What do Soldier ants have to do with the armed forces?

Project Postcard was devised as a way to reimagine the connection between the University of Huddersfield and Leeds Museums and Galleries and promote collaboration between researchers and curators. Researchers were encouraged to write a summary of their research on the back of a postcard which was then sent to curators who were given the challenge of finding matching items within their large collections. Everything from art and musical instruments to preserved animals were selected and brought to the University to display. The exhibits illustrated how far reaching and unique the research in the School of Music, Humanities and Media is. 

The activity not only encouraged collaboration between Leeds Museums and the University but brought together items from different collections in those museums, such as the Leeds City Museum and Leeds Industrial Museum. 

Some postcard matches were straight-forward and some were more unique - including Ouija Boards, Song Birds and afternoon tea. 

One of the most unusual were the rows of Soldier Ants preserved on pins in a glass cabinet. This was for the research conducted by Journalism and Media Senior Lecturer, Dr Mercy Ette. Mercy’s research looks into the problematic image of women in military service, based on media representation and social norms of gender. When explained, the ants are a perfect illustration of the project because the majority of soldier and worker ants in a colony are female, not male as many assume.

Mercy said “The link to soldier ants is really apt because it illustrates how much of the work of female soldiers goes unacknowledged just because they are women.”

The Project was conceived by Dr Jodie Matthews, senior lecturer in English Literature, Paul Ward, professor of British history, Yvonne Hardman, Head of Collections and Programmes at Leeds Museums and Galleries, and its partnerships coordinator, John Donegan, who said one of the most productive parts of the process was the discussion between the researchers and curators. “It has really put life into the partnership” and he hopes it will lead to new avenues of research being explored and new collaborations to be established.