Survey stories in the history of British polar exploration: museums, objects and people

Abstract

This essay considers the two institutions that, between them, contain the most significant collections relating to British polar exploration in the UK: the Scott Polar Research Institute and the National Maritime Museum. A discussion of the differences between the two institutions, from their foundations to the substance of their collections, is followed by an indication of their similarities—particularly relating to the interpretation of the objects of exploration in museums, including artefacts of science and surveying. Histories of exploration, particularly in the polar regions, have been dominated by stories of individual sacrifice and achievement. This is despite the origins of many of the expeditions being rooted in scientific goals. This paper considers the role of survey stories within narratives of exploration, and the challenges that curators face in presenting them to audiences who continue to be drawn in by stories of well-known figures such as Scott and Amundsen.

Expedition Relics from High Arctic Greenland eight decades of exploration history told through 102 objects. Peter R. Dawes. With artefact photography by Roberto Fortuna. 2023. Museum Tusculanum Press/Copenhagen: Denmark. 500 p, illustrated, hardcover. ISBN 9788763546867. $102 (US).

“…The evolving discipline of historical archaeology and the study and interpretation of material culture offer specific and unique entry points into our understanding of polar history. Connelly and Warrior (2019) point out: "The notion of 'biographies of things' has proven to be a valuable framework for tracing historical trajectories and illuminating the multiplicity of contexts through which objects move." This book poses the question: how does the study of material objects contribute to our knowledge of the exploration of northern Kalaallit Nunaat/ Greenland during the mid-nineteenth-early twentieth century period?…”

“…The evolving discipline of historical archaeology and the study and interpretation of material culture offer specific and unique entry points into our understanding of polar history. Connelly and Warrior (2019) point out: “The notion of ‘biographies of things’ has proven to be a valuable framework for tracing historical trajectories and illuminating the multiplicity of contexts through which objects move.” This book poses the question: how does the study of material objects contribute to our knowledge of the exploration of northern Kalaallit Nunaat/Greenland during the mid-nineteenth-early twentieth century period? Following in the path of earlier volumes including, most recently, de Pomereau and McGahey’s fine Antarctica in 100 Objects (2022), Expedition Relics from High Arctic Greenland by Peter R. Dawes provides the reader with an intimate, in-depth perspective into explorer’s lives, the interactions between Indigenous and Western cultures, and the perilous expeditions in this region that loom large in exploration history.…”