MTHE JOURNALU OF NATIONAL HERITSAGE ● SPRINGE 2009 ● ISSUEU 85 ● £3 M Check out our website at nationalheritage.org.uk news

INSIDE The face of Henry’s navy We don’t know his name, but know a good deal NEWS else about this sailor, who died when the Mary Rose went down in the Solent in 1545 and Museum boards – whose skeleton was found in the wreckage. He ‘male, pale, stale’ 1 was the ship’s bosun, the officer closest to the Art Fund Prize last ten 2 crew, who could be identified by the possession Kids’ manifesto 2 of his bosun’s whistle or call. He was in his early Mary Rose’s secrets 3 40s, quite elderly in a crew that was mostly aged between 17 and 24, and although short by NH PROFILE modern standards was powerfully built, Rhiann Harris 4 indicating a lifetime at sea. Scientists can even tell that he was born and bred in south-west LOCAL FOCUS England. This astonishingly detailed Honeywood Museum 5 reconstruction of his appearance has been created by a partnership of the forensic scientist No to Britishness museum 6 Dr Lynne Bell and Richard Neave, a leading medical artist. Full story, page 3 . NH DEBATE Stuart Davies on the recession, you and Keynes 7 Museum boards ‘male, pale MUSEUM IN THE NEWS 1 – Broadfield Glass Museum 8 2 – Theatre at the V&A 8 and stale’ – MLA chief HERITAGE The boards of publicly funded museums and gal - would appeal to the growingly diverse sectors of leries have been branded “male, pale and stale” – by modern British society are not drawn out. “We’ve got REVISITED the chief executive of the Museums Libraries and collections with really huge potential to represent Robert Hewison on Archives Council, Roy Clare. diverse stories, but the governance of the board does how the ‘industry’ “The inherent problem in the public sector of not reflect that” he said. “That’s the key starting has changed 9 self-generating ruling class maintaining this ‘male- point for me”. pale-stale’ environment in governance” he said, The problem relates as much to his own board at meaning that too few women, two few young peo - the MLA as anywhere else, but he hopes there are NATIONAL ple, and many too few from the black, Asian and signs of change. DCMS has an advisory board on HERITAGE GUIDE multi-ethnic sectors (BAME) are appointed to heritage comprising the likes of Clare, Carole Souter museum boards. of the HLF, Mark Jones of the V&A and National A selective list of current and The difference, he says, is not so much between Museums Directors’ Conference, and English forthcoming museum the heritage sector and the visual and performing Heritage CEO Simon Turley, which recently present - and gallery exhibitions 10 - 15 arts, as between the public and private sector, and ed a key paper to the head civil servant in the depart - EVENTS the crucial factor is the rules about appointments to ment, Jonathan Stephens. “He has reacted positive - boards following the Nolan Committee report on ly” Clare said, and in April the first ever networking Forthcoming visit to the Handel standards in public life. session involving chairs and chief executives from House Museum 16 Nolan was concerned to eradicate the “tap on the the sector was due to take place at DCMS. shoulder” process of recruiting to the boards of pub - “The private sector has got more freedom in Museum News goes virtual lic bodies, to ensure appointments on merit. But terms of how to appoint trustees, and that freedom This will be the last printed Museum what is happening is that the “pool” from which when used well can extend to bringing onto a board News for the time being. Because of the board members, particularly for national museums people who can make a difference for you in one sec - rising costs of printing and distribution, and galleries, is drawn has solidified. tor or another. Private sector charities have brought the next issue, due in October, and “So the inherent problem in the public sector of in very imaginative people who wouldn’t compete subsequent issues will be published self-generating ruling class maintaining this ‘male- under Nolan for public sector jobs” Clare said. online only at our website, at pale-stale’ environment in governance” he said, The pool has to be widened, and Clare hopes to nationalheritage.org.uk, where you will meaning that too few women, two few young peo - that the current rebuilding of the MLA board will set find all the news and features supporting ple, and many too few from the black, Asian and an example of having more women, young people the interests of museum and gallery visitors and users, and the role of multi-ethnic sectors on boards (BAME). and trustees from BAME backgrounds – but the museums and galleries in the UK. Our The effect of too many white middle-aged men problem remains, he admits, that the team appointed popular listings will also appear on the on our museums’ governing bodies is that the many by DCMS to select likely candidates are three white website. – Simon Tait, Editor . different stories a museum collection can tell that middle-aged males. MUSEUM NEWS

CHAIRMAN’S LETTER Art Fund Prize 2009 longlist Now is not The long list of ten museums and galleries has World War to the present. been announced for the £100,000 Art Fund Prize • National Trust Museum of Childhood, the time... for museums and galleries. The winner will be Derbyshire , which offers the rare chance for kids hose who read my letter in the last announced in June. big and small to get hands-on with its collections issue may recall that I warned that The judges, chaired by Lord Puttnam, will in this museum set in the 19th century servants’ T our limited resources have been select the winner from: wing of 17th century Sudbury Hall. imposing increasingly severe restrictions • The Braid: Arts Centre and Mid-Antrim • Orleans House Gallery, Twickenham , trans - on National Heritage’s activities, and Museum, Ballymena, Co Antrim , a £20 million formed from a group of decaying buildings into a that our charity would face some tough new museum, arts centre and exhibition space thriving and inspirational community hub for her - decisions in the coming year. Among exploring the history of the region. itage, arts and learning. these was the possibility that we might • The Centre of New Enlightenment at • Rotunda – The William Smith Museum of have to close down, one suggestion Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum , Geology, Scarborough , one of the oldest surviv - being that we should do so with a bang Glasgow , inspired by the 18th century Scottish ing purpose-built museums in the country. rather than a whimper – using the cash Enlightenment and using the museum’s collec - • Ruthin Craft Centre: The Centre for the we had left to support a small museum tions to inspire young people. Applied Arts, Denbighshire , the most important that was itself facing closure. The • Outside the Box at the Museum of Reading gallery for contemporary craft in Wales in a stun - problem with that, as we can see now which entrusts more than 20,000 precious objects ning new building. we are well into this difficult year, would from the museum’s collections packed into more • The Sackler Centre for arts education at the be judging which of quite a few than 1,500 boxes and loaned out to schools, col - V&A, London , one of the most innovative muse - museums most deserved such an leges, care homes, libraries, and local community um education spaces in the world. award. After some valuable discussions groups. • The Wedgwood Museum, Stoke-on-Trent , at our annual general meeting the • Scotland: A Changing Nation at National celebrating the art of ceramics at its finest and ded - executive committee decided that this Museums Scotland, Edinburgh , five major icated to the people who have made objects of was not the time to close down, though themes affecting life in Scotland from the First great beauty from the soil of Staffordshire. others have been forced to do so. The Campaign for Museums has had to, and abandon its annual museum month, following the withdrawal of funding by What kids really want... the Museum, Libraries and Archives Council, and too many museums and With the help of a £40,000 grant from charity’s patron, television presenter Mariela galleries, particularly those dependent the Museums Libraries and Archives Council, Frostrup, who recalled frightening museum on local authority funding, are likely to Kids in Museums, the charity devoted to highlight - visits when she was a child when warders would be facing financial and other problems ing the needs of families in museum visits, has not tolerate talking. “They were always telling me during the current recession and will produced a new manifesto culled from the to ‘shush’ crossly, and that put me off for years” she need all the support and responses in a survey of its members. said. “Why couldn’t they just have told us some - encouragement we can give. It was launched at the Royal Academy by the thing about the displays that would interest us?” Readers of this issue will find, on page seven, an interesting appraisal by Stuart Davies, one of our regular The 20 points respondents called for were: contributors and current president of the Museums Association, of how 1. Be welcoming from café to curator. 11. Sell items in the shop that aren’t too museums and galleries might be 2. Be accessible or prams and wheelchairs, expensive and not junk. affected by the recession. He also with automatic doors, lifts and pushchair 12. Give free entry wherever possible or suggests how they might make storage. family tickets allowing re-entry. some contributions towards its 3. Give a hand to parents – don’t presume 13. Don’t make assumptions about kids likes resolution. adults have been to a museum before, so and dislikes, they can appreciate fine art Simply by surviving, National help them to help their children enjoy the as well as finger-painting. Heritage will continue to do what museum. 14. Provide open space where kids can let off it can to help, but we shall have to cut 4. Be interactive and hands on so kids can steam. costs in order to do so. One economy, touch objects. 15. But also have some quiet space where as announced on the front page of this 5. Be height aware, with objects, art and kids and families can reflect together. issue, will be to cease publishing signage low enough to children to see. 16. Don’t say “shush” – why shouldn’t Museum News in print format, which 6. Have different things to do with art carts, families be able to discuss what the are will make substantial savings in our picture trails, storytelling, and dressing seeing? budget. Our journal will continue up so parents don’t have to do all the 17. Don't forget teenagers and make sure work. there’s somewhere for them to store their to be available on line 7. Produce guides and trails that children stuff. (www.nationalheritage.org.uk), as will and adults can use together. 18. Have dedicated family friendly days with an expanded version of our list of 8. Provide healthy food and unlimited tap extra activities. current and forthcoming museum and water. 19. Remember there’s no typical family, they gallery exhibitions, and for those 9. Provide great toilets with baby changing can span generations. members who do not have computers a facilities and room for pushchairs. 20. Remember a visit doesn’t end when a print-out can be obtained on application 10. Teach kids respect for objects and other family leaves. Many families want the to the NY Administration Centre, Rye visitors, and explain why there are things experience to last, so have follow-up Road, Hawkburst, Kent TN18 5DW they can’t touch. activities and suggestions on the website. (tel: 01580 752 052). James Bishop

