Explorer Spring 2015

Explorer Why small is beautiful for the Singh Twins

SPRING 2015

Helmand handover

An intimate glimpse of the withdrawal from Afghanistan at the National War Museum

Victorians and the birth of photography

DOLLY THE SHEEP The icon of genetic science is primed for the next chapter

THE MAGAZINE FOR SUPPORTERS OF NATIONAL MUSEUMS SCOTLAND

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SPRING 2015

Explorer Why small is beautiful for the Singh Twins

SPRING 2015

Victorians and the birth of photography

DOLLY THE SHEEP The icon of genetic science is primed for the next chapter

Contents

THE MAGAZINE FOR SUPPORTERS OF NATIONAL MUSEUMS SCOTLAND

Everyone is walking round with a games machine in their pocket PAGE 14

Helmand handover

An intimate glimpse of the withdrawal from Afghanistan at the National War Museum

EXPLORER National Museums Scotland Chambers Street Edinburgh EH1 1JF Email explorer@nms.ac.uk www.nms.ac.uk Membership, donation and sponsorship enquiries 0131 247 4095 Explorer is the magazine for supporters of National Museums Scotland and is published by the Trustees of National Museums Scotland. Scottish Charity No SC011130.

Editor Kathleen Morgan kathleen.morgan@ thinkpublishing.co.uk Editorial panel Imogene Deery, Jane Ferguson, Anne McMeekin Group Art Director Matthew Ball Chief Sub Editor Sian Campbell Sub Editor Sam Bartlett Publishing Assistant Emma Wilson Contributors Alec Mackenzie, Stuart McDonald, Alison Morrison-Low, Kirsten McDonald, Fiona Shepherd, Graeme Virtue Account Director John Innes john.innes@thinkpublishing.co.uk

EVERY ISSUE

Produced by Think, on behalf of National Museums Scotland.

Think, Suite 2.3, Red Tree Business Suites, 33 Dalmarnock Road, Glasgow G40 4LA. www.thinkpublishing.co.uk

PAGE 12

04 WELCOME 05 SNAPSHOT National Museum of Flight 06 NOTEBOOK All the lastest news from around the Museums 12 INSIDE STORY Spotlight on Dolly the sheep 22 OBJECT OF DESIRE The Bond Electraglide guitar

OUR MUSEUMS

NINTENDO, CHRIS SCOTT

NATIONAL MUSEUM OF SCOTLAND Chambers Street Edinburgh EH1 1JF Open daily NATIONAL WAR MUSEUM Edinburgh Castle Edinburgh EH1 2NG Open daily

THIS ISSUE

14 GAME MASTERS Behind the exhibition: the changing face of the gamer 18 THE SINGH TWINS The sister act inspired by the Indian miniature 20 EXHIBITION PREVIEW The stories behind five landmark images in the evolution of photography

KEEPING IN TOUCH

NATIONAL MUSEUM OF RURAL LIFE Wester Kittochside Philipshill Road East Kilbride G76 9HR Open daily NATIONAL MUSEUMS COLLECTION CENTRE Granton Edinburgh EH5 1JA Visits by appointment

NATIONAL MUSEUM OF FLIGHT East Fortune Airfield East Lothian EH39 5LF Open daily April to October Open weekends November to March

Telephone: 0300 123 6789 Visit any time at www.nms.ac.uk Go online for admission prices, opening hours, details of Membership, special events and information on how you can get involved.

Visit www.nms.ac.uk/signup to keep up to date with the latest events, exhibitions and special offers across National Museums Scotland.

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SPRING 2015

Welcome Fresh approach to the past, present and future

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s regular readers may have noticed, Explorer is changing, with a fresh design and new editorial approach. Following feedback to the 2014 Membership survey, we have introduced more articles about what goes on behind the scenes at National Museums Scotland, and features from our staff about the significance, research and conservation of our collections.

Museums are sometimes thought of solely as custodians of the past but, as many of our current initiatives and developments show, National Museums Scotland are engaged with connecting the past with the present and collecting contemporary material for the future.

The recent announcement of ÂŁ1.3 million funding from the Wellcome Trust in support of the presentation of biomedical sciences in our new science and technology galleries at the National Museum of Scotland signals our intention to create a new centre for scientific engagement in Scotland.

There is arguably no more

familiar emblem of Scotland’s place at the forefront of life sciences in recent years than Dolly the sheep (p12) and she will be a key feature of the new science and technology galleries we are developing.

The thrust to connect the past to the present is also evident in our current exhibitions programme, particularly Game Masters (p14). The exhibition, with more than 100 playable games from Space Invaders to Minecraft, is proving hugely popular with visitors of all ages. Photography was in some respects a similarly emerging popular technology during the Victorian era, and our summer exhibition traces its early evolution using much material not previously on public display (p20).

As work progresses on the far-reaching transformations at the National Museum of Scotland, the National Museum of Flight and the National Museums Collection Centre, we look forward to sharing more of these stories of the past, present and future in forthcoming issues of Explorer.

We are engaged with connecting the past with the present

DR GORDON RINTOUL CBE Director of National Museums Scotland

Principal Conservator Stuart McDonald watches over the English Electric Lightning RAF supersonic jet

SNAPSHOT

Lord of the wings As work begins to transform the National Museum of Flight, Principal Conservator Stuart McDonald rolls up his sleeves

Upgrading the Second World War hangars will enhance visitor experience

We’ve been awarded Heritage Lottery Funding of £1.3m to upgrade the two Second World War hangars used for aircraft storage and display. This will offer a better visitor experience and improve environmental conditions for the collection.

