The Brooke Trust

09/04/2022

Step 7 - The Sharing

And... breathe.

A few hours’ sleep, a regroup at dawn, the floors mopped, and glass dusted, the catering arrives, and journalists mingle. And at 9am the Minister, dignitaries, pillars of the community, arrive to witness one more special little museum added to Sarawak's rich cultural offering.

Well done All.

From that point on we welcome a steady stream of press, ministers, ambassadors, thousands of children, tourists, locals – We welcome Her Majesty the Queen.

We have writers, journalists, artists and artisans, documentary makers from here and abroad.

We have appreciation. And we are all set to share because we are inspired.

For those of you in Kuching yet to visit the Ranee, please do so. For those abroad thinking of a visit to Kuching, our doors are open, and we look forward to sharing Sarawak’s very special heritage with you soon.

08/04/2022

Step 6 - The Installation

By now we are looking the deadline square in the face and know we have only days until the Minister's grand opening.

Excitement has built up, we are all looking forward to a decent night's rest, and we know we're in the final straight.

This is when those objects which are more challenging to safely display are tackled by that most impressive of conservators, Dr Franca Cole, who stays up late many a night as the darkness falls and the electricity fails, to ensure the Ranee's garments are safely and securely ready for presentation.

This is when the showcases go in, the objects themselves and their protective glass is positioned, the wall graphics and pictures go up, when the curtains are hung and the signage installed, and when, of course, any errors in the earlier stages are finally revealed... and with a bit of teamwork they are overcome.

06/04/2022

Step 5 - The Transformation

Design in hand, the practical elements of a museum's infrastructure first must go in.

This means piping for climate controls, tracks for lighting, security cameras, followed by the bones upon which the painted walls, and later the showcases, will finally rest.

This is the part where we begin to see and feel the space - the scale, the flow - when we can begin to visualise the beautiful objects all around.

Off site, the showcases were under construction by Ket Hua, conservation work in full swing with Dr Franca Cole, and the final narrative being polished with the help of Louise Macul and Dr Jenny Morris at the Friends of Sarawak Museums.

On site, the specification from the brilliant Chee Wee Ng at IDC Architects was brought to reality by U-Jin and Ailee from Siniawan, and their team. Diligent, skilled, reliable, and committed, we hardly spoke the same language but somehow understood one another - sketches on walls and gestures with arms and a lot of 'Bo tai chi' ("Not a problem"), and suddenly it was beginning to look like a gallery!

04/04/2022

Step 4 - The Design

With an outstanding collection, a compelling story, and a fitting venue, the fun work of designing the exhibition begins.

This crucial stage means somehow fitting together all the objects, in an order which makes sense, in a space which has limitations, and in a visual display which will stand the test of time and do justice to the beauty of what it presents.

It means space design – what will fit and where and how, the flow of visitors and how they'll interact - and graphic design – the visual impact, the colour schemes, the paints and fabrics. It means testing colours against the objects and finding the right backdrops. It means both taking inspiration from other beautiful exhibitions and creating a look and feel which is unique to this one.

For all of this we had the wonderful local team behind the Brooke Gallery, and the benefit of friends from my life in the museum world in London. While the Brooke Gallery was kept minimalist, allowing the Fort to speak for itself, the Ranee Museum meant transporting visitors from what had been a smoky bar, into a world of wonder.

02/04/2022

Step 3 - Finding Home

Before the design stage can begin, we must know the exhibition will have a suitable home.

In a practical sense this means security, accessibility, climatic conditions, parking. But in a spiritual sense, 'home' means the right context. Just as we wouldn't expect to find an exhibition about boats in the middle of a desert, finding the right 'home' for the Ranee was essential.

With the Brooke Gallery, we were fortunate to be offered Fort Margherita and a wonderful partnership with the Sarawak Museum Department. With the Ranee, we were offered space at the , the enthusiastic support of Joe Sidek and the Rainforest Fringe Festival who sponsored a ‘teaser’ exhibition, and a long-term partner of shared values in , the present custodians of this important public building.

At that point the potential gallery space was a rather smoky, smelly bar room, with dark grey walls, but all that would change very soon.

31/03/2022

Step 2 - The Exploration

Before we can share the story - the intangible embodied in the real - a process of research, of exploration, begins. For me and my team it meant a journey into the life of a woman whose story is at once inspiring, and tragic, and which pulls right at the heart strings in a way only the most human story can. Later, more than one visitor would shed tears as they joined the Ranee on her journey.

Liza connected us with skilled artisans whose families had carried their craft down through generations. We even had the opportunity to share the newly discovered textiles with Sarawak’s oldest keringkam weaver, nonagenarian Puan Hajah Dayang Siti Saadiah Binti Abg Nor Salleh, who explained to us the different motifs and their meanings.

The Exploration is where the story is uncovered, structured - where the gems which signal a 'moment' in a person's life and legacy, are picked out, ready to be polished. It is a time full of excitement and inspiration, but still early days and it can be hard to quite picture what the outcome will be.

29/03/2022

Step 1 - The Discovery

Every exhibition begins with a discovery.

Perhaps the discovery came long ago, and the time for display has finally come, or perhaps the discovery is not the object itself, but a new way of sharing it, in a new context, at a new time. For me, and for the Ranee Museum, it was a bit of both.

Packed away for more than a century in dusty boxes in England, and discovered in 2017, was the most exquisite collection of ancient Sarawak textiles, made by the local Malay community for their Ranee, Margaret, my great great grandmother.

I knew a little of these fine textiles through the sharing of the Brooke Museums Manager, Liza Sideni, who is also Chair of the Sarawak Keringkam Society, and a real enthusiast. I knew too, a little of the life of my ancestor, how Liza and her community felt about the Ranee's legacy, and what she represented during her extraordinary lifetime. And so as soon as I opened the box, I knew we had something special in our hands. And I knew we had to share it.

28/03/2022

Remembering the Ranee - Seven Steps to a Small Specialist Museum

As the travel restrictions on foreign arrivals to Sarawak are soon due to lift, and we look forward to welcoming these visitors once again to our museums in Kuching, it feels a good time to remember one foreign visitor who in 1869 made Sarawak her home, and whose legacy is explored at the Old Court House today.

In 7 posts over the next 14 days, we will be sharing the steps the charity took to get the Ranee Museum from idea to reality.

This teaser pic from later in our journey: HM Queen Azizah of Malaysia shares a moment of surprise and joy with Brooke Museums Manager, Liza Sideni, who has arranged for nonagenarian Puan Hajah Dayang Siti Saadiah Binti Abg Nor Salleh, the embroiderer of Her Majesty's wedding keringkam 33 years earlier, to join them and Puan Sri Datuk Amar Hajah Juma'ani Tun Tuanku Haji Bujang, wife of the Right Hon the Premier of Sarawak, for a tour of the Ranee Museum. Follow up meetings with Her Majesty revealed that an ancestor, Andrea Emil Lange, had served as trusted Private Secretary to Rajah Charles for 18 years and would have been well known to the Ranee herself.

In meaningful new connections there are often unexpectedly deep roots revealed.

04/02/2021

Some 7 years before James Brooke set sail for Sarawak, his dreams of adventure had firmly taken root. The schooner plan would only be realised on the death of his father in 1836, whereon he had an inheritance to make it possible. Uninterested in a life of luxury in England, James acquired the schooner Royalist, a now iconic ship that would be his first step on the road to a life of purpose and meaning beyond his wildest dreams.

25/12/2020