2 MUSEUM NEWS SPRING 09 MUSEUM NEWS

used as counters. Clothes were found in excellent condition, including shoes which could be worn today, a jerkin, woollen hose and a leather mitten. A comb still has nits trapped in its tines. The officers put their own arms on the pewter dining ware they used, and although below decks the wooden bowls belonged to the king, they also had the marks of their seaman users. There is a great wooden tankard, and tankard lids were also marked by their users. Medical equipment includes a large syringe, and bottles still have the medicines used on board. Music was clearly important in the king’s navy. And there is a drum, a unique fiddle with its bow, a shawm - complete with its reed and the only surviving example of its type - and a tabor pipe, a kind of flute played whilst banging a drum. And there are early navigational instruments, including a compass, dividers, a chart stick and sounding weights used with lines to measure water depth. There are also items First showing of rigging and tools, and the complete side of a sailor’s wooden trunk. for Mary Surprisingly, only six years after the Reformation, there are personal rosary beads, Rose’s as well as other items of jew - ellery. Whitgift School’s headmaster, treasures Dr Christopher Barnett, persuaded the trustees of the Mary Rose to allow him to be the first to show many of the items as In a remarkable coup, a Croydon school rather contrary to popular belief, English yew was not part of the celebrations marking the 500th than an accredited museum is the venue where the best favoured because it was too difficult to anniversary of the accession of Henry VIII, and some of the most extraordinary survivals of bend, and European wood was the most sought also of the commissioning of the Mary Rose. Tudor life – relics from the wreck of Henry after. There are guns and different types of shot, “It is the most fantastic story, and these finds VIII’s warship Mary Rose – can be seen by the including the rare and fearsome canister shot, a are unmatched for their quality and what they public for the first time. box packed with pebbles which would scatter its can tell us about the navy in the 1540s” he said. The exhibition, which is at Whitgift School deadly cargo on impact. There is a basket-hilt Hidden Treasures from the Mary Rose is at until August 7, has 250 objects from the wreck sword, daggers and knives. Whitgift School, Nottingham Road, Haling Park, about 80% of which have never been seen pub - There are fresh-minted gold coins and Croydon CR2 6YT, from April 7 to August 7, lic before, but which will be part of the new silver groats, as well as worthless jettons, www.maryrosehidden treasures.org. Mary Rose museum being planned for Portsmouth Harbour. As well as the reconstructions of the faces of Letter from Erik Blakeley, the ship’s bosun and a gunner, there is the full curator of Staffordshire Regiment Museum skeleton of the ship’s dog, a mongrel that appears to have spent its entire life on board and The article “Has the social museum arrived?” be as diverse and inclusive as possible. Of was probably mostly engaged in keeping down (Museum News 84) got me steaming. I have course collections and archives are primarily the rat population. seldom read anything so patronizing in my of value for the stories they contain. I don’t The Mary Rose sank suddenly in 1545 as the professional career. It seems to imply that think I have ever met a colleague who would French fleet was attacking the English in the museum curators live up to some kind of suggest anything different. Solent, killing all but a few of its complement of 1920s stereotype of an introverted anal However, suggesting that we should academic with no interest in his (it’s negative mount collections-free exhibitions or severely over 400. The ship, named after Henry’s so of course the stereotype’s male!) cut back on collections care is a very different favourite sister, remained on the ocean floor community or the stories that his museum thing. If museums turn their backs on their until marine archaeologists raised it in 1982, tells beyond demonstrating his knowledge of collections they will end up only doing badly and they have been bringing remarkably pre - the minute details of 18th Century porcelain what the internet and History Channel can served treasures to the surface ever since. (or whatever happens to be his pet subject). do on much bigger budgets, beamed direct The exhibition, at the new £10m conference I am sick and tired of media-grabbing to the living rooms of the audience. If we are centre of Whitgift School which stands on land whizzkids and overpaid academics stating the still to suggest that people visit museums we once owned by Henry VIII, has an array of blindingly obvious as if it is something new. have to use our USP which, like it or not, objects which portray every aspect of shipboard Of course museums should be relevant to remains material artefacts and primary life in the early Tudor navy. their audiences and those audiences should source documents. There are rare yew bows and their arrows –