We’re moving aircraft from the hangars in preparation for handing over to the main contractor in early 2015.

Improving the environmental conditions within the hangars will allow us to better look after our collections and display other objects such as uniforms, documents and photographs for the first time.

Moving the aircraft and rockets is challenging, and we’ve got to do lots of preparatory work to make them safe. We’re mounting the Spitfire on an angled plinth to give it the appearance of flight.

One hangar is for military aircraft and the other is for civil aviation. We plan to reopen them to the public in 2016. By rearranging our collections, we can order them more chronologically and put some material on display that’s not been shown before, such as uniforms, medals, log books and other ephemera. There will also be a raised viewing platform in the military hangar.

I’ve been at the museum for about 21 years now.

Investment in the buildings and collections has been increasing year on year and this next phase takes us to another level.

MORE INFORMATION www.nms.ac.uk/flight WWW.NMS.AC.UK // SPRING 2015 // EXPLORER 5

SPRING 2015

Notebook

Main picture: downtime in tented accommodation at Camp Bastion. Above: armoured Warthog vehicles return to base after a patrol 6 EXPLORER // SPRING 2015 // WWW.NMS.AC.UK

NOTEBOOK

Leaving Afghanistan The UK military handover is glimpsed in a National War Museum exhibition

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n a military base in Afghanistan, a photographer walks into a workshop and knows instantly he has his picture.

Five gleaming crosses made from used ammunition casings stand among the metalwork shavings, each crafted by British soldiers in memory of their comrades.

Back in Britain, Robert Wilson, an official war photographer documenting the conflict in Afghanistan, recalls the moment that took his breath away. “Five days earlier a helicopter had gone down and five people had lost their lives. I walked in and there’s five crosses being made to be sent back to their families.”

Robert, 45, a commercial photographer by trade, completed his second stint in Helmand as the British military prepared to withdraw from Afghanistan. The result is Helmand Return, an exhibition at the National War Museum, from February.

In 2008, Robert made his first two-week journey to Helmand province to document the lives of the British forces stationed there.

"It was tense and you had to have an armed soldier with you the whole time" ROBERT WILSON, PHOTOGRAPHER

“You were living off your wits and adrenaline, hanging out of the back of a helicopter photographing,” he said. “The fighting was ferocious.”

His second trip, last year, was in marked contrast. While less risky, the story of the ‘draw-down’ was given extra poignancy by the centenary of the First World War. “It was tense, and you had to have an armed soldier with you the whole time, but it was a lot less dangerous,” explained the London-born photographer.

Robert’s experience in the commercial arena, including work for the brewer Guinness and the sports firm Nike, gave

him a fresh perspective on the haunting subject of war. His images include beautifully composed portraits, with soldiers staring straight into the camera, or intimate glimpses of life in the camp.

Some are abstract shots – one photograph showing a snaking line of bullets appears pretty until you take a closer look. All the images provoke thoughts about the lives behind them, British or Afghan.

“It’s not all just typical imagery of war and an army base and guns,” said Robert, explaining he had access to soldiers during their downtime, as well as during operations and training.

“There’s one shot of a guy making a metal rose for a loved one back home. It’s those sort of personal moments I was looking for.”

He believed his audience would understand the motives behind his Afghanistan images. “I think people realise you’re doing it for a reason.”

MORE INFORMATION Helmand Return is at the National War Museum, 27 February 2015–March 2016.

Visit www.nms.ac.uk/war

Memorials to service personnel

Soldiers training at Camp Bastion

A soldier preparing for the withdrawal

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NOTEBOOK

Major James Wemyss of the Scots Greys was a veteran of Waterloo

Souvenirs from the battlefield

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t is a distant rumble in European history, often overshadowed by the two world wars of the 20th century. Now, 200 years after the battle of Waterloo, Britain is preparing to commemorate the conflict that ended the Napoleonic wars. In an innovative display, Waterloo: After the Battle, the National Museum of Scotland will show the impact of the conflict on people in Scotland – and the souvenir trade that followed the defeat of Napoleon, Emperor of France.

“We are looking at items in our collection people kept or produced to mark the occasion,” said Stuart Allan, Principal Curator, Scottish Late Modern Collections.

Those who fought at Waterloo often brought back trophies and relics. After the battle, a wave of tourists quickly converged on the site outside

Pottery marking the return of the 42nd Highland Regiment 8 EXPLORER // SPRING 2015 // WWW.NMS.AC.UK

Brussels. One of the first prominent figures to visit from Scotland was Walter Scott, who wrote the poem The Field of Waterloo, explained Stuart.

“British travellers couldn’t really go to the continent while it was under French control, but after Waterloo the continent was fully opened up again and people started returning. One of the places they went to see was the battlefield.

“Those who got there early had more of a pick of things, but battlefields get cleared very quickly because people are on the lookout for items that might be saleable, so there was a big trade in Waterloo souvenirs.”

Among the exhibits will be celebratory Waterloo pottery made in Portobello marking the return of the 42nd Highland Regiment.

MORE INFORMATION Waterloo: After the Battle is at the National Museum of Scotland, 15 May–27 September 2015

NEIL HANNA

Uncovering a tourist trail 200 years after Waterloo

CREATING BRIGHT SPARKS Pupils across Scotland are being challenged to get out of the classroom and make decisions about science, technology, engineering and maths.

Get Energised, an education programme from National Museums Scotland and the ScottishPower Foundation, encourages pupils to make the link between the curriculum and a career in the renewables sector.

Nearly 1,000 pupils have taken part in Get Energised challenge days so far.

