People > Advisory Board > Crispin Paine

Crispin Paine spent all his career in museums before linking his love of them with his life-long interest in religion, how it is done, and what it is done with. In 2000 he edited Godly Things: Museums, Objects and Religion, in 2005 he helped found the journal Material Religion, in 2013 he wrote Religious Objects in Museums, and more recently he got interested in how religion plays in other visitor attractions – which resulted in Gods and Rollercoasters: Religion in Theme Parks Worldwide. He's still passionate about museums, though: Museum Basics: the International Handbook, written jointly with Tim Ambrose, is in its fourth edition, and (besides volunteering at a local museum) Crispin is now investigating collections in places of worship – which sometimes become 'museums', but often don't.