MUSEUM NEWS SPRING 09 3 MUSEUM PROFILE

look in the cases” she says. That’s where her building process starts, look - ing at programming, exhibitions, its establish - ment as the V&A’s national museum of child - hood, and building a relationship with the main museum to the west, which she sees as much as a treasure chest as a parent institution. “One of the big things I need to do is revisit all the permanent displays – eventually we need to tell the story of childhood here and that’s not being done” she says, which means looking at social history or the first time here, “at personal stories, because that’s a really key way that peo - ple access history”. Not just putting a toy in a case, then, but information about the child who owned it, maybe a photograph, and a description of their life, “so the whole thing comes alive”. She is creating a narrative now, “a beginning, a middle and an end, with the thematic things that come out of it. People walk through the doors now and see a museum of toys, they don’t know what the museum is really about”. The poignancy of tough childhoods was something Harris came face to face with at the Foundling, with the scores of tokens, sometimes no more than beer bottle tops, left by parents with their abandoned children, in a tear-jerking dis - play. “Everybody relates to it and that certainly influences my thinking, and I want to bring it here. I’ve seen the power of that, and how people respond to those kinds of stories; when we had people walking out in tears I felt I’d done my job properly” she says. She wants to plan an exhibi - tion for under-fives, but also a collaborative one with other museums which would look at the abandonment of children, the real tragedy behind the tale of Peter Pan. “We have to be truthful, and the truth is not always easy” she says. A museum of childhood She has inherited a programme of exhibitions stretching two years ahead, but she wants to look at a new kind of temporary show that explores children’s lives, and probably not the ones whose – and children middle class families were able to buy them the sophisticated toys shown now. For the Olympics year the V&A will have an exhibition of the best Rhian Harris, director, the V&A Museum of Childhood design of the years 1948 (when the Olympics were last in London) and 2012, and the MoC - hian Harris’s new charge used to be dis - ate the museum. Four years ago The Observer within the Olympics corridor - will offer a chil - paragingly known as “The Brompton included her as one of its 80 brightest young peo - dren’s version, but may also add social history R Boilers”, a prefabricated Victorian build - ple, and in 2006 Time Out picked her out as a with a display about the life of a typical Bethnal ing which was once the main galleries of the mover and shaker. Green child in 1948 compared with today. South Kensington Museum (now the V&A), Now called the V&A Museum of Childhood, Design, she says, is an intrinsic part of social his - moved to East End in the 1870s when it was no in the 80s there was a limited refurbishment with - tory: after all, she says, “everyday objects are longer required in Brompton Road, and a centu - out the benefit of the lottery money stream. made in such a way as to be effective, and that’s ry later turned into the Bethnal Green Museum That has changed, and the once case-crowded what makes them successful”. of Childhood. central floor space is now devoted to an informa - She wants to introduce contemporary art to Its fortunes have lifted considerably since it tion desk, a shop and a cafeteria, with the collec - the museum, and in Bethnal Green it is surround - reopened after a three year refurbishment, cost - tions - still largely in glass cases - on the two ed by studios where important artists are work - ing £5m, with an increase of visitor numbers floors rising either side of the atrium. The remake ing. “We’re so brilliantly placed, this must be a from 125,000 a year to 350,000. completed in December 2006 added a new massively inspirational resource, and maybe we There’s still building to do, but now more of entrance, more education space, bigger toilets, start a mini Frieze, where for a month things are perception than bricks and mortar, and it’s quite and there’s a sandpit and a kiddies’ kitchen to exhibited intermingled with the objects. Why a challenge. occupy the smaller visitors. not? We should be a museum that connects on a “It’s a museum of childhood, but it’s perceived Harris, now 38, had been coming here as a community basis as well as national and interna - as a children’s museum and sometimes it has to visitor since her son Kyffin was six months old tional. be a bit of both, which is tricky” Harris says. (he’s four now), and she thought then that it had “One of the reasons I work in museums is that At the age of 28 she had been the first direc - become a sort of theme park. “Mums can come in they have a real power to touch people and some - tor of the Foundling Museum in Bloomsbury for a cup of coffee while the kids bounce around times, in a small way but also a large way, to where she raised more than £11m herself to cre - somewhere safe, but you want those people to change lives.” 4 MUSEUM NEWS SPRING 09 LOCAL FOCUS The Honeywood dream

he village of Carshalton is now buried accession, there is an opportunity to mark those Honeywood is also a home gallery for local in the suburban cottonwool of what connections through the local families, such as artists, with its own substantial collection of their Tused to be called the Surrey Stockbroker the Carews who had a long if mixed association work and frequent exhibitions – among the col - Belt, part of the London Borough of Sutton with Tudor royalty. lection is one by the last owner of the house, Lily and bordering on the London Borough of Another room is devoted to childhood Kirk Edwards, a gifted watercolourist – and Ms Croydon, but at its heart is a large natural pond through the bequeathed possessions of a local Howard has also acquired important paintings of as bucolic as any Cotswold rural scene. It is that woman born in 1898, with her pram, her toys and local landscapes done before photography to tranquil world that the wealthy London merchant games, all augmented by modern equivalents enlarge knowledge of local history. John Pattinson Kirk bought into as a country which children can play with. “We like to make Now Sutton and the museum have launched a escape when in the 1880s he acquired two 17th things as hands-on as possible” Jane Howard £450,000 scheme to open the museum out even century flint-and-chalk cottages on the pond to says. more to the community. It is already the centre be a second home to his main household in Soho On the landing where the complicated net - for local organisations, and for the annual art fes - Square. work of stairways meets at a junction, the local tival at the end of May, and after consulting the They were called Wandle Cottage and transport story is told, overlooked by an enor - community there will be a new interpretation of Honeywood, and having demolished the second mous station clock. the house’s story, a focal point for local conserva - and transferred the name to the first, he devel - Another room, with a full-size quern stone at tion interpretation, repair of some historical fea - oped it into a comparatively modest house, over its centre at which visitors can discover for them - tures, and a more sophisticated contemporary art babbling culverted River Wandle. He made fur - selves the enormous effort it took to grind a programme. ther additions in 1898 and 1903. handful of corn, is devoted to memories of local The museum will also look at 20th century Honeywood developed into a large and eye- industries. The growing of watercress was impor - history in the borough, including the develop - catching white-stuccoed house overlooking the tant here, and it was a centre for the manufacture ment of local estates, and six plasma screens are ponds on the main A232, and when Kirk died it of snuff. to be located around the borough through which was home to his adopted daughter Lily Kirk Visitor numbers are modest, at between a wider audience for the collections and activities Edwards. She sold it in 1940 to the Carshalton 17,000 and 13,000 a year, reduced while the fran - can be reached. District Council which was keen to preserve as chise for the tearoom on the ground floor is allot - “We know how important the community much of the village as possible, and for almost ted (it should be open for the summer), but 1,500 reckons the museum to be, we have an extremely half a century Honeywood served as municipal children from local schools come each year. active and enthusiastic Friends group which we offices – including serving as an ARP headquar - “We’re eager to ensure that there is always some - couldn’t manage without” says Jane Howard, ters during the Second World War. thing new here and we have a lot of repeat visits “but we want to be even more in step with the vil - Then in 1989, with the district council sub - – children come with their schools and then bring lage of Carshalton and the wider borough of sumed into Sutton, the house became a heritage their families, for instance” the curator says. Sutton.” centre for the whole borough opening in 1990 after an extensive refurbishment, and at the end of 2007 was designated a museum. Curator Jane Howard says that Honeywood now is what the community makes it. “We don’t want to put interpretations on things, the house speaks for itself and the visitors follow in the footsteps of the people of Carshalton that would have know in its past and do know it now.” Research has revealed the colour schemes of the woodwork and walls of the Pattinson Kirk household, and architectural features have sur - vived well to be carefully restored. A self-indul - gence for Mr Pattinson Kirk was his magnificent ground floor snooker saloon, which has remained fully equipped. Honeywood is a Victorian middle class home, except in the bathroom where the original tub has survived and the scullery which still has its cop - per for heating the household’s water, there are no “recreated” 19th century rooms here. The now rare flint/chalk chequered external walls of the original cottage are still there in the centre of the house, and they have been uncov - ered and displayed; in what has become the Tudor Room, a 17th century window had been plastered over in the mid-19th century and it was discovered in 1989, its glass still intact, to give unique information of the first architecture of the place. The Tudor Gallery on the first floor allows the museum to celebrate royal connections, par - ticularly with the court of Henry VIII, and this year, in the 500th anniversary year of Henry’s

