1 The world of oďjeĐts at rest: memories, material culture and the museum Elizabeth Crooke, Inaugural Professorial Lecture 1 May 2014, University of Ulster When I was around 8 or 9 years old I loved to search around in a filing cabinet drawer that was home to all the bits and pieces that lacked a better place to be kept. When I was asked ǁhat aƌe LJou lookiŶg foƌ? the aŶsǁeƌ alǁaLJs ǁas I doŶt kŶoǁ. I ǁasŶt shoǁiŶg eaƌlLJ sigŶs of iŶsoleŶĐe … the ƌeplLJ ǁas aŶ hoŶest oŶe. I ǁasŶt sure, just something with a little bit of curiosity about it. It ǁas ďeĐause of this ŵeŵoƌLJ that “eaŵus HeaŶeLJs desĐƌiptioŶ of him as a young boy, going about a similar task, struck a chord with me. In his case, that place was the top of the kitchen dresser. For the adults in his household the top of the dresser ǁas a plaĐe ǁheƌe LJou Đould thƌoǁ thiŶgs out of the ǁaLJ, aŶd that ǁas that (Heaney 1993). For Heaney, when he managed to climb up there, The LJelloǁiŶg Ŷeǁspapeƌ … the ǁoƌŶ doǁŶ gƌaiŶs of the shaƌpiŶg-stone, the bent nails, the singed ends of wicks, the dust, the stillness and rust, all suggested that these objects were living a kind of afterlife and that a previous time was vestigially alive in them. They were not just inert rubbish but dormant energies, meanings that could not be quite deciphered. (Heaney 1993) Heaney could see an energy embodied in objects. He identifies the ability of objects to communicate, even that which has been discarded (but not thrown away). For Heaney those objects had energy, curiosity and could trigger his imagination. The challenge, and the joy in them, was the potential that lay in the opportunity to explore and reveal their meanings. OBJECTS AND THEIR MEANINGS Turning to material culture studies, contributors to the discussion of the significance of things haǀe suggested that oďjeĐts haǀe a soĐial life ;Appaduƌai ϭϵϴϲͿ. That objects as they ŵoǀe aƌouŶd haǀe a life stoƌLJ. The consequences of the fact that objects are given significance – they are displayed, saved, kept safe, given to loved ones, discarded and sometimes rescued – has underpinned the exploration of the agency of objects (Hoskins 2006). This moves beyond the coŶteŶtioŶ that oďjeĐts aƌe passiǀe, iŶeƌt ŵateƌial to ǁhiĐh thiŶgs happeŶ aŶd thiŶgs aƌe doŶe aŶd toǁaƌds aŶ uŶdeƌstaŶdiŶg that oďjeĐts doŶt just pƌoǀide a stage settiŶg to huŵaŶ aĐtioŶ; theLJ aƌe iŶtegƌal to it ;GosdeŶ aŶd Maƌshall 1999:169).