My Projects, practice, publications
My projects:
Reflections on decolonisation initiatives in Australasian museums published by the UK Museums Association in April 2025. https://www.museumsassociation.org/museums-journal/features/2025/04/engaging-with-communities-of-origin/
The Warratyi rock shelter on the ancestral lands of the Adnyamathanha in the Flinders Ranges of South Australia has been identified as the oldest known site of human habitation in inland Australia and one of earliest on the continent. Archaeologists from La Trobe, Flinders, Adelaide and Queensland universities have recovered thousands of artefacts and bone fragments, which enabled them to date the shelter's occupation phases to between 49,000 and 10,000 years ago. The finds include the earliest evidence in Australia of the development of bone and stone-axe technology, the use of ochre pigment and for human interaction with megafauna animals, such as Diprotodon. Until the discovery, direct evidence for the co-existence of humans and megafauna had been lacking for the Australian interior. Comprising site and artefact imagery and video interviews with archaeologists and Traditional Owners, I developed an Interpretation Plan for an online digital exhibition of the archaeological discoveries for the College of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences at Flinders University with a view to flexible and multiple use and its potential for high audience engagement, nationally and globally.
"I am grateful to David Gaimster who developed a clear and insightful interpretation plan that now guides our strategic direction for promoting the 49,0000-year-old rock shelter of Warratyi. His ability to provide high-level advice was instrumental in shaping our approach and ensuring alignment with our goals for the project." Professor Claire Smith AO, College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences, Flinders University, South Australia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warratyi
Te Ao Marama South Atrium cultural arrival precinct, Auckland War Memorial Museum, Auckland NZ, opened December 2020. Winner of NZ design Awards and NZ Architecture Awards 2021, transforming the 1929 imperial museum building ‘into a space for decolonisation to begin’.
https://architecturenow.co.nz/articles/ripe-and-bursting-at-the-seams
Tãmaki Herenga waka Stories of Auckland galleries, Auckland War Memorial Museum, Auckland NZ, opened December 2020, exploring the peoples, places and stories of this metropolitan region. Rich in immersive and participatory experiences and digital innovation, it includes a digital gallery dedicated to the visualisation of Big Data captured on civic demographics, infrastructure and biodiversity.
https://www.aucklandmuseum.com/visit/galleries/ground-floor/tamaki-herenga-waka
World’s first display of an adult male and female T-Rex dinosaur at Auckland War Memorial Museum, Auckland NZ, in 2022-23, generating 1.5 m visitors and rebooting the Museum’s economy after COVID lockdowns.
https://www.aucklandmuseum.com/visit/exhibitions/past-exhibitions/peter-barbara
Pipeline of international touring exhibitions to Auckland War Memorial Museum, including Ancient Greeks from the British Museum (2022), Secrets of Stonehenge (MuseumsPartner 2023) and Egypt in the Time of the Pharaohs (MuseumsPartner 2023).
Te Taunga (‘the landing place’) Community Hub at Auckland War Memorial Museum, opened Dec 2021, inviting community to curate their own exhibitions in their own voice, including Ukraine: The Cost of Freedom, presented by the NZ Ukraine community (2022).
https://www.aucklandmuseum.com/your-museum/at-home/things-to-explore/te-taunga-community-hub
Kelvin Hall is a unique partnership between Glasgow Life, The Hunterian at the University of Glasgow and the National Library of Scotland. This landmark industrial building has been transformed into a multi-purpose venue and home to collections from Glasgow Life, National Library of Scotland and The Hunterian, providing public, research and learning access to millions of objects, specimens and documents in one central location.
https://www.gla.ac.uk/colleges/arts/aboutus/facilities/kelvinhall
No gimmicks! The Antonine Wall: Rome’s Final Frontier permanent gallery at The Hunterian, University of Glasgow, opened 2011.
