St Andrews Research Repository

St Andrews University Home
View Item 
  •   St Andrews Research Repository
  • Research Centres and Institutes
  • Museums, Galleries and Collections Institute
  • Museums Galleries and Collections Institute Theses
  • View Item
  •   St Andrews Research Repository
  • Research Centres and Institutes
  • Museums, Galleries and Collections Institute
  • Museums Galleries and Collections Institute Theses
  • View Item
  •   St Andrews Research Repository
  • Research Centres and Institutes
  • Museums, Galleries and Collections Institute
  • Museums Galleries and Collections Institute Theses
  • View Item
  • Login
JavaScript is disabled for your browser. Some features of this site may not work without it.

Memorials of endurance and adventure : exhibiting British polar exploration, 1819 – c.1939

Thumbnail
View/Open
KatieMurrayPhDThesis.pdf (7.598Mb)
Date
22/06/2017
Author
Murray, Katie
Supervisor
Gunn, Ann V.
Funder
University of St Andrews. School of Art History
Keywords
Museum
Exhibition
Arctic
Antarctic
Polar
Panorama
Inuit
Human display
Human exhibit
Franklin
Relic
Erebus
Terror
Diorama
Exploration
Explorers
1891 Royal Naval Exhibition
Expedition
Shackleton
Robert Falcon Scott
William Speirs Bruce
Southern Cross
Discovery
Nimrod
Scotia
John Ross
James Clark Ross
William Parry
Henry Aston Barker
Robert Barker
Robert Burford
Henry Courtney Selous
David Roberts
E. Lambert
Danson
Philip Phillips
Thomas Grieve
William Telbin
John J.Story
Madame Tussauds
Waxwork
Display
George Nares
Edward Wilson
William Burn Murdoch
Poles
Frank Debenham
Scott Polar Research Institute
Scottish Oceanographical Laboratory
Herbert Ponting
1913 Imperial Services Exhibition
Polar bear
Penguin
Seal
Royal Geographical Society
Royal Scottish Geographical Society
1930 Polar Exhibition
Louis Bernacchi
Heroic Age
Northwest Passage
North Pole
South Pole
Great Exhibition
Gompertz
Hamilton
Laidlaw
Marshall
British Museum
Painted Hall
United Services Institution
United Services Institute
Leopold McClintock
John Rae
Rignold
Edinburgh Museum of Science and Art
Royal Scottish Museum
Scottish National Exhibition
Franco-British Exhibition
Scottish Exhibition of National History, Art and Industry
Palace of History
Daily Mail Schoolboys Exhibition
Metadata
Show full item record
Altmetrics Handle Statistics
Abstract
Over eighty polar-themed exhibitions were held in Britain between 1819 and the 1930s, a time of intense exploration of both the Arctic and Antarctic. These varied from panoramas and human exhibits to displays of ‘relics’, equipment, photographs and artwork, waxworks and displays shown as part of a Great Exhibition. This period also saw the creation of the first dedicated polar museums. These displays were visited by thousands of people throughout the country, helping to mediate the subject of exploration for a public audience. Despite this, the role exhibitions played in forming popular views of the polar regions has not been fully assessed. This thesis addresses this gap. It is the first to consider all the polar exhibitions held during this period as a collective body, making it possible to study how they developed over time and in response to changing circumstances. The thesis uses a variety of archival sources to both reconstruct the displays and place them in their historical and museological contexts. The study shows that exhibitions evolved in response to changes both in the museum sector and in exploration culture. It demonstrates that, while they were originally identified with the shows of the entertainment industry, polar exhibitions began to take on more of the characteristics of museum displays. At the same time their dominant themes changed; the natural world was relegated in favour of ideas relating to the human experience of the regions such as heroism, adventure and everyday life in an exotic environment. While other media may have been more effective in disseminating ideas about exploration, visitors could find the experience of visiting an exhibition more compelling. This thesis contributes to our understanding of this distinct role that exhibitions played in presenting the polar regions to the British public.
Type
Thesis, PhD Doctor of Philosophy
Description
Electronic version excludes material for which permission has not been granted by the rights holder
Collections
  • Art History Theses
  • Museums Galleries and Collections Institute Theses
URI
http://hdl.handle.net/10023/11087

Items in the St Andrews Research Repository are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.

Related items

Showing items related by title, author, creator and subject.

  • Receptors for the broad spectrum acceleration of chemical reactions : a comparison of polar and non-polar reactivity 

    Rowe, Heidi (University of St Andrews, 2002) - Thesis
  • The Ring Net : ring net herring fishing on the west coast of Scotland ; a documentary exhibition by Will Maclean 

    Allerston, Patricia (University of St Andrews, 1991) - Thesis
    This dissertation focuses on The Ring Net, a documentary exhibition by the artist Will Maclean. The Ring Net is a collection of drawings, photographs and printed plans numbering more than three hundred and ...
  • Strategic modulation of the photonic properties of conjugated organometallic Pt–Ir polymers exhibiting hybrid CT-excited states 

    Soliman, Ahmed M.; Zysman-Colman, Eli; Harvey, Pierre D. (2014) - Journal article
    Polymer 6, ([trans-Pt(PBu3)2(C≡C)2]-[Ir(dFMeppy)2(N^N)](PF6))n, (([Pt]-[Ir](PF6))n; N^N = 5,5′-disubstituted-2,2′-bipyridyl; dFMeppy = 2-(2,4-difluoro-phenyl)-5-methylpyridine) is prepared along with model compounds. These ...
Advanced Search

Browse

All of RepositoryCommunities & CollectionsBy Issue DateNamesTitlesSubjectsClassificationTypeFunderThis CollectionBy Issue DateNamesTitlesSubjectsClassificationTypeFunder

My Account

Login

Open Access

To find out how you can benefit from open access to research, see our library web pages and Open Access blog. For open access help contact: openaccess@st-andrews.ac.uk.

Accessibility

Read our Accessibility statement.

How to submit research papers

The full text of research papers can be submitted to the repository via Pure, the University's research information system. For help see our guide: How to deposit in Pure.

Electronic thesis deposit

Help with deposit.

Repository help

For repository help contact: Digital-Repository@st-andrews.ac.uk.

Give Feedback

Cookie policy

This site may use cookies. Please see Terms and Conditions.

Usage statistics

COUNTER-compliant statistics on downloads from the repository are available from the IRUS-UK Service. Contact us for information.

© University of St Andrews Library

University of St Andrews is a charity registered in Scotland, No SC013532.

  • Facebook
  • Twitter