MUSEUM NEWS SPRING 09 5 MUSEUM NEWS Thumbs down for the Museum of Britishness

he Museums, Libraries and Archives Council has told the DCMS that a Museum of TBritishness as envisaged by the Prime Minister has no future. Instead, the MLA suggests a focussed website run by a small team who would establish links with rele - vant collections around Britain to create modules, online and actual exhibitions and events. A new building would cost £150m to £200m, and the MLA found no evidence that a single building in London devoted to British history would attract and engage people, the report said. Nor had there been much support from the muse - um profession because it would have no permanent collections of its own and would have to draw on the holdings of other museums around Britain, which would be difficult to sustain. A London-based muse - um would also have the effect of alienating commu - nities in the rest of the country, counter to the govern - ment’s policy of improving a sense of national aware - ness. Neil MacGregor, director of the British Museum, fully endorsed the MLA report. “Given the near impossibility of a new museum securing the loans of objects and documents from all over the UK, it seems the web is the right option for this very important subject” he said. The nearest we have to a museum of British his - tory is the National Portrait Gallery, a biographical collection which chronicles national accomplish - ment, whose director Sandy Nairne was consulted by the MLA team. “A new building wouldn’t have made any sense even if we hadn’t been in these economic times” Nairne said. “There are accounts of parts of the story in the British Library, the National Portrait Gallery, parts of the British Museum, the V&A and the Commonwealth and Empire Museum, but another building is not the way to make really sure that chil - dren care about British history and want to know more about it.” Lord Baker, the former Home Secretary who per - suaded Gordon Brown to support the idea early last year, was particularly disappointed, however. He had been close to establishing the museum in 1997 when the plan was high on the list for Lottery funding by the then Millennium Fund and it was vetoed by Tony Blair. “The report is a great disappointment, and what they’ve put forward instead is a damp squib” he said. “There are lots of websites and they’re not very exciting; children need a day out they can remember. Nowhere tells the whole story. My idea was a build - ing that would do it on four floors and there would be five floors for the University of the Arts, near to 6 MUSEUM NEWS SPRING 09 Museums, the Recession and Mr. Keynes

ow are museums coping with the recession ? Is it all gloom and despon - Hdency, or is there anything more pos - itive to report? Received wisdom has it that recession hits the public sector later than the manufacturing or service sectors, but the impact of it lasts longer. So it is early days to come to any defin - itive conclusions about the impact of recession upon museums, even assuming we had reliable ways of measuring that impact, which we do not. Nevertheless, some observations can be made and thoughts offered. The first one has to be that there is no hiding place. Museums are not recession-proof. If they get significant income from admissions and trading, they will NATIONAL be hit because people spend less in a reces - sion. If they offer free admission but are fund - HERITAGE ed out of the public purse they are going to lose the budgets they need to function because King’s Cross so it would be easy to get to. It’s a great there is going to be less public funding avail - DEBATE opportunity missed." able. Local authorities, universities, regiments MLA suggests a Museum Centre for British and most other corporate bodies which run with Stuart Davies History which would develop co-ordinated access to museums, for example, have lost income as the collections held in existing museums, heritage the value of their financial investments has sites, libraries and archives across Britain for declined. Even the usual generous donors and First, they can organise themselves to take focussed themes, and it would also develop a digital sponsors will have been hit and will be think - in more volunteers, especially graduates who component to support history teaching in schools. It ing a lot harder about how generous they can will come out of their colleges and universities would be a national federated body, including muse - be now. In government, the talk is all of count - in the summer and find it very tough to get a ums, universities and research institutions, supported er-recession strategies. job. Most museums have the basic infrastruc - by a small staff, that would pull together research, So what can be done to at least reduce the ture to manage major volunteer programmes, planning and programming. impact of recession and kick start economic and there is plenty of advice around about how Alec Coles, director of Tyne & Wear Museums recovery? The Keynesian solution is to spend. to do it properly. Museums just need to take a whose £26m Great North Museum is due to open Invest public money in schemes which deliver more business-like efficient approach to in Newcastle in May, said the museum of British his - employment and business opportunities, recruiting and retaining young minds willing to tory already exists – the rich regional collections. which in turn put money in consumers’ pock - learn and having a lot to offer museums. “The last thing we need is another building that per - ets, which they spend in the retail and service Second, resources can be diverted into pro - petuates the idea that Britishness only happens in sectors. This virtuous wheel slowly grinds grammes which are labour-intensive for a few London,” he said. “But something that co-ordinates around and drives the economy again. Those and at the same time engage large numbers of the intelligence we have would be welcome.” less keen on Keynesian economics will point people. An ideal example is that of oral history Lord Baker’s scheme was not the first attempt at out that it may well be a “spend now, pay later” projects. There is an opportunity now to carry a Museum of Britain. In 1994 a group of academics, philosophy. That remains to be seen. out recordings of people living through reces - historians and museologists had been impressed by Nevertheless, the concept of “putting idle sionary times and mark how they have been the German “Haus der Geschichte”, or History hands to work” has more than just economic affected and how they are coping. House, which boldly set out to tell the modern benefits. It addresses serious social and psy - Finally, all museums can turn their attention German story including the horrors of the Nazi chological issues: being able to offer employ - – and their resources – to tourism. In a reces - decades. They wanted to make one here, but a muse - ment and a purpose in life restores the dignity, sion fewer people holiday abroad and more um that would “relate in as pragmatic and objective spirit and optimism of those directly affected look to closer at home for their recreation. a way as possible the development of the British peo - by recession. Museums can and should be part of what ple in all their social aspects”, as a proposal to the Can museums contribute? The bodies that Britain has to offer this summer and probably chief executive of Milton Keynes, who very nearly fund them certainly can help them to. Money for some time to come. They need to be bought into the idea, put it. There would have been invested by the Heritage Lottery Fund in reviewing their offer and trying to imagine four broad subject areas: “Feeding, clothing, housing museum construction projects or programmes what these new visitors might want and expect. and keeping the British healthy; their inspirations which involve employing significant teams of None of these suggestions are going to through education and leisure; controlling them workers can make a real difference. Similarly, entirely protect museums from the impact of through law and constitution; and their interaction Renaissance is well-placed to direct funding recession, but they will go some way towards with non-British countries over the centuries”. into projects which engage with those who are again demonstrating the value of museums to However, the scheme failed to get the backing of the affected by recession. But more directly, there society and may in that way add to their sus - local authority or the National Lottery agencies. are at least three ways museums can help. tainability in the longer run.