https://www.theguardian.com/culture/charlottehigginsblog/2011/sep/21/museums-roman-britain
Making History: Antiquaries in Britain 1707-2007. Aspecial exhibition at the Royal Academy of Arts in 2007 celebrating the tercentenary of the society of Antiquaries of London, Britain's first heritage organisation. Featuring antiquities, manuscripts, drawings and paintings it toured to four regional centres across England over 2007-09 thanks to a grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund and subsequently to the McMullen Museum of Art Boston College and the Yale Centre for British Art over 2011-12.
https://www.theguardian.com/arts/gallery/2007/sep/11/art
https://britishart.yale.edu/exhibitions-programs/making-history-antiquaries-britain
Pottery in the Making. World Ceramic Traditions. A special exhibition at the Museum of Mankind / British Museum, 1997-98. A comprehensive interdepartmental survey of pottery production around the world, through time and space.
My practice:
The repatriation and reburial of Kaurna ancestors at Kaurna Wangayarta is an integral part of the South Australian Museum’s work in facing up to the legacies of its past practices, and of colonisation in South Australia.
https://www.samuseum.sa.gov.au/media/wangayarta-december-2023
Participation in ASSEMBLY, a cross-sectoral initiative designed to nature collaborative dialogue and exchange between museum and university practitioners across Australia to reimagine new forms of museum collaborative research for public value.
https://amaga.org.au/Web/Web/Research/Assembly/Assembly.aspx
From 2016 to 2019 Auckland Museum opened up access to its Pacific cultures collections to create stronger connections with Auckland’s Pacific communities. Working with 13 island nations/groups, the Museum improved knowledge and understanding of the Museum’s Pacific collection and increased public access and engagement, especially for Pacific diaspora source communities living in the metropolitan area.
https://www.aucklandmuseum.com/discover/research/research-projects/pacific-collection-access-project
In 2021 Auckland Memorial War Museum published the first muti-year museum sustainability action plan in New Zealand, prioritising sustainable development outcomes for the institution, its people and its communities it serves.
In 2018 the Auckland War Memorial Museum was the first museum in Australasia to publish a comprehensive peer-reviewed multi-year research strategy, which was instrumental in capturing the largest single government research grant ever awarded to a Museum in New Zealand
https://www.aucklandmuseum.com/discover/research/rangitahua
Collaboration with faculty in the capture of a Leverhulme Trust Doctoral Scholarships award to the University of Glasgow of £1,050,000 in 2015 for15 Doctoral Scholarships over a period of 3 years. ‘Collections: an Enlightenment Pedagogy for the 21st Century’ will enable new museum and library collections research across a wide range of subjects.
https://www.gla.ac.uk/news/archiveofnews/2014/december/headline_382537_en.html
Established suite of research, study and training opportunities for tertiary students at Auckland War Memorial Museum, creating a pipeline of talent for the arts, culture and heritage sector. Programmes include sponsored Summer Scholarships, internships and the popular jointly convened Inside the Museum Masters module with Auckland University.
https://www.aucklandmuseum.com/discover/research/opportunities
https://artsfaculty.auckland.ac.nz/courses/?Subject=MUSEUMS&Number=702&Year=2020
My publications (select):
BOOKS
Director’s Choice: Auckland Museum (Scala Publishers 2018; 2020 digital edition)
“I was struck by the way the choice of objects pointed up the diversity of the population, and so openly addressed the historic conflicts which have somehow been overcome to make possible a sense of united purpose today. And with almost every object, there was clearly a much wider discussion opened up, which could be pursued at leisure.” – Neil MacGregor
https://scalapublishers.com/auckland-museum
Director’s Choice: The Hunterian University of Glasgow (Scala Publishers 2016)
https://scalapublishers.com/the-hunterian-university-of-glasgow
The Routledge Handbook of Material Culture in Early Modern Europe, edited by Catherine Richardson, Tara Hamling and David Gaimster (Routledge 2017)
The International Handbook of Historical Archaeology, edited by David Gaimster and Teresita Majewski (Spinger Nature 2009)
https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-0-387-72071-5
Making History: Antiquaries in Britain 1707-2007, edited by David Starkey, David Gaimster and Bernard Nurse (Thames & Hudson 2007)
The Archaeology of Reformation, 1480-1580, edited by David Gaimster and Roberta Gilchrist (Routledge 2018)
The Age of Transition. The Archaeology of English Culture 1400-1600, edited by David Gaimster and Pasul Stamper (Routledge1997)
German Stoneware 1200-1900. Archaeology and Cultural History (British Museum Press 1997)
“An essential tool not only for ceramic historians, curators, connoisseurs, dealers and collectors but, just as importantly, for archaeologists, for social economic and art historians, and even for those who sail under the mysterious flag of the history of ideas”. - Anthony Thwaite, Times Literary Supplement, 1998
Pottery in the Making. World Ceramic Traditions, edited by Ian Freestone and David Gaimster (British Museum Press 1997).
