Student placements

Royal Armouries, Archives Digitisation Project

MA students, Yan Liu and Hanlun Ren, completed placements with the Royal Armouries, the UK’s National Museum of Arms and Armour, and one of the most important museums of its type in the world.

The Royal Armouries, based at Leeds Dock, has worked with placement students from the University of Leeds and other academic partners for over 10 years.

Yan Liu said:

‘I learned a lot during our placement in Royal Armouries. First of all, the placement made me understand the contents of introduction training and organisation chart in the museum. Second, through visiting the archive and collection stores, I learnt the classification methods of archives and exhibits and third, I learned many photography and image progressing techniques from the progress of archives digitalisation. Finally, I understand how a museum provides public education to audiences.”

Hanlun Ren said:

“Through various forms of exhibition and education activities, visitors can learn the history of weapons and war, but they can also feel the evil and harm brought by war and weapons. This sense of historical responsibility of the Royal Armouries is very important.”

East Street Arts

MA Art Gallery and Museum Studies graduate Hayley Reid completed her placement with Leeds-based East Street Arts, a national arts organisation with international reach. Established in 1993 in Leeds, it supports artists, collectives and emerging arts organisations through a diverse programme of public activities, working with and in communities, professional support and learning sessions, studio and facility developments and a Temporary Space Programme.

Hayley said:

“During my time with East Street Arts, I was introduced, from the beginning, to their exciting large-scale project: Art Hostel. Using the Art Hostel as a base I was able to see and often be a part of the development of the building and the art-filled rooms inside. I shadowed Nicola Greenan, a director of East Street Arts, and attended various meetings with funding bodies, Leeds City Council and cultural organisations in Leeds to get a taste of the type of varied work that a charitable arts organisation is involved with.

“An important aspect of the placement was to develop a project that I could work on independently and which would benefit the Art Hostel and East Street Art’s work. Together with Nicola, I decided to focus on a research project around the cultural regeneration of the historic street, Kirkgate, where the hostel is situated. This project gave me an important insight into the process of long-term projects from initial research, applying for funding, to finally seeing the realisation of the hard work.”