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From July until November 2017, Patricia Jäger's CHIP placement took place at the Universiteitsmuseum Utrecht. 

“I did my internship at the Universiteitsmuseum in Utrecht partly during the summer break and partly during the Fall semester. The Universiteitsmuseum contains an extensive collection related to a variety of topics because of their connection to Utrecht ľ�ϸ���Ӱ��, including specimens from natural history, medicine, geography and many other fields of study. I was placed in the Beheer and Behoud department which takes care of the conditions in the depot and all the objects within it. They handle requests for objects from other museums and ensure that the collection is preserved and well sorted. At the time of my placement, Beheer and Behoud were very occupied with packing a large part of the collection in their depot for transportation to a new location in preparation for the renovation of the museum.

The internship gave me insight behind the scenes into museum depots and the balance the museum tries to achieve between protecting their collections and making them accessible to the public. It allowed me to look at objects in various contexts and experience their objectification: the value and treatment they receive, independently of their material value, once accessioned as a museum object. I was able to observe first-hand how the meaning of objects changes in various museum contexts. I handled a variety of different objects and learned the basics of packing, registering and managing them.

My research paper concluded that museum objects are valuable because of the cultural or historical meaning or memory they objectify. Every exhibition tries to bring this value to the visitor's attention by providing the necessary context. However context is lost in the depot while the material properties gain importance due to matters of preservation. Some essential information is provided in the online registration system to protect depot workers from harmful toxic materials that the object might contain, and to allow objects to be found quickly. The move meant that even the limited context provided by registration and specific location in the depot disappeared because packing and relocating the objects. Yet it was exactly these temporary changes in context that allowed me to experience objects in an entirely new way, namely according to my background and curiosity.”

Class of 2018, SCI Major; SSC/HUM Minor Anthropology / Art History & Museum Studies