ENERGY FACTS By 2020 the Scottish Government aims to generate the nation’s electricity demand only from renewable sources.

In 2012 just over 40% of electricity consumed in Scotland was from renewable sources.

GROUND CONTROL The Gemini space capsule is one of the final objects to be carefully removed from the science and technology galleries of the National Museum of Scotland before work begins on ten new galleries, due to open in 2016. The two-man capsules flew in 1965 and 1966, helping NASA prepare for a series of Apollo moon landings, with the historic first lunar touchdown in 1969.

World War One keepsakes exhibited Touring display of family treasures presents a portrait of Scotland at war

The Sentinel 1914 steam waggon

The impact of the First World War on Scottish families is being vividly brought home as an exhibition takes to the road.

The Next of Kin touring programme features keepsakes, including letters and medals, treasured by families of those who died at the fronts.

Following its debut in 2014 at the National War Museum,

the exhibition will visit eight venues across Scotland, from Dumfries in March 2015 to Orkney in 2017. Each partner museum is encouraging communities to contribute their own World War One family stories based on objects from their collections.

Jo Sohn-Rethel, Next of Kin Project Coordinator, said: “The tour will engage the local

audience with stories directly relevant to the families that lived in that area, linking in to their experiences.”

Central to the exhibition is the world’s oldest fully functional Sentinel Steam Waggon, dating from 1914 and used for home front work.

MORE INFORMATION Visit www.nms.ac.uk/nextofkin

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NOTEBOOK

A leatherback turtle like this one was found off Dunbar in East Lothian

Skeleton key

Experts prepare remains of endangered turtle

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Buried silver holds clues to Experts are investigating how silver was used to display power and status in medieval Scotland as the latest phase of the Glenmorangie Research Project gets under way.

Archaeologists are examining a hoard of late Roman and Pictish silver found buried in an Aberdeenshire field. They will study the role of silver, from its earliest appearance in Scotland during Roman

Alice Blackwell, Glenmorangie Research Fellow at National Museums Scotland

PHIL WILLIAMSON

rare leatherback turtle measured by Andrew found in Scottish waters Brownlow and Nick Davison has become a valuable from the Scottish Marine research specimen for Animal Stranding Scheme.

National Museums Scotland.

Work then began to discover A necropsy performed on the cause of death and prepare the turtle at the National the turtle’s remains for Museums Collection Centre accession into the national showed the reptile had collections. drowned after getting tangled Dr Kitchener outlined in fishermen’s creel ropes. the plans for this particular The turtle, found a mile off specimen at the National the coast near Dunbar, East Museums Collection Centre.

Lothian, was the fourth “We’re preserving her leatherback to be discovered skeleton, so we’ve taken off dead along Scotland’s coast most of the flesh by hand within a fortnight. and now she’s gone “Unfortunately it into one of our big LEATHERBACK FACTS was an exceptional maceration tanks.

1 year for leatherback “We heat them The leatherback is turtle deaths,” up to about 37 the largest turtle on explained Dr degrees centigrade the planet, growing Andrew Kitchener, and after a few up to two metres Principal Curator weeks hopefully and weighing of Vertebrates at will be left with a 900 kilogrammes National Museums bright, shining 2 It can dive to Scotland. skeleton.” depths of 4,200 The other turtles The Dunbar feet, further than were found at turtle joins around any other turtle Drumbeg in half a dozen other 3 Sutherland; off the leatherback turtle The leatherback Isle of Coll; and on specimens in the is one of the the Isle of Skye, national collections. most migratory turtle species north of Elgol.

While the skeleton 4 The 1.8-metre, will not be on public It gets its name 350-kilogramme display, it will be from its distinctive Dunbar turtle was made available to flexible and meticulously researchers for rubbery shell weighed and study purposes.

MUSEUM VOICES

Where video games meet blue whales Christopher Brookmyre rediscovers the museum of his childhood with his son

Christopher Brookmyre is an acclaimed crime writer.

His latest Jack Parlabane novel Dead Girl Walking is published by Little, Brown in January 2015

This will be a fun-fuelled year at the National Museum of Rural Life, with highlights including Back to the 50s in May and the Heavy Horse Show in June. Over at the National Museum of Flight, the Wartime Experience in May will give an insight into life on the front line. Find out more at www.nms.ac.uk

RUTH ARMSTRONG

UNBRIDLED ACTION

medieval social status times to its later use in decorating high-status objects.

More than 100 pieces of hacked-up silver, coins and jewellery were unearthed during the find by archaeologists from National Museums Scotland and the University of Aberdeen.

The hoard will be analysed, described and catalogued during a research programme backed by The Glenmorangie Company as part of its three-year sponsorship package.

Dr Martin Goldberg, Senior Curator, Early Historic Collections, National Museums Scotland, said: “With the support of The Glenmorangie Company, the breadth of our collections puts us in a unique position to explore how silver became the most prestigious material for displaying power in early medieval Scotland.”

The video games once frowned upon were now suitable exhibits

I get a nostalgia hit whenever I walk in through the door of the National Museum of Scotland. The main Victorian hall was a place of utter wonder for me when my parents took me there during the late 70s.

I remember the sheer scale of it being quite dizzying, then going beyond the hall to find a skeleton or a life-sized model of a blue whale. These things stay with you all your life.

It felt strange to be visiting the museum recently to see the Game Masters exhibition with my 14-yearold son, Jack, and his friend. It was fascinating to go from the main hall to a low-lit environment that looked and felt like a games arcade. As a kid it was always fun if there was some sort of interactive element to an exhibition, but when you’re actually getting to play more than 100 games it changes the way you interact with it.

