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“I spent two months interning at the Museum Volkenkunde’s Oceania department supervised by the Curator of Oceania. My primary duty was to assist in documenting the 800-piece collection that was transferred from the AAMU Museum of Contemporary Aboriginal Art Utrecht in 2017. As the publication rights were not transferred along with all the works, my main goal was to help clarify which works could be reproduced in printed publications and on the online collections database.

In doing this, I was helping improve the collection’s overall accessibility and visibility. Because of the global coronavirus pandemic, the internship initially planned to be on-site, had to be done online. Working from home meant I had little to no real-life interaction with the artworks that I was documenting. I had become a ‘digital intern.’

Such remote interning during a crisis that had blocked museum attendance only a month before gave me a new perspective on the need for digital heritage. Not having access to a collection, suddenly became a very real problem. I understood better why what I was doing in my internship, was of great importance to the museum.

While practical engagement with the collection had to be redefined in these times of crisis, my weekly video calls with my supervisor filled the gaps. Many of the questions that arose from documenting individual items, she connected to broader ideas about museum practice. Through these discussions, I gained many new perspectives, complementing the Art History and Museum Studies track I took at UCU extremely well.

All in all, being a ‘digital intern’ was, on the one hand, a tad frustrating. But on the other hand, it was a truly eye-opening experience: I learned a lot, especially thanks to the help and support of my supervisor.”