Trackling Transport

In Tackling Transport,curators and other historians examine transport artefacts and the systems of mobility in which they are embedded.They consider a variety of transport artefacts, from early jet engines to the automatically guided cars of the future.Curators also reflect on how theoretical notions about transport can be expressed in the practical context of a museum, and how a reappraisal of visitors responses to transport artefacts is leading to new ways of showcasing the history of mobility.These in-depth studies and commentaries aim to inspire and stimulate new approaches to interpreting historical icons. The Rocket locomotive,for example,is stripped down and subjected to a thorough archaeological survey which uncovers sometimes surprising details from its varied history.A study of car interiors, rather than exteriors,helps to explain the antisystemic nature of the automobile.Transport artefacts and systems are here interpreted from perspectives that are cultural and social as well as technological, systemic as well as individual.