I felt strangely vindicated, seeing all these games that were once frowned upon now being regarded as suitable hands-on exhibits. When I was growing up you were told video games were the enemy of imagination. I always found they fuelled creativity. They have inspired a lot of my work, most recently Bedlam, the game I developed in parallel with my novel of the same name. It was good to see video games being given their cultural due.

One of the things Jack and his friend were talking about on the way home from the museum was what was not exhibited.

Anything from the first person shooter genre was conspicuously missing. I said to them, “If you’re going to have a largely family oriented museum you can’t exhibit Doom and Quake.” The genre is certainly the big beast of the industry – it’s driven a lot of innovation – but it’s missing for understandable reasons.

Funnily enough, they spent an awful lot of time playing a game called Castle Crashers, released in 2007. It has a cartoonish, lo-fi aesthetic – it’s not some state-of-the-art title. They liked it because they could play it together and it made them laugh.

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Dolly is one of those iconic specimens that puts the National Museum of Scotland on the map 12 EXPLORER // SPRING 2015 // WWW.NMS.AC.UK

INSIDE STORY

The main attraction Dolly the sheep is taking a break from the public eye before her next starring role

CHRIS SCOTT

W

ith work ongoing to develop 10 exciting new galleries at the National Museum of Scotland, many exhibits have been put into storage until they can be displayed again.

Among these is the Connect gallery’s biggest star, Dolly the sheep, who recently made the journey to her temporary home in the National Museums Collection Centre.

Dr Andrew Kitchener, the Principal Curator of Vertebrates in the department of Natural Sciences, was responsible for safely shepherding the famous sheep from display case to packing crate.

“It was a team effort by the group working on the de-installation of specimens and objects from the galleries,” he says.

“Under my supervision, the case was opened and she was lifted carefully out onto a trolley. We wheeled her through the galleries, into lifts and along corridors until we got her to the packing area.

“Moving Dolly went smoothly and nothing untoward happened. It’s just agreeing in advance what you’re going to do and on a method that will work, because this obviously doesn’t happen very often.”

Before Dolly was sealed into her crate, there was an opportunity for a last photo shoot to say goodbye to her public and document her

current condition. She will reemerge in 2016 as a focal point of the new science and technology galleries.

And so will begin another pivotal chapter in the story of the first cloned mammal from an adult cell, who began her life at the Roslin Institute, part of the University of Edinburgh.

Dolly began life in a test tube, as with all other cloned animals. After six days the embryo was transferred to a surrogate mother and Dolly was duly born on 5 July 1996.

With the publication of the Roslin Institute's research results, Dolly quickly attracted worldwide attention.

Although she became the poster girl for a scientific breakthrough, Dolly was allowed a relatively normal life, mating with a Welsh mountain ram and giving birth to six lambs.

“Dolly is one of those iconic specimens that put the museum on the map,” says Dr Kitchener. “We were interested in her as soon as she was announced to the world, and approached the Roslin Institute. We’re delighted that she ended up here.”

So is her public, who eagerly await her return.

THE EXPERT

Dr Andrew Kitchener is Principal Curator of Vertebrates in the department of Natural Sciences at National Museums Scotland

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A Game Masters visitor plays one of more than 100 titles at the exhibition

EXHIBITION: GAME MASTERS

The game changers From Space Invaders to Minecraft, video games have been captivating audiences for 40 years. Now a new breed of player is calling the shots, says Graeme Virtue

RUTH ARMSTRONG, NINTENDO

I

magine how it would feel for classical music fans if Bach and Mozart were still composing.

Now consider what it is like for video games fans, who continue to enjoy the work of some of the industry’s most influential creators.

The likes of Shigeru Miyamoto, the inventor of Super Mario, and Peter Molyneux, the godfather of god games, are still pushing all the right buttons for gamers.

A cast of innovators including Miyamoto and Molyneux are celebrated in Game Masters, showing at the National Museum of Scotland. The exhibition tracing the evolution of video games also allows visitors to get their hands on more than 100 of the most iconic titles.

“We wanted to shine a spotlight on the brilliant minds that create the video games so many of us enjoy,” explains Ben Cram of the Australian Centre for the Moving Image (ACMI), Melbourne, which created the original Game Masters exhibition.

“These designers don’t get the wider recognition that, say, film directors enjoy, despite games reaching audiences of tens of millions,” adds Ben, who managed the tour of the exhibition to the National Museum of Scotland, its first European venue.

Sarah Rothwell, the Assistant Curator of Art and Design at National Museums Scotland, who has added a Scottish flavour to the exhibition, sees Game Masters as a chance to introduce people who might not be gamers to a whole new aesthetic world.

“It’s a wonderful opportunity to discover the names and faces behind the games we all know and love,” she

says. “Through their artwork and video interviews we are given an insight into what inspired them to create the games on show. By playing the games, we also get to experience how they have become such a part of everyday life.”

The image of gamers as anti-social teenagers glued to home consoles is long gone. Playing video games might have been a specialised pursuit in the 1980s and 1990s, requiring dedicated hardware, but it has become far more accessible. The Nintendo Wii – a family-friendly machine with intuitive motion controls that encouraged everyone from toddlers to grannies to mime a McEnroe tennis swing – was launched in 2006. It’s now one of the biggest-selling consoles of all time, shipping more than 100 million units. The rise of party games such as SingStar, a karaoke simulator for the Sony PlayStation 2, helped move the console from the teenage bedroom to the living room.