MUSEUM NEWS SPRING 09 7 MUSEUMS IN THE NEWS

MUSEUM IN THE NEWS 1 Fight to save glass museum

A fierce campaign has been waged to ensure the survival of the Broadfield House Glass Museum at Kingswinford in the West Midlands after the local authority, Dudley Borough Council, ordered a feasibility study of its future. Early in April a petition with 7,000 signatures from 50 different countries compiled by the Glass Foundation was handed to the council, and at the time of going to press feasibility consultants had still not been appointed. Set in the heart of the traditional Stourbridge glass-making district, Broadfield House is the only dedicated glass museum of its kind in the country and it has developed an international reputation. It’s small, with only three full-time Dudley Museum and Art Gallery, and also a The council’s proposal is to move the staff and four part-time, and this year it cele - powerful word of mouth effect. Six months ago collection to Red House Cone – ironically, the brates its 30th anniversary. Broadfield House co-hosted the International site is owned by Waterford Wedgwood which Its reputation has been spreading. Last year Glass Festival to, says one of the front of house went into administration earlier in the year – but Broadfield House recorded visitor numbers of staff, Jeanette Rasmussen Tranter, great acclaim. the Friends of Broadfield House, who have 14,500, more than 50% up on the previous year “It is a small but perfectly formed museum with mounted the campaign to try to change the and high for s specialist museum not on the reg - dedicated staff who are passionate about their council’s decision, say the alternative does not ular tourist beat – and that despite its opening subject and the service that they offer, but unfor - have enough exhibition space nor lecture facili - hours being halved. tunately run on a shoestring by the council” she ties. Important loan collections would necessar - A number of factors are responsible for the said in a letter to The Times. Staff members are ily be out of the public gaze. new popularity. There has been some effective now forbidden to discuss the situation publicly, joint marketing with Red House Glass Cone and including curator Roger Dodsworth.

MUSEUM IN THE NEWS 2 Theatre Museum reopens in V&A galleries

The Theatre Museum, which closed in Covent Garden in 2007, has re-emerged in its parent, the V&A, as the Theatre and Performance Galleries. At a cost of almost £1m, space on the first floor of the museum in South Kensington has been adapted for the collections, which started life in the V&A in 1970s, with more than 250 objects including a first folio of Shakespeare’s plays compiled in 1623 and specially commissioned films of playwrights and directors including Michael Frayn and Sir Peter Hall. The new display ranges across the whole spectrum of live theatre performance over the last 350 years, including costume design, posters, stage props, set models, embracing dramatic theatre, ballet, opera, musicals and even circus. Archive footage on show includes performers such as Rudolf Nureyev, Marlene Dietrich, Daniel Radcliffe, Fiona Shaw and Carlos Acosta, and highlights from the National Video Archive of Performance including work by Complicité, the Royal Shakespeare Company as well as West End musicals, pantomime and fringe theatre. The V&A said the new galleries would present the collections in a fresh way, focusing on the process of production and performance from initial conception and design to opening night. But among the guests at the opening evening disappointment was expressed at the lack of dramatic effect in the displays. Former curator, Margaret Benton, said that the presentation lacked a space for performance, which the Theatre Museum had had: “The objects are beautiful, but there’s no sense of actual drama” she said. The theatre collections will have call on the V&A’s main temporary exhibition space for special shows, and there will be touring exhibitions from the collections, beginning with Diaghilev and the Ballets Russes in 2010.

8 MUSEUM NEWS SPRING 09 The heritage industry - revisited

Twenty-two years ago Robert Hewison’s controversial The Heritage Industry: Britain in a Climate of Decline showed how a boom in museum openings meant turning to the past to manufacture a completely misleading future. He was wrong, he admits...

f The Heritage Industry: Britain in a Climate of Decline forecast ter - minal decay, I was clearly quite wrong. We are still here, and until Irecently the economy was booming. Now, as we seem to be approach - ing conditions similar to those of the early 1980s, what has changed since 1987? First of all, the Heritage is no longer in Danger. In the 1980s, one of the ways in which something came to be seen as part of the heritage was that it had to be under threat. A hundred factory chimneys was prosperous pol - lution, ten cold factory chimneys were an eyesore, but the last factory chimney, threatened with demolition, was a proud symbol of the industri - al past. It is absolutely true that in the 1980s a great deal of the heritage was in danger, with country houses coming somewhat higher up the endangered list than the communities that bore the brunt of social and economic change. But in 1992 the government that gave us the Department of National Heritage – a victory for the heritage industry if ever there was one – also gave us the National Lottery. Since then the Heritage Lottery Fund has spent more than three billion pounds on preserving the heritage, in all its forms. Don’t get me wrong, there will always be things from the past that will be deemed worthy of preservation, from Old Masters to steam engines. I Heritage open day 2008 at The Forge, Market Bosworth. Picture English Heritage sometimes think the Past is the only growth industry we have left. But thanks to the one-pound gambles of many ordinary people, we are in a about. There is a devastating report from the Arts Council, which also much better position to preserve and understand the past than we were 20 analyses the Taking Part statistics. It has the rather odd title From years ago. Not only that, the Heritage Lottery Fund has substantially Indifference to Enthusiasm - odd, that is, until you understand that what the moved the focus of its activities away from the object-based, class–inflect - Taking Part survey tells us is that most people are indifferent, and only 4% ed attitude to what constitutes the heritage that it had inherited from the of the population can be called enthusiasts. 84% cent of the population fall National Heritage Memorial Fund (created in 1980), to something much into the ‘little if anything’ or the ‘now and again’ groups. more inclusive and democratic – and much more evenly spread across the The message about the arts is the same as what I believe is the message United Kingdom. The HLF has seriously considered its values and is put - about the heritage. I quote: ‘Two of the most important factors in determin - ting much more effort into supporting local initiatives, oral history, and the ing whether somebody attends arts activities are education and social sta - celebration of customs and traditions as much as what is known as the built tus – the higher an individual’s level of education and social status, the heritage. Other organisations have tried to reach out in similar fashion. The more likely they are to have high levels of arts attendance.’ National Trust, whose view of the world used to be from the Drawing What we have to realise is that this conference has to address an issue Room and Terrace, is now as proud of its downstairs as its upstairs. bigger than the heritage, and bigger than the arts, and that is the widening But it is plainly not enough. The Taking Part survey (the government’s gap between the rich and the poor, the deprived and the educationally priv - garnered data about engagement and non-engagement in culture) shows ileged, that has steadily widened since, perhaps not coincidentally, the that the heritage is still largely the preserve of those who have been lucky National Heritage Acts of 1980 and 1983. enough to have educational, social and physical mobility. The Scottish Yet what is interesting about those acts – the second of which created Household Survey of 2007 tells a similar story. In Scotland in 2007, 79 per English Heritage – is that neither of them defines what “the heritage” actu - cent of those holding a professional qualification had visited a heritage ally is. To this day the Heritage Lottery Fund refuses to define what it site, compared with only 32 per cent of those with no qualifications. I have spends its billions on, on the grounds that it is up to people to make appeals to say that it is not just access to the heritage that we should be worried to it to which it will then – if it is so minded – respond. The heritage has been allowed to define itself – which means that it has been defined by “As we enter a period of those who are more articulate, or simply more privileged. uncertainty that has many But, as Stuart Hall has said: ‘Heritage is a powerful mirror. Those who of the hallmarks of the do not see themselves in it are therefore excluded’. We have an opportuni - crisis that created the ty to re-define – or in fact define – the meaning of the word Heritage. I am Heritage Industry in the not calling for a return to some kind of macho, metal bashing economy, and certainly not to the class divisions it embodied. If more equal societies are 1980s, above all, I hope happier societies, then it is time for tap on the spirit level. In 1997 some - that we will reach for the thing was invented called the Creative Industries – used creatively, the rich critical tool of History, resources of the past do have something to offer to the present. rather than the comfort As we enter a period of uncertainty that has many of the hallmarks of blanket of Heritage.” the crisis that created the Heritage Industry in the 1980s, above all, I hope that we will reach for the critical tool of History, rather than the comfort blanket of Heritage. Once it was the mines that became museums – how long before we see the opening of the first Hedge Fund Heritage Centre?

