Signs of the times as museum gathers placards from recent protests – Herald Scotland

THE recent upsurge in mass protests is to be represented in a new show in the nations capital.

The Peoples Story Museum in Edinburgh has received a flurry of donations following curators calls for placards, banners and photos relating to the recent Brexit and Trump marches in Edinburgh to be made available for donation.

It has received more than 30 offers and many of the pledged items are now in the care of the Museum of Edinburgh.

These placards will feature in the citys upcoming summer exhibition, Edinburgh Alphabet: An A-Z of the Citys Collection which will be free to visit and opens at the City Art Centre on May 19.

This exhibition will feature an alphabet of themes and the placards and signs will fall under the letter Z for Zeitgeist.

The display will see items from the councils different museums and the art centre, as well as pieces from storage and finds by the citys archaeology service.

Thousands of people have marched on the streets of Scotlands cities in recent years from the independence referendum to the Brexit vote and beyond.

Gillian Findlay, the curatorial and engagement manager for the City of Edinburgh Council, said: Over the last year or so, there have been a number of mass protests across the UK in response to the wave of political change and the Scottish capital has been no different.

As the citys museums service, we believe it is important to record how the people of Edinburgh respond to these national and international events.

We began with a film called Recording the Referendum back in 2014 which documented the build-up to Scotlands independence referendum.

More recently, we have been collecting materials from protests about the European Referendum and the Presidential election in the United States.

We were keen to encourage donations and loans from people on both sides of the political debate. The majority has been from those who have protested about political outcomes at home and abroad.

She added: Contemporary collecting is something most museums do to make sure modern history is recorded.

Its actually a part of our role that isnt always recognised.

Often people believe that museums are all about the protection and stories of very old items, but contemporary collecting is a very important part of what we do.

Councillor Richard Lewis, the citys culture convener, added: Our museum collection includes protest material of national and international significance.

There are banners in support of political reform, trade unions and the anti-apartheid movement.

No matter what your political stance, protests of this scale will always have historical significance.

In years to come, these items will be considered an important part of the people of Edinburghs past and Scotlands political protest history.

They will feature in Edinburgh Alphabet: An A-Z of the Citys Collection a free exhibition opening at the City Art Centre on May 19.

Councillor Lewis added: This display will be one of the councils most ambitious museum and gallery projects to date and will see artefacts and artworks drawn from all corners of the collection into an alphabetised display.

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Signs of the times as museum gathers placards from recent protests - Herald Scotland