More of us are playing video games than ever. The UK had 33.5 million gamers, with 52% of them women, according to a study commissioned by the Internet Advertising Bureau. There were 27% of gamers aged 44 or over, with children and teenagers making up 22% of the audience, according to the report published last autumn. The changing face of gaming is partly due to the widespread use of smartphones and tablets. If you play Sudoku, Angry Birds or Candy Crush Saga while waiting for a train, you are technically a gamer.

Just as the potential audience for video games has broadened, the people making them are more diverse.

Yann Seznec never thought he’d WWW.NMS.AC.UK // SPRING 2015 // EXPLORER 15

EXHIBITION: GAME MASTERS become a videogame designer. “I’m a musician,” he says. “I stumbled into making games after building musical instruments using videogame controllers.” In 2008, he founded Lucky Frame, whose Scottish BAFTA award-winning Bad Hotel is featured in Game Masters.

The touchscreen title is colourful and chaotic, with a sonic twist – every move the player makes triggers a different noise, creating a constantly evolving soundtrack. It’s accessible and fun, representing a new wave of independent game development.

“Video games are in the same state as virtually every form of media, from music to novels,” explains Yann. “The potential for online distribution is massive and costs have plummeted, creating a much wider audience than ever. Low-budget, artistically uncompromising products can now reach a huge number of people.” Yann always believed video games had the potential to go mainstream. “They’re just like board games, party games, puzzles, sports, or anything else everyone will have played. They are a form of play that can be enthralling, exciting or contemplative.”

During her year as the first games designer in residence at the V&A museum in London, Sophia George looked at how games were perceived. “Most people believe all games are fast paced and violent, or addictive puzzle games, but that’s not the case,” says Sophia, who studied games development at Abertay University, Dundee. “There are lots of meaningful games, they just perhaps don’t get as much attention.”

Sophia has been helping Scottish primary school children turn their fantastical ideas into playable games using simplified programming tools. She believes nurturing the next generation of Miyamotos is vital for games to reach their full potential. “There is an issue with diversity in the games industry,” she says.

“Men in creative roles far outnumber

PRESS START A gaming timeline

1976 PONG Atari’s arcade game becomes a global phenomenon.

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YANN SEZNEC An artist, musician and sound designer, Yann is the founder of the BAFTA award-winning Edinburgh studio Lucky Frame. The company was born out of the success of the Wii LoopMachine.

Its work includes Bad Hotel (left)

“Most people believe all games are fast-paced and violent. That’s not the case” women. If we had different types of people on the creative side, we would have a more diverse selection of games.”

Having won a BAFTA and international acclaim for Tick Tock Toys, Sophia launched Strawberry Thief, a touchscreen title inspired by the William Morris textile design of the same name.

The game attracted 60,000 downloads in its first two weeks.

“I wanted to create an experience that was calm, relaxing and beautiful,” she says. “I was delighted to see some tweets

1982 SPECTRUM 48K Sir Clive Sinclair’s machine ushers in a vibrant era of home computing in the UK.

1989 GAMEBOY Nintendo revolutionises portable gaming, with a little help from Tetris.

about it being a few people’s first-ever digital game.” Sophia believes games development has a long way to go. “I’m keen to see games grow into more of an expressive medium,” she says. The games developer will be sharing her thoughts on industry innovation at a Game Masters public event on Thursday 5 March.

Brian Baglow worked at DMA Design on the first Grand Theft Auto game, released in 1997, and more recently founded the Scottish Games Network, offering advice for developers. He is unsurprised by the research showing most gamers are female.

“That’s been the case for the past decade, it’s just not been reflected in the media,” he says. He can even pinpoint the date gaming went truly mainstream: 9 July

1990 MEGADRIVE The UK release of Sega’s machine marks the rise of 16-bit consoles.

1991 LEMMINGS The cute but fiendish puzzler created by Scotland’s DMA Design is a worldwide hit.

1994 PLAYSTATION Canny marketing helps Sony’s 32-bit console make gaming cool.

RUTH ARMSTRONG

EXHIBITION: GAME MASTERS

SOPHIA GEORGE BAFTA winning games designer Sophia created Strawberry Thief (above) and Tick Tock Toys (left)

2008. “The launch of Apple’s app store,” he says. “It changed the development and distribution of games for ever.

Everyone is walking around with a games machine in their pocket, and games are by far the most popular apps on all personal devices.”

It’s also helped neutralise the video games arms race, where a console’s raw processing power seemed to be valued above creating games that were fun to play.

“The holy grail of video games used to be trying to create virtual reality, something totally immersive you would use to escape the world,” says Brian. “But it’s gone the other way: games have infiltrated our daily lives. The future will be augmented reality rather than virtual reality.”

1997 GRAND THEFT AUTO DMA Design launches what is to become one of the UK’s biggestseling games.

2001 XBOX Microsoft’s belated entry into the console market is still going strong.

Ben Cram travelled half way round the world to help install Game Masters, and his enthusiasm for gaming is infectious.

He tells of training a staff member in Australia who had never played video games. “At the end of the exhibition, he came to show me his high score on Temple Run on his phone. That’s what I love about working on this show – it can turn non-gamers into new gamers.”

MORE INFORMATION Game Masters is at the National Museum of Scotland until 20 April 2015. The exhibition is created by the Australian Centre for the Moving Image in Melbourne, supported by the Victorian government.

Visit www.nms.ac.uk/gamemasters

2006 NINTENDO WII The family-friendly console has sold more than 100 million units.

2008 APP STORE Apple’s online shop, and similar rivals, made playing and distributing games easier than ever.

2009 MINECRAFT Initially a cult hit, Minecraft was acquired

by Microsoft for $2.5bn in 2014.