MUSEUM NEWS SPRING 09 9 ABERDEEN ART GALLERY BOWES MUSEUM Alongside are Egyptian tomb goods Schoolhill, Aberdeen AB10 1FQ Newgate, Barnard Castle, from Brent’s own collections, acquired in the early 20th century by E Tel: 01224 523700 Co Durham DL12 8NP www.aagm.co.uk Tel: 01833 690606 local businessman & philanthropist Tues-Sat 10-5, Sun 2-5. Admission www.thebowesmuseum.org.uk George Titus Barham. free. Daily 10-5. Admission £6.35,

D John Bellany (until 10 May 2009) concessions £5.45, children free. BRIGHTON MUSEUM A selection from the Gallery’s I Toy Tales (9 May-1 Nov 2009) & ART GALLERY permanent collections of works by An exhibition exploring 60 years of Royal Pavilion Gardens, one of Scotland’s most successful BBC children’s television Brighton BN1 1EE living artists. programmes, featuring original Tel: 01273 290900

U animations, puppets, props & stage www.virtualmuseum.info BARBICAN ART GALLERY sets. Included are artwork from Tues-Sat & bank holidays Barbican Centre, Silk St, Bagpuss, 1950s Muffin the Mule 10-5 (Tues until 7), Sun 2-5. London EC2Y 8DS toys, & characters from present-day Admission free. G Tel: 0845 1207550 64 Zoo Lane, plus Paddington Bear, The American Scene:

www.barbican.org.uk/artgallery Andy Pandy, Basil Brush, Teletubbies prints from Hopper to Pollock Daily 11-8 (Tues, Wed until 6; Thurs & Postman Pat memorabilia. (2 May-31 Aug 2009) until 10). Admission £8, concessions Silver & Metals Gallery The first half of the 20th century E £6, children under 12 free. (opens 10 Apr 2009) was a period of great change in Le Corbusier – New permanent gallery featuring America. This British Museum The Art of Architecture items from the Museum’s collections touring exhibition consisting of 80 (until 24 May 2009) that have been undisplayed for prints by 60 modern American G A major survey of the renowned decades. It includes a multi-media artists– including Edward Hopper, architect, thinker, writer & artist presentation about the Bowes’s life- Jackson Pollock, George Bellows, showing how his work changed sized silver swan–a 230-year-old Louise Bourgeois, & Alexander A dramatically over the years. On show automaton operated by an Calder–gives an insight into are his 1925 master plan for Paris, a ingenious clockwork mechanism. American society & culture of the

T complete kitchen from his 1947 time. Unité d’habitation & original models BRENT MUSEUM I of his 1950s’ chapel at Ronchamp. Willesden Green Library Centre, BRITISH LIBRARY Radical Nature: Art & architecture 95 High Rd, London NW10 2SF 96 Euston Rd, London NW1 2DB for a changing planet 1969-2009 Tel: 020 8937 3600 Tel: 0870 4441500 R (19 June-20 Sept 2009) www.brent.gov.uk www.bl.uk Itself conceived as a natural Mon 11-8, Tues-Sat 9-6 (Tues & Mon-Fri 9.30-6 (Tues until 8), Sat

E landscape, the exhibition brings Thurs until 8), Sun 11-6; closed 10 & 9.30-5, Sun & bank-holiday Mons together the ideas of visionaries from 13 Apr & 4 May. Admission free. 11-5. Admission to museum free. different continents & generations. Divine Cat: Speaking to the Henry VIII: Man & Monarch Their schemes are drawn from gods in Ancient Egypt (23 Apr-6 Sept 2009) H Land Art, environmental activism, (until 10 May 2009) A major exhibition marking the

experimental architecture & One of the British Museum’s great 500th anniversary of Henry VIII’s utopianism to create inspiring treasures, the famous Gayer- accession to the throne. It features solutions to reverse our Anderson cat, is the focal point of books, manuscripts & L degradation of the natural world this touring exhibition of items correspondence written or around us. evoking the ancient Egyptian annotated by Henry, with portraits, practice of dedicating metal statues tapestry, armour, jewellery & A BIRMINGHAM MUSEUM of gods in temples, in a bid to sculpture on loan from other & ART GALLERY communicate with the divine realm. national museums & collections. Chamberlain Sq, Admission £9, seniors £7, Birmingham B3 3DH concessions £5; children free. N Bowes Tel: 0121 303 2834 Booking (fee applies) on 01937 www.bmag.org.uk Museum: 546546, or via website. Mon-Thurs & Sat 10-5, Fri 10.30- Toy Tales 5, Sun 12.30-5. Admission free. BRITISH MUSEUM O Matthew Boulton: Selling Great Russell St, London I what all the world desires WC1B 3DG (30 May-27 Sept 2009) Tel: 020 7323 8000 A major www.britishmuseum.org

T exhibition to Daily 10-5.30 (Thurs, Fri mark the until 8.30). Admission to bicentenary of museum free. A Boulton’s death Garden & Cosmos: celebrates one of The royal paintings of the most important Jodhpur

N figures in the history of (28 May-23 Aug Birmingham. With his 2009) partner James Watt, Fifty works on loan from A selective list Boulton pushed the India show the distinctive of current & technological boundaries of his styles of painting developed time leading to in the region of Jodhpur forthcoming Britain’s status as the world’s first between the 17th & 19th industrial nation. It brings together centuries. Subjects range museum material from the from Jodhpur rulers in their & gallery Museum’s collections, from the City gardens to more abstract Archives, national museums, concepts such as yoga exhibitions. Birmingham Assay Office & private narratives. Admission £8, collectors. children free. Booking (fee

1O MUSEUM NEWS SPRING 09 ESTORICK COLLECTION OF MODERN ITALIAN ART 39A Canonbury Sq, London N1 2AN Tel: 020 7704 9522 www.estorickcollection.com Wed-Sat 11-6, Sun 12-5. Admission £5, concessions £3.50, students & children under 16 free. Framing Modernism: Architecture & photography in Italy 1926-65 (29 Apr-21 June 2009) More than 100 vintage photographs chart the development of Italian Modernist architecture. The exhibition also looks at the part played by photography in books & magazines in fostering the striking visual exploration of such buildings.