Blogs:
Architectural, object and institutional histories from the Auckland War Memorial Museum
https://www.aucklandmuseum.com/discover/collections/topics/pa
https://www.aucklandmuseum.com/discover/collections/topics/competition
https://www.aucklandmuseum.com/discover/stories/blog/2023/gilbert-archey-monuments-man
https://www.aucklandmuseum.com/discover/stories/blog/2021/what-s-on-my-bookshelf
Articles:
"Sex and sensibility at the British Museum", History Today, Vol. 50, Issue 9 (September 2000), pp. 10-15. https://www.historytoday.com/archive/sex-and-sensibility-british-museum
“Measures against the illicit trade in cultural objects: the emerging strategy in Britain”, Antiquity, 2004:78(301), pp.699-707. doi:10.1017/S0003598X0011333X
“Recent measures against the International Illicit Trade in cultural objects: examining the new regulatory framework”, Who Owns Objects? The Ethics and Politics of Collecting Cultural Artefacts, edited by Eleanor Robson, Luke Treadwell and Chris Gosden, Oxford: Oxbow Books (2006), pp. 91-104
D. A. Scott-Ireton and D. Gaimster, ‘Historical archaeology and public engagement’, Archaeology in Society. Its Relevance in the Modern World, edited by M. Rockman and J. Flatman, New York: Springer (2012), pp. 153-164
David Gaimster and Ruth Fletcher, “Using collections to enhance the student experience: developing a new learning offer”, A Handbook for Academic Museums. Exhibitions and Education, edited by S.S. Jandl and M.S Gold , Edinburgh and Boston: Museumsetc (2012), pp. 38-53
“The Hunterian, Glasgow: Enlightenment Foundations and Continuing Mission.” The Antioch Review, vol. 74, no. 2, 2016, pp. 360–78. https://doi.org/10.7723/antiochreview.74.2.0360.
“Fitting the colonial museum dashboard? Civic action, curatorial agency and identity building at the Auckland Museum (1852–1929)”, Museum History Journal, 13(1), 80–94. https://doi.org/10.1080/19369816.2020.1760056
"The Museum of the Future: A View from the South Pacific". Das Museum der Zukunft: 43 neue Beiträge zur Diskussion über die Zukunft des Museums, edited by Joachim Baur, Bielefeld: transcript Verlag (2020), pp. 115-122. https://doi.org/10.1515/9783839452707-015
"Two Mid Nineteenth-Century Military Dioramas of Actions in the Northern War of New Zealand (1845-46): Histories and Comparative Material Study", Producers, Traders and Consumers in Urban Societies in Southern Britain and Europe. Post-Excavation and Museum Studies presented to Professor Mark Brisbane, edited by Mark Maltby and Deborah Hodges, Bicester: Archaeopress Archaeology (2025), pp. 158-164. https://www.archaeopress.com/Archaeopress/Products/9781803279237
"Reflections on Rhenish stoneware as a global artefact and signature of Europeanisation", From the Wheel to the World. The Journey of Rhenish Stoneware, Bonner Beitraege zur Vor- und Fruehgeschichtlichen Archaeologie, Band 28, edited by Christoph Keller, Natascha Mehler, Christian Roeser, Michael Schmauder, (2024), pp. 157-164. https://www.iak.uni-bonn.de/de/institut/abteilungen/vor-und-fruehgeschichtliche-archaeologie