GAME MASTERS REVIEW

By Allison Cattanach, games fan With more than 100 playable titles from every stage of the gaming industry’s history, the exhibition Game Masters manages to recapture my youthful enthusiasm for button bashing. Still a big gamer at the age of 27, I am excited to get my hands on some of the classics popular way before my time – as well as those I remember fondly from my youth.

Taking the opportunity to revisit the Sonic Team’s 1991 platform game Sonic the Hedgehog on the Sega Megadrive, I find myself immersed in nostalgia and surprised at the excitement the game still elicits.

Virtua Fighter by Yu Suzuki is similarly emotive, with the 1993 arcade beat ’em up game’s blocky-torsoed fighters and stylised cabinet bringing back fond memories of beach-front arcades and fierce sibling battles.

The exhibition also gives us a closer look at the developers’ creative process, offering insightful interviews and fantastic concept art, including sketches from the visually stunning Shadow of the Colossus by Fumito Ueda and the recently remastered Grim Fandango by Peter Chan.

Absolutely the most fun I’ve ever had at a museum – and I didn’t have to blow all my pocket money.

2013 PS4/XBOX ONE Sony and Microsoft launch their latest state-of-the-art consoles.

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EXHIBITION

Playing doubles They finish each other’s sentences, wear matching outfits and collaborate on their art. So what inspires the Singh Twins to be so defiantly individual?

S

peak to the Singh Twins, the artist sisters renowned for their intricately executed paintings, and they answer in unison. They often finish each other's sentences, and like to be known as Twins – with a capital T. Amrit and Rabindra Singh work together just as comfortably: “We share the same interests and friends, and 99.9% of our time is spent together outside work.” Their mission is to challenge stereotypes and prejudices with deceptively beautiful paintings inspired by the traditional Indian miniature style.

The artists were commissioned to paint Duleep Singh, the last ruler of the Sikh empire, for the exhibition Indian Encounters at the National Museum of Scotland. The result, A Casualty of War, is a watercolour and gold dust portrait of the emperor who was deposed by the British East India Company and settled in Perthshire after being befriended by Queen Victoria.

The Twins, who live in the Wirral, Merseyside, are passionate about their Indian and Sikh roots – their grandfather and father left Amritsar, Punjab, following partition in 1947. They feel equally strongly about their Britishness, happily straddling eastern and western cultures.

Here, they explain five influences on their work, which plays with Sikh tradition, modern pop culture and social commentary.

INDIAN CULTURE Our heritage goes way 1 back in India and we were really the first generation to be born in Britain. Our father came to Manchester at nine – our grandfather had come here on business. Our first trip to India in 1980 opened up the doors to what the country had to offer, including the Indian miniature painting tradition.

We tried to present a positive image of things that in the wider community were perhaps looked down upon – extended family and arranged marriage, customs generally derided by the media. There was never a positive image of an Asian in British soaps. It was always an 18 EXPLORER // SPRING 2015 // WWW.NMS.AC.UK

Asian girl being forced into arranged marriage, being in a so-called oppressive system.

That’s something we never felt ourselves growing up here.

We quite comfortably have a foot in each camp and take the best of both worlds. We wear Indian clothes and maintain the cultural parts of Indian life – religious festivals and celebrations – so it’s not just about our artwork.

UNIVERSITY At university we were embarking on an academic career as theologians. One of our subjects was art because it was the only thing that fitted with the timetable. We felt we experienced prejudice from

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The Singh Twins with their portrait of Duleep Singh

the art tutors, who made it clear the Indian miniature – the style we wanted to develop our art from – was unacceptable. They said it was backward and outdated. They actively persuaded us to look the other way, to the western canon of art, to people like Gauguin and Picasso.

We thought universities were great seats of learning and open thinking, yet here we were being dictated to. We felt that was an attack on our Indianness and individual rights as artists. We tried to compromise to suit the art tutors, but our work was still not being accepted so we did a U turn, remaining true to our identities, and developed the Indian miniature style.

RELIGIOUS SYMBOLISM All our works start with a period of research. Our use of symbolism comes from our academic study of different religions. The symbolism in our work is rich and we draw upon many world traditions. That probably started with our Catholic upbringing. We went to a convent school with a beautiful chapel attached to it.

There were wonderful stained-glass windows, statues and stations of the cross.

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DIGITAL MEDIA We’re increasingly fascinated with digital media, particularly film, animation and apps. We've been inspired in the last four

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THE INDIAN MINIATURE The earliest surviving Indian miniatures are from the 10th century, painted on palm leaves, and 14th-century works on paper.

Miniatures depict epic tales and mythology, often accompanying religious texts.

Traditionally, artists worked together in karkhanas, or workshops. Some specialised in drawing while others were master colourists

Our goal has always been to challenge inequalities in the art world or five years to explore how we can use that media to bring the Indian miniature style to a new audience.

Rather than people coming in to see a painting on a wall, how do you take that message beyond the boundaries of the gallery space? We’d like to think about how apps and augmented reality can interpret the work we’ve done.

SIKHISM The higher realms of the art world can dismiss our work as too traditional, yet there is an element of pop culture and social commentary running through what we do. That’s been encouraged by our Sikh upbringing.

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We don’t practise in a formal sense of going regularly to the Sikh temple, but we value the principles of Sikhism – the idea of equality, and having a social and political conscience. Like most people, we’re short of being the perfect Sikh, but those values are at the core of what we do. That rebellious attitude has been part of our work since the days of the prejudice we experienced. Our key goal has always been to challenge inequalities in the art world.