FALMOUTH ART GALLERY Municipal Buildings, The Moor, Falmouth, Cornwall TR11 2RT Tel: 01326 313863 www.falmouthartgallery.com Mon-Sat 10-5. Admission free. Species (25 Apr-27 June 2009) Part of the Gallery’s Darwin 200 celebrations, this quirky exhibition shows some of Darwin’s intriguing research methods & a range of creatures–from small & scaly to large & hairy. Surrealist artist Patrick Woodroffe has dreamed up new & fantastic species for the show, which National Gallery: Picasso: Challenging the Past. also features paintings & photographs of Cornwall’s rich horticultural heritage. applies) on 020 7323 8181, Tues-Sun & bank-holiday Mons 11-5. lasting influence on 20th-century or via website. Admission £7, seniors £5, students crafts in Britain. The Paul & Jill Ruddock £4, children £2; family (2+4) £16. FITZWILLIAM MUSEUM Gallery of Medieval Europe Fatal Attraction: Diana & DEAN GALLERY Trumpington St, (opens 25 Mar 2009) Actaeon–The Forbidden Gaze 73 Belford Rd, Edinburgh EH4 3DS Cambridge CB2 1RB The Museum’s third new permanent (21 Mar-31 May 2009) Tel: 0131 624 6200 Tel: 01223 332900 gallery to open this year is devoted Paintings, prints, drawings, www.nationalgalleries.org www.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk to material dating from 1050 to 1500 photographs & artefacts, by Cranach, Daily 10-5. Admission free. Tues-Sat 10-5, Sun & bank-holiday AD. Among British, European & Delacroix, Dürer, Rembrandt, Alive with Innovations: Mons 12-5. Admission free. Byzantine treasures are the 4th- Cézanne, Degas, Klimt & Schiele, Paolozzi’s beginnings Endless Forms: Charles Darwin, century Royal Gold Cup, made in based on the mythical tale of the (28 Mar-30 June 2009) Natural Science & the Visual Arts Paris; sacred art from abbeys, priories hunter Actaeon. Transformed into a The seminal contributions of (16 June-4 Oct 2009) & convents; royal art from the stag by the goddess Diana as a Eduardo Paolozzi to sculpture, A different take on the Darwin palaces of Westminster & Clarendon; punishment for gazing upon her printmaking & collage established festivities, this cross-disciplinary & the world-famous 12th-century nakedness, he was hunted down & his position at the forefront of the exhibition from the Yale Center for Lewis chessmen. killed by his own hounds. Booking post-war avant-garde & made him British Art explores the great on 01926 645500, or via website. one of the most influential British naturalist’s interest in the visual arts. CEREDIGION MUSEUM artists of the 20th century. Among Paintings by Landseer, Turner, Degas, Monet & Cézanne, plus late-19th- Coliseum, Terrace Rd, Aberystwyth, COURTAULD INSTITUTE highlights of Paolozzi’s rebellious century drawings, photographs, Dyfed SY23 2AQ OF ART work of the 1950s on show are sculpture, taxidermy & fossils, Tel: 01970 633088 Somerset House, Strand, brutalistic sculptures, energetic demonstrate the vast range of http://museum.ceredigion.gov.uk London WC2R 0RN drawings, & radical collages of artistic responses to his ideas. Mon-Sat 10-5; closed 10 Apr. Tel: 020 7848 2526 commercial material. Admission free. www.courtauld.ac.uk Scouting in Ceredigion: Daily 10-6. Admission £5, LES ENLUMINURES FOX TALBOT MUSEUM A Centenary Exhibition concessions £4; UK students & AT WARTSKI Lacock, nr Chippenham, Wilts SN15 2LG (1 May-27 June 2009) children under 18 free; all 14 Grafton St, London W1S 4DE Tel: 01249 730459 Scouting in Aberystwyth began in admission free Mon 10-2 Tel: 020 7493 1141 www.nationaltrust.org.uk 1909 with the formation of a Baden- (except bank holidays). www.wartski.com Daily 11-5.30; closed 10 Apr. Powell Boy Scout Troop. Though Beyond Bloomsbury: Designs of Mon-Sat 11-5. Admission free Admission £5.10 (includes Lacock changed over the last 100 years, it the Omega Workshops 1913-19 Roman to Renaissance: Abbey cloisters & grounds), children remains a treasured institution & part (18 June-20 Sept 2009) A private collection of rings £2.50; family (2+2) £12.90. of local community life–as shown by Using the extensive collection of (12-22 May 2009) Relicta: All that Remains the photographs & memorabilia on decorative arts, paintings & designs A collection of medieval & (until 28 June 2009) display. bequeathed to the Institute by the Renaissance rings from Western An installation by Alison Marchant artist & critic Roger Fry, the Europe & Byzantium dating from recreates the world of maid-of-all- COMPTON VERNEY exhibition investigates the way the between 300 & 1600AD. They work Hannah Cullwick (1833-1906), Kineton, nr Stratford-upon-Avon, Omega Workshops produced include marriage rings, seal rings, who staged photographs of herself Warwicks CV35 9HZ objects, the use of design drawings, stirrup rings, merchant rings & as gifts for her upper-class lover. Tel: 01926 645500 the collaborative nature of its gemstone rings. www.comptonverney.org.uk working practices & the Workshops’ Through these images, & Cullwick’s

