Thursday 1 May 2025, 2.30pm – 4.00pm. Online, via Zoom.
To book, please visit – Rural Museums as allies of indigenous British languages Tickets, Thu, May 1, 2025 at 2:30 AM | Eventbrite
Image credit: Dingwall Museum
The indigenous languages of the British Isles carry with them history and culture which can bring depth to museum collections, interpretations and community outreach. But to non-speakers they can often feel daunting.
Within this seminar, speakers of Scottish Gaelic, Irish Gaelic, Cornish and Welsh will be discussing ways in which rural museums can become allies of their local languages. Including volunteer and staff developement, ‘easy wins’, case studies and working with universities, colleges and learning centres, this seminar aims to help participants feel empowered to engage with and celebrate their local languages.
This session will be hosted by Rachel Thomas, museum curator and conservator, based in Inverness.
Jowdy Davey has worked in strategic development in the cultural sector for over 20 years. She is a Cornish speaker and Bard of Gorsedh Kernow, and became Cornish Language Lead at Cornwall Council in January 2023. She has an interest in the wider intangible cultural heritage of Cornwall, and is keenly involved in Cornwall’s traditional music, dance and song scene.
Dr Dónal McAnallen is National Museums NI Library & Archives Manager. Having responsibility for the museums’ Ulster Language and Dialect Archive, he has produced the Cúl Trá-il and Rhymin Rab’s Ramble, published Irish and Ulster-Scots trails of Ulster Folk Museum. He is also a part-time lecturer in History at University College Cork, and editor of the local history journal, Dúiche Néill.
Owen Shiers is a Ceredigion native and grew up immersed in Welsh music, from the sonorous melodies emanating from his father’s harp workshop to school life and festivals such as the Eisteddfod and Cnapan.
Owen has plied his skills as a musician, composer and producer across a multitude of projects and genres, but in most recent years has been focusing on his project ‘Cynefin’, which bids to give a modern voice to Ceredigion’s rich yet neglected cultural heritage. Nominated for three awards at the 2023 Wales Folk awards, Owen has been described by the Guardian as a ‘stunning new talent’.
Anna MacQuarrie (NicGuaire) is a Gaelic museum and heritage specialist, currently freelancing after many years employed in curatorial and developmental roles. A native Gaelic speaker from the Gàidhealtachd, her work is focused on strengthening the use and representation of Gaelic within museums, in collections, displays, and interpretation as well as through staff and volunteer training. Her practice is values-led, recognising the significant role rural museums and their communities have to play in support, celebration and development of Gaelic language and culture.
Rachael Thomas is a museum curator and conservator, based in Inverness, who has worked with collections across the Highlands of Scotland. Most recently this has included time as Assistant Curator at Auchindrain Township in Argyll, and as Project Conservator during Gairloch Museum’s award-winning reinterpretation.
Her areas of interest include the material culture of Scotland’s Gypsy/Travellers, and the interior decorations, fixtures and fittings of Scotland’s vernacular buildings. @rachaelthomasconservation