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Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology

 

The Friends organisation makes a vital contribution to the success of MAA as a thriving, accessible and relevant museum. Members of the Friends play a vital role in supporting fundraising activities and sponsoring a range of events and activities, including the prestigious annual Von Hu̎gel Lecture.


Visitors to the Museum look at displays in the COLOUR: Art, Science and Power exhibition during the Late: COLOUR - Art, Science & Power event. 2 November 2022.


A good time to join…

The Friends of MAA have an exciting programme of events, activities and opportunities – for individuals and students alike.

Benefits of Membership

  • For you…
    - The exclusive MAA Friends Newsletter
    - Invitations to special events and exhibition previews
    - A discount at the Museum shop

  • For the Museum…
    - The backing and enthusiasm of committed Members
    - Financial support – from your subscription – for care of our collections,
      ongoing research, acquisitions, scholarships, exhibitions
    - Your personal input, in the form of opinions, individual expertise and – if
      possible – your time (perhaps with help at some of our events or as a
      member of the Friends Committee)

To find out more, please email Faye at friends@maa.cam.ac.uk

We are currently experiencing issues with the email contact links across our website. Should you wish to contact us please email admin@maa.cam.ac.uk


How to join the MAA Friends, or renew your existing membership

You can join online or by post. Membership options are:

  • Individual Friend - £28.00
  • Joint Friends (for two members living at the same address) - £40.00
  • Under 25s - £15.00
  • Student (University of Cambridge) - £5.00
  • Life Friend - £400.00
  • Joint Life Friends - £600.00

Click here to join or renew online today!

To join by post, please complete the below form:

You may send the form to:

Membership Secretary, The Friends of MAA
Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology
University of Cambridge
Downing Street
Cambridge
CB2 3DZ


Events

 

Quimbaya. Metallurgy of the early period in pre-Columbian Colombia' - Clemencia Plazas

Online talk, 5 March 2024, 4PM


Lime container (Poporo) mo-o32852 and mo-o33160. Image credits: Photo by Clark M. Rodríguez, Museo del Oro, Banco de la República.

Clemencia Plazas, an anthropologist from the Universidad de Los Andes in Bogotá, Colombia, will be hosted by MAA Curator, Dr Jimena Lobo Guerrero Arena for a fascinating talk on ‘Quimbaya. Metallurgy of the early period in pre-Columbian Colombia'.

Pre-booking essential. Please email friends@maa.cam.ac.uk to reserve your place and receive the Zoom link.


MAA Friends visit to the Pitt Rivers Museum

At Pitt Rivers Museum, 8 May 2024, 11:30AM


Pitt Rivers Museum, Lantern Slide. MAA LS.20916.TC1

The Friends of MAA will be hosted by Dr Morton, Head of Curatorial, Research and Teaching at the Pitt Rivers Museum. The group will meet at the entrance to the Pitt Rivers Museum at 11.30am and members will need to arrange their own travel.

Pre-booking essential. Please email friends@maa.cam.ac.uk to reserve your place.


"When do we take our shoes off in the museum? On learning and teaching collections care in the southern Himalayas" - Dr Ayesha Fuentes

The McDonald Seminar Room and online, 26 June 2024, 2:00PM


Dr Ayesha Fuentes, MAA's Isaac Newton Trust Research Associate in Conservation, will be speaking about her recent grant-funded collaboration with museums in the southern Himalayas, working with colleagues in the region to cultivate local practices and standards of care and conservation for cultural objects.  Drawing from ten years of professional experience in the area - as well as recent and ongoing projects - this talk will share photos, anecdotes, challenges and reflections on working globally, sustainably and transparently.

Pre-booking essential. Please email friends@maa.cam.ac.uk to reserve your place.


Von Hügel Lecture

In 2010, the Museum launched its annual lecture series, named after the founding Curator Baron Anatole von Hügel, with the generous support of Peter Chapman, founding Chair of the MAA Friends. In 2019, the tenth annual lecture was delivered.

The inaugural Von Hügel lecture by Director Nicholas Thomas, 'Von Hügel's curiosiry: Encounter and experiment in the new museum', can be found printed as delivered in the HAU: Journal of Ethnographic Theory 1(1).


Watch recordings of the most recent lectures:

Von Hügel Lecture 2019:
The V&A: Imperial pasts and the post-colonial present - Dr Tristram Hunt, Director of the Victoria and Albert Museum
 

Recorded at the Howard Theatre, Downing College, University of Cambridge, 14 March 2019


Von Hügel Lecture 2018:
Narrating and Curating the 'ritual object' - John Mack, Sainsbury Research Unit, University of East Anglia


MAA Friends Executive Committee

Chair Nick Stanley
Member Jane Woods
Member Carol Bell
Member Rosie Littlehales
Member Les Andrews
Member Charles Reese
Membership Secretary Wendy Brown
Director of the Museum Nicholas Thomas
Museum Manager Lucy Hockley

New Committee Members

There is plenty of further scope to arrange additional special events and talks at MAA, and to organise tours to similar museums and galleries.  Many other Friends’ organisations have Committee members who take charge of events and outings programmes, and MAA Friends would like to emulate them within our special areas of interest.

We are keen to recruit new Committee members for this specific purpose as well as to participate in our existing partnership work with MAA.  Would you like to get involved in this rewarding activity? For an informal discussion please send us an email.

For information on how we use Friends’ personal data please see our Friends’ Data Protection Statement:

Two million years of human history. One million artefacts. Countless astonishing stories.