MUSEUM NEWS SPRING 09 11 NATIONAL HERITAGE GUIDE

writings, Marchant examines 2007 Turner prize-winner Mark HOVE MUSEUM Stage & personal costumes worn by women’s labour & 19th-century Wallinger, chosen to create the giant & ART GALLERY Marilyn Monroe, with accessories, social barriers. Ebbsfleet Landmark project (a model 19 New Church Rd, Hove, jewellery, keepsakes & trinkets that of it is in the foyer), selects exhibits E Sussex BN3 4AB afford an intimate look into the life GAWTHORPE HALL that examine notions of the liminal: Tel: 03000 290900 of the screen idol. Also on show are Padiham, nr Burnley, thresholds between physical, www.hove.virtualmuseum.info items from Monroe’s own collection Lancs BB12 8UA political or metaphysical realms. Tues-Sat 10-5, Sun 2-5; closed 10 of artwork, personal items, clothes, Tel: 01282 771004 Artists include Vija Celmins, Thomas Apr. Admission free. letters, jewellery & awards. www.lancashire.gov.uk Demand, Albrecht Dürer, Bruce Follies of Europe Tues-Thurs, Sat, Sun 1-5. Admission Nauman, Giuseppe Penone & Fred (until 3 May 2009) KELVINGROVE ART GALLERY £4, concessions £3, children free. Sandback. Admission £9, seniors £8, In its follies, Europe has a superb & MUSEUM Illusions of Elizabeth I students & unemployed £6, children legacy of idiosyncratic, often Argyle St, Glasgow G3 8AG (2 June-1 Nov 2009) £4.50 (under-12s free outside school experimental, architecture. Built for Tel: 0141 276 9599 Inspired by the 450th anniversary hours). Booking (fee applies) on pleasure & conceived with passion & www.glasgowmuseums.com of the birth of Queen Elizabeth I, 0871 663 2500, or via website. self-indulgence, these fanciful Mon-Thurs & Sat 10-5; Fri & Sun members of the Phoenix Artists buildings reflect & celebrate the 11-5. Gallery admission free. Textile Group present their own THE HERBERT individuals who created them. Dr Who exhibition portraits of the monarch. With these Jordan Well, Coventry, Photographer Nic Barlow documents (28 Mar 2009-4 Jan 2010) modern works on fabric are genuine W Midlands CV1 5QP examples from Baroque to modern Interactive displays & scary moments Elizabethan embroideries from Tel: 024 7683 2386 times, ranging from hill houses in abound in this touring exhibition of Gawthorpe’s fine Rachel Kay- www.theherbert.org Austria to Brighton’s extravagant props, costumes, monsters & other Shuttleworth textile collection. Mon-Sat 10-5.30, Sun 12-5. Royal Pavilion. creatures from the Doctor Who Admission free. television series. Admission £7.50, GEFFRYE MUSEUM China: Journey To The East IMPERIAL WAR MUSEUM concessions & children £4.50; family 136 Kingsland Rd, London E2 8EA (2 May-19 July 2009) NORTH (2+2) £18. Booking (fee applies) on Tel: 020 7739 9893 This British Museum touring The Quays, Trafford Wharf Rd, 08444 815816 or via www.geffrye-museum.org.uk exhibition features artefacts from Manchester M17 1TZ www.secxtra.com. Tues-Sat 10-5; Sun & bank-holiday one of the most important Tel: 0161 836 4000 Mons 12-5; closed 10 Apr. Admission civilisations, a major influence on www.iwm.org.uk LIBRARY & MUSEUM free. many parts of the world through Daily 10-6. Admission free. OF FREEMASONRY Ethelburger Tower: trade & the movement of peoples. It Captured: The Extraordinary Life Freemasons’ Hall, Great Queen St, At home in a high-rise delves into 3,000 years of Chinese of Prisoners of War London WC2B 5AZ (7 Apr-31 Aug 2009) history & culture, under themes of (23 May 2009-3 Jan 2010) Tel: 020 7395 9257 In a series of images, Mark Cooper play & performance, technology, A major exhibition dedicated to the www.freemasonry.london.museum explores the living-rooms of his belief & festivals, food & drink, & experiences of British and Mon-Fri 10-5. Admission free. neighbours in a block of flats in language & writing. A specially-made Commonwealth prisoners of war & Freemasonry & the Battersea. He photographed the film looks at the lives of the Chinese civil internees during World War II in French Revolution interiors as he found them, tidy or community in present-day Coventry. Europe & the Far East. It also looks (1 July-18 Dec 2009) untidy, showing how these near- at the lives of Italian & German Though traditionally non-political, identical architectural spaces have Victoria & Albert Museum: prisoners in the UK & their relations Masonic lodges in England saw their been adapted by residents to suit Baroque 1620-1800: with their captors. A mix of objects - relationship with the state change their own interests, taste & lifestyle. Style in the Age of including coded camp diaries, the after 1789. An influx into their ranks Magnificence slouch hat belonging to artist Ronald of refugees from across the Channel HANDEL HOUSE MUSEUM Searle, & a bed sheet embroidered gave rise to conspiracy theories, & 25 Brook St, London W1K 4HB in a Hong Kong prison camp with lodges were forced to register lists of Tel: 020 7495 1685 the names of more than 1,000 their members with local authorities. www.handelhouse.org internees - reveal personal stories & Among items on display are Tues-Sat 10-6 (Thurs until 8), Sun the truth behind such modern elaborately-crafted miniatures & 12-6; closed 10 Apr; open 13 Apr legends as The Great Escape, Colditz medallions produced by some of the 10-6. Admission £5, concessions & The Bridge Over the River Kwai. 120,000 French prisoners of war, £4.50, children £2. some of whom established their Handel Reveal’d JERRAM GALLERY own Masonic lodges in England. (8 Apr-25 Oct 2009) Half Moon St, Sherborne, To mark the 250th anniversary of Dorset DT9 3LN MODERN ART OXFORD his death, an exhibition in the Tel 01935 815261 30 Pembroke St, Oxford OX1 1BP rooms in which Handel www.jerramgallery.com Tel: 01865 722733 lived & worked for 36 years Mon-Sat 9.30-5. Admission www.modernartoxford.org.uk (including the bedroom in free. Tues-Sat 10-5, Sun 12-5. which he died on 14 April Katherine Swinfen Eady Admission free. 1759) explores the (12-27 June 2009) Transmission Interrupted composer’s life & character. The subjects of 30 (18 Apr-21 June 2009) Among the exhibits are a life landscapes & Sculpture, painting, film, video & mask of Handel by Roubiliac; still-lives by this performance by Pilar Albarracín, Yto the score for his final piece of British artist include Barrada, David Thorne, Lia Perjovschi music–Jephtha–hand-written in Scottish farms & & a dozen other international names 1751; & moving reports of the great coastal scenery, the rolling hills look at the way contemporary artists composer’s final days. of Wiltshire, & the deserts & olive disrupt prevailing forms of art. groves of Palestine. Silke Otto-Knapp: Paintings HAYWARD GALLERY (4 July-13 Sept 2009) South Bank Centre, London SE1 8XX JERSEY MUSEUM Otto-Knapp works with watercolour Tel: 08703 800 400 The Weighbridge, St Helier, Jersey, & gouache paints on canvas using www.southbankcentre.co.uk/ Channel Islands JE2 3NF photographs as a basis of her visual-arts Tel: 01534 633300 carefully-constructed compositions. Daily 10-6 (Fri until 10). www.jerseyheritagetrust.org This exhibition surveys paintings Admission charges vary. Daily 10-4 (from 6 Apr 9.30-5). from recent years, in which staged The Russian Linesman: Admission £7, seniors £6.40 children figures from the world of dance & Frontiers, Borders & Thresholds £4; family (2+2 or 1+3) £20. fashion are rendered in gold & silver (until 4 May 2009) Marilyn (25 Mar-Dec 2009) pigment. 12 MUSEUM NEWS SPRING 09 MUSEUM OF LONDON early mythological & religious DOCKLANDS paintings to more symbolic & formal No 1 Warehouse, West India Quay, representations. This exhibition Hertsmere Rd, London E14 4AL brings together internationally- Tel: 020 7001 9844 acclaimed contemporary www.museumindocklands.org.uk artists–including Bobby Baker, Gayle Daily 10-6. Admission £5 (valid one Chong Kwan, Anya Gallaccio, Antony year), concessions £3, students & Gormley, Subodh Gupta, Aaron children under 16 free. Head, Damien Hirst & Anthony Port of London Authority: Key–who each bring a ‘dish’ to the A century of service table & show that food is still on the (30 Mar-19 Apr 2009) art menu. Part of a year-long celebration of the PLA’s centenary, the exhibition gives NORWICH CASTLE MUSEUM the history & development of the & ART GALLERY organisation charged with ensuring Castle Meadow, Norwich NR1 3JU the river remains an economic Tel: 01603 493625 powerhouse for London & the www.museums.norfolk.gov.uk south-east. It includes stories from Mon-Fri 10-4.30; Sat 10-5 staff about their working lives on (school-holiday periods Mon-Sat the tidal Thames & letters 10-5.30); Sun 1-5. Admission concerning the PLA’s role in Polar (includes castle) £6, concessions expeditions during the early 1900s. £5.10, children £4.40. Mary Newcomb’s Odd Universe: NATIONAL FISHING Fire, Earth, Water, Air HERITAGE CENTRE (8 May-28 June 2009). Alexandra Dock, Grimsby, The work of rural visionary & self- Lincs DN31 1UZ taught painter Mary Newcomb Tel: 01472 323345 (1922-2008) whose lyrical paintings www.nelincs.gov.uk of Norfolk & Suffolk made her one of Mon-Fri 10-5; Sat, Sun & bank Britain’s best-loved painters. holidays 10.30-5.30. Admission £6, concessions £4; family (2+5) £12. PALLANT HOUSE GALLERY Titanic: Honour & Glory 9 North Pallant, Chichester, (4 July-27 Sept 2009) W Sussex PO19 1TJ Artefacts & interior fittings from RMS Tel: 01243 774557 Titanic & her sister ships Britannic & www.pallant.org.uk Olympic reveal stories of the liner’s