MORE INFORMATION Indian Encounters is at the National Museum of Scotland until 1 March 2015. Visit www.nms.ac.uk/indianencounters and www.singhtwins.co.uk

The last Sikh emperor, Duleep Singh, forced into exile after being deposed by the British East India Company WWW.NMS.AC.UK // SPRING 2015 // EXPLORER 19

EXHIBITION PREVIEW 1

A love affair with pictures In a forthcoming exhibition on the story of photography, curator Alison Morrison-Low unravels the tales behind five images

W

ith the rise of smartphones and social media, photography is now taken for granted. It began, though, as a pastime for wealthy Victorians, becoming more accessible throughout the 19th century as technological developments made it cheaper.

The nation’s love affair with photography had begun.

Photography: A Victorian Sensation, at the National Museum of Scotland from 19 June, charts the evolution of the photographic image.

Curating the exhibition has enabled me to showcase the early photographic collections of National Museums Scotland, including the Howarth-Loomes collection, much of which has never been publicly displayed.

Included are images and apparatus illustrating changing 19th-century photographic techniques. The era is beyond living memory, yet the people in these early photographs are not so different to us.

Here, I choose five images that speak clearly to me.

THE WRITER

Dr Alison Morrison-Low is the Principal Curator of Science at National Museums Scotland

20 EXPLORER // SPRING 2015 // WWW.NMS.AC.UK

GIRL HOLDING THE PORTRAIT OF A MAN Ross & Thomson of Edinburgh 1840–1855 1 Louis-Jacques-Mandé Daguerre invented the first form of photography shown to the early Victorians. The Parisian showman had already dazzled London audiences with his diorama, a show of lights and illusion.

His photographs were one-off reversed positive images made of a delicate mercury amalgam resting on a polished silvered plate. Their mirror-like quality entranced the upper classes, who could not get enough of these reflections of reality.

Since they were relatively expensive to produce, only those with enough disposable income could afford them.

Even so, studios sprang up across the country and portraits inspired by the miniature paintings of the preceding age were taken of loved ones. This delightful portrait taken by the Edinburgh photographers Ross & Thomson shows a girl propped up on a striped cushion and holding a framed portrait, presumably of her dead father.

James Ross and John Thomson were renowned for their portraits of children. While we don’t know who the sitter is, one of our visitors might.

MRS ELIZABETH (JOHNSTONE) HALL D O Hill and Robert Adamson 1840s 2 Robert Adamson helped pioneer W H F Talbot’s calotype process, working from his Edinburgh studio. The calotype produced a paper negative from which positive prints could be made. He and artist David Octavius Hill photographed dissenting ministers during the Disruption of the Church of Scotland in 1843, making artistic and technological advances together. Among their most beautiful work is this portrait of a Newhaven fishwife.

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HORSE AND GROOM London School of Photography 1858–1860 3 The wet collodion process, introduced in 1851, combined the detail of the daguerreotype with the reproducibility of the calotype. A glass negative was used, along with cheaper chemicals, and the image was captured more quickly. By placing a piece of black paper behind the wet collodion negative, the photograph could emulate the more expensive, cased, daguerreotype. Outdoor photography of tricky subjects could now be taken, including this London horse.

BALMORAL CASTLE George Washington Wilson 1863 4 Another popular form of photography used binocular cameras to make images.

These were then viewed through a device called a stereoscope, resulting in a 3D effect. The greatest provider of stereoscopic views in Scotland was George Washington Wilson, whose Aberdeen-based business was given impetus after Prince Albert invited him to document the building of the new Balmoral Castle. Some of his commissions were made publicly available and he died a wealthy man.

FAMILY ON THE BEACH Unknown 1890 5 Ferrotype, or tin-type, photography was made cheaply with a wet collodion positive on tinned or enamelled iron. The process, introduced in 1853, produced poor-quality images that could nevertheless be handed to the customer minutes after being taken.

Popular with itinerant photographers, this method of photography is particularly associated with the beach.

Following the Bank Holidays Act 1871, working people had more opportunities to go on day trips and, with the spread of the

railway network, often enjoyed family visits to the seaside.

This image belongs to a group of tintypes showing the little boys growing older. We don’t know the family’s name, but a stencilled bucket in one photograph suggests they were holidaying in Margate.

MORE INFORMATION Photography: A Victorian Sensation is at the National Museum Scotland from 19 June 2015. Visit www.nms.ac.uk/ photography For details of a special Members’ event, see page 23.

Kindly supported by The Morton Charitable Trust WWW.NMS.AC.UK // SPRING 2015 // EXPLORER 21

OBJECT OF DESIRE

The Bond Electraglide Will Sergeant of British rock band Echo and the Bunnymen on an unusual guitar

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was given an Electraglide for free – it was like a new toy to play with. I liked that band Big Audio Dynamite and I knew Mick Jones had one.

It’s an interesting design. It was super-modern with little LEDs on it and buttons for your volume rather than knobs. The carbonfibre stepped fretboard made it smooth, fast and easy to play – you could zip up and down the neck without any problems. You had to have a power supply and that was just another thing that could possibly go wrong while you’re on stage but I’m surprised it never took off more than it did.

Maybe it’s because guitarists like to buy into that tradition of a guitar being a Fender or a Gibson or a Gretsch. I know when I started the band I wanted a Telecaster because of Wilko Johnson of Dr Feelgood. Nowadays I just use one guitar, my Fender Jaguar, most of the time but in those days I had a big rack of guitars – you have to give the roadies something to do.

