft and Magic in Boscastle, Cornwall. The museum, nestled in a quaint, fairly remote village, is home to an extensive (and impressive) collection of artifacts related to witchcraft practices and the occult, a subject matter and aspect of English history that is often overlooked or underrepresented by larger institutions.
Image taken by Holly Craven of host Viktor Wynd.
The talk, which lasted for just under 2 hours, provided a fascinating introduction to the museum and its history. Costin’s lecture primarily focused on the life of Cecil Williamson, the museum’s founder, and the trials and tribulations that he faced in his attempts to establish a witchcraft-centric museum in various communities throughout England. In fact, it was not until 1960 that the museum finally found its permanent home in Boscastle; the challenges that Williamson faced become even more apparent when you learn that the institution is celebrating its 70th birthday this year!
The talk’s second half involved a brief tour of the museum and some of the objects currently on display. From a Museum Studies student perspective, I found Costin’s discussion of the changes made to various displays throughout the transition of multiple directors to be particularly thought-provoking. It was interesting to consider the ways in which individual preferences and creativity can imbue our future profession, and how the way that we choose to display objects can greatly influence the emotional impact they have on visitors.
Costin also very graciously answered an extensive array of questions from the audience. These questions, which varied greatly in content and complexity, were an excellent reminder of how diverse the audiences that attend museums can be, no matter how specialised their subject matter. Finally to finish off the night, the evening’s host, Wynd, provided the audience with an Irish bedtime story and a good night kiss. How’s that for audience engagement!?
This was an incredibly fun, yet informative, event to attend. Costin’s talk provided an excellent introduction to the museum and its history, and gave great insights into the oft-misunderstood community behind the museum’s creation. It was a wonderful reminder of the value that such virtual talks have provided to museums to introduce their unique institutions to the world, and to draw in new visitors when they are able to re-open their physical locations. It most certainly encouraged me to head to Cornwall for a visit this summer. Road trip anyone?
Written by Holly Craven
Want to check them out yourself? You can learn more here:
Museum of Witchcraft and Magic: https://museumofwitchcraftandmagic.co.uk/
Upcoming events from The Last Tuesday Society:
http://www.thelasttuesdaysociety.org/listings/event/exhibitions-2/#.YH3wduhKjIV
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