Day 28: Interview with the Sr. Researcher and Curator

Interview with a Sr. Researcher and Curator:

Date: June 28
Time: 10:30 am

Continuing with my field trips to the repository that I am researching for my capstone paper, today is a special day for me. I will be interviewing the Sr. Researcher and Curator. She will host a Curator's Talk series at the Wiener Library: "Berlin/London: The Lost Photographs of  Gerty Simon". I am so bummed I won't be here in London to attend but I arranged an  interview with her to learn about the curatorial work process since this is an essential part of an archive  and I don't often have the opportunity to interview archives and museums curators to learn about their work. 

Before proceeding to the interview, I walked around the Gerty Simon exhibit room near the visitor's reception desk. I looked at every artifact and legends to learn about Gerty Simon and her story about being a photographer who operated in Berlin and her life in England. Originals of her birth certificate, the entire display was neatly arranged in chronological order of her life and the themes were:
 Life in Berlin / Pre-War Weimar culture

Rupture: Gerty has to flee Germany as her life and the life of her clients is at stake

Life in London: Gerty's photographic work in London.

At the front desk I see the books “London 1938” and the "Gerty Simon Lost Photographs (a pioneering Jewish female photographer of her time)" that my interview subject co-authored and is for sale for 15 pounds. The book is the very culmination of the Gerty Simon curatorial and archive project. There are also postcard images from Gerty’s photo collection for sale.

The Bequeathment

In the year 2015 when Bernard Simon died, his partner inherited the Bernard Simon Estate, together with Bernard’s belongings, personal documents, personal letters, diaries, paper cuttings, and original photographs from Bernard Simon and his mother, Gerty Simon. Bernard’s partner visited the Association of Jewish Refugees, and it was these association who referred them to the Weiner Library. It was then 2016 when the collection was bequeathed.  Bernard’s partner is the original copyright holder. There is a copyright agreement. I noticed that each photo is credited as: © The Bernard Simon Estate, Wiener Library Collections

Accessioning and Processing the collections

The Sr. Researcher and Curator, in collaboration with the senior photo archivist,  interviewed Bernards’ partner to trace the story of Bernard and his family. After sifting through personal letters, diaries, staff was able to weave Bernard and his family stories. Gerty fled to London earlier as she feared for her life and the one of her clients who were prominent policitians, artists, etcThe family was separated when the war erupted so Bernard and his Father Wilhelm were interned as “enemy aliens”. Bernard arrived to England as a Jewish refugee in 1933. Bernard and his father Wilhelm were separated. Wilhelm ended up interned in Isle of Man and Bernard was deported to Australia on a ship, the infamous Dunera, and had to endure the most inhumane and worst conditions (Cacciotolo, 2010).

In the process of accessioning the records, the photo archivist, found out about the existence of a personal diary documenting Bernard's internment and was able to identify the materials belonging to Gerty. In the Wolfson reading room, there is a dedicated area to exhibit Bernard's Internment Experience.
Even though the collection was reflecting the experiences of three family members, she could tell 80% of the donated material belonged to Gerty Simon: Birth certificate, child pictures, her parents Medals of Honors, and press cuttings with critiques of her photographic work. There were at least 350 original photo prints. She found later that Bernard disposed at some point of the negatives many years ago.

By the year 2017, after the material was recorded, the curator came up with the idea to create two exhibits, which are happening from May to October:

1. Bernard Simon’s Experiences of Internment During the Second World War see https://www.wienerlibrary.co.uk/Bernard-Simon
2. Berlin/London: The Lost Photographs of Gerty Simon, see https://www.wienerlibrary.co.uk/Gerty-Simon

Identifying the Subjects in the photos: The #findingGerty Crowdsourcing project

The detailed cataloguing is time consuming. The photos must be digitized and scanned before organizing any exhibit as every item must be first accessible for users via the electronic catalogs.
So by 2017, as various projects are in process, an intern was hired to identify the eighty sitters from Gerty’s photo collection.These photos were also uploaded on Flikr.  Most of these were identified thanks to crowdsourcing campaigns, #findingGerty, and using research methods, keeping track on a spreadsheet.

Publicity:

It seems that this project brought significant press attention:
The Times of Israel published

“While many of the pioneering German-Jewish photographer’s sitters are recognizable, 80 subjects are shrouded in mystery. London’s Wiener Library seeks your help to identify them”
(Times of Israel, November 2018) 

Cataloguing and Digitizing Records:

By  the year 2018 the Photo archivist was finished creating the records from the collection, so during the years 2018 and 2019 the photos were catalogued and digitized, which was helpful to start the planning and promotion of the collections.

Planning and Promotion of Exhibits:

Finally,  the collection was launched,  so the next step was to work on the production of the exhibit. Users can now have access to the catalog and  see Gerty's and Bernard's images. To attract new visitors, she has worked on publicity to reach new audiences to attract visitors to the archives as well. As you take the tube you can see the posters on the elevators about the Gerty's exhibit. These are sponsored and she hired a publicist to market the exhibit and also promote it in radio interviews.  It is a timely event because this exhibit will be also part of the “INSIDERS/OUTSIDERS" a nationwide arts festival celebrating refugees from Nazi Europe and their contribution to British Culture”

The "Lost Photographs of Gerty Simon" exhibit will  run from  Thursday 30 May – Tuesday 15 October, 2019.

Compiling Research Material Production of Material for various Exhibits: 

Finally, as part of the Gerty Simon project, besides the exhibit organization and production, she has been working along on co-authoring the book: The lost photographs she wrote two chapters then another colleague wrote another two chapters.  This the culmination of her research work, one could say is the documentation of her thorough work of two years.  At the end of the interview I feel I have a good grasp of all the intense collaborative work required to keep an archive alive.  By unearthing, discovering and documenting memories and making these accesssible has a profund effect on people's lives. Not only one can see the contributions of diverse communities in vibrant Weimar, but also the remarkable story and talented work of a German Jewish female artist.

The exhibition forms part of Insiders/Outsiders, a nationwide arts festival (running until March 2020) celebrating refugees from Nazi Europe and their contribution to British culture.

In addition to the Exhibit that is found at the Visitor's Room, the curator has also coordinated a series of six (6) events at the Wiener Library, related to Gerty Simon, and these seem to be guided by Scholars. See the brochure below to see the themes of the lectures:

At the end of the interview, I feel it was a very satisfying meeting. I am glad I could have the opportunity to research the Wiener Library and appreciate the time that the staff spent to answer my questions. Most of the time, as a graduate school student, is hard to visualize the types of collaborations involved to engage with the public. I do have a very wholistic picture of what it entails to manage and run an archives center.

References:

As the Wiener Library launches their new show, we take a look at some of the key pieces. May 30, 2019. Jewish Renaissance. Retrieved from: https://www.jewishrenaissance.org.uk/blog/gerty-simon

Berlin/London: The lost photographs of Gerty Simon at the Weiner Library. Love Camden. http://www.lovecamden.org/berlinlondon-lost-photographs-gerty-simon-wiener-library

Cacciotolo, M. (July 10, 2010). The Dunera Boys. 70 Years On After Notorious Voyage. BBC News.  Retrieved from: https://www.bbc.com/news/10409026

History Extra. https://www.historyextra.com/period/20th-century/gerty-simon-lost-photographs-photographer-weimar-germany/

Philpot, R. (November, 2018). Who Did Gerty Simon Shoot? The World's Oldest Holocaust Museum Wants To Know. Times of Israel. https://www.timesofisrael.com/who-did-gerty-simon-shoot-the-worlds-oldest-holocaust-museum-wants-to-know/