I used the Electraglide live a few times in America. I don’t think I did much recording with it, maybe the odd thing around the eponymous 1987 album. I found the tone scratchy and a bit thin but it would be good for a funk band doing those Chic riffs.

It was the 1980s, wasn’t it?

Everyone was pretending to be spacemen in some weird futuristic baroque hell.

I’ve still got it by the way. I’ll have to dig it out again and have another play around with it.

MORE INFORMATION Visit www.bunnymen.com and www.nms.ac.uk/electraglide Interview by the freelance music journalist Fiona Shepherd 22 EXPLORER // SPRING 2015 // WWW.NMS.AC.UK

WHAT IS IT? The short-lived Bond Electraglide guitar, produced by the Bond Guitar Company in Muir of Ord, Ross-shire.

Only around 1,000 were manufactured between 1984 and 1985 before the company folded.

WHO PLAYED IT? Will Sergeant, The Edge from U2, Dave Stewart of Eurythmics, and The Clash's Mick Jones in his Big Audio Dynamite days.

WHY IS IT SO SPECIAL? It has been dubbed “the DeLorean of the guitar world” for its sleek futurism – and failure to catch on. It has a carbon-fibre construction, mains-powered motherboard and an anodised aluminium stepped fretboard, giving it a unique sound. And it’s as black as it’s possible for a guitar to be.

WHERE CAN YOU SEE IT? In the New to the National Collection display at the National Museum of Scotland, until 22 February 2015, then in the museum's new science and technology galleries, opening in 2016.

MEMBERSHIP

Exclusive preview of major photography exhibition Members offered a unique insight into a Victorian sensation

intriguing insights into the exhibition, and the opportunity to experience these captivating treasures after hours.

This is your chance to enjoy an exclusive talk from the curator behind our major exhibition on photography at the National Museum of Scotland this summer.

Photography: A Victorian Sensation shows the evolution of the craft from scientific experimentation and costly pastime for gentlemen amateurs – via the work of professionals in studios capturing formal scenes, and itinerant photographers documenting

MORE INFORMATION Tickets are free to Members but booking is essential. Booking fees may apply To book call 0300 123 6789 or visit www.nms.ac.uk/ memberevents Please state your preferred time slot when booking tickets for Tuesday 23 June 2015: doors open 5.45pm, talk 6pm, (exhibition viewing 6.30–7.30pm) or doors open 6.30pm, talk 7pm, (exhibition viewing 7.30–8.30pm)

family beach holidays – to the leisure pursuit of the Kodakowning individual. Learn how photography permeated society, becoming a global phenomenon on an industrial scale.

On Tuesday 23 June 2015, Alison Morrison-Low, Principal Curator of Science at National Museums Scotland, will offer

On this page you’ll find news, events and competitions for Members. Enjoy your new look Explorer magazine. Please email feedback to explorer@nms.ac.uk

NATIONAL MUSEUMS SCOTLAND SPONSORS

CORPORATE PARTNERS

Win a meal at the Tower Restaurant Refer a friend to National Museums Scotland Membership and when they join, you will both have a chance to win a £100 voucher for the Tower, Edinburgh’s finest rooftop restaurant.

Beat those January blues and let the Tower team look after you. Enjoy locally sourced seasonal produce cooked to perfection, and unrivalled views of Edinburgh Castle and the city skyline.

When the museum opens its doors at 10am daily, so too does the Tower. The delicious brunch menu is served from 10am–12.30pm, with classics such as eggs Benedict, or smoked salmon and scrambled eggs. Are you arriving later? Enjoy a two-course lunch served from

noon–5pm, or a rooftop afternoon tea from 2.30–5.30pm, each £18.95.

For your chance to win, recommend Membership of National Museums Scotland to a friend or family member.

Once they have joined, email your name, daytime phone number, Membership number and the name of the nominated person to explorercompetition@nms. ac.uk by 30 April 2015.

Alternatively, send postal entries to: Membership Competition, National Museums Scotland, Chambers Street, Edinburgh EH1 1JF. MORE INFORMATION For Membership details visit www.nms.ac.uk/ membership For Tower reservations call 0131 225 3003 or visit www.tower-restaurant.com

TERMS AND CONDITIONS: referee Member and referral Member will both be included in the prize draw separately, provided both parties have an active Membership with National Museums Scotland. Open to all UK, CI, IoM and RoI residents except employees of National Museums Scotland and their immediate families. The prize is a £100 gift voucher for the Tower restaurant, valid for 12 months. Advance booking is necessary. The voucher is non-refundable, non-divisible, non-exchangeable, and must be presented when redeeming.

DONATIONS ARE A VITAL MEANS OF SUPPORT FOR NATIONAL MUSEUMS SCOTLAND National Museums Scotland is a registered charity SC011130.

To discuss how you can support us with a donation, please write to Nicola Pickavance, Head of Development, at National Museums Scotland, Chambers Street, Edinburgh EH1 1JF; call 0131 247 4095; or email her at n.pickavance@nms.ac.uk ARE YOU IN THE US? Please write to Emily Grand at American Foundation for National Museums Scotland, 275 Madison Avenue, Suite 401, New York, NY 10016; call 202 812 4362; or email her at egrand@ghspm.com

WWW.NMS.AC.UK // SPRING 2015 // EXPLORER 23

Take on gaming’s greatest icons An exhibition created by the Australian Centre for the Moving Image, Melbourne, supported by the Victorian Government.

Until 20 April 2015 Chambers Street, Edinburgh EH1 1JF Book now at www.nms.ac.uk/gamemasters National Museums Scotland Scottish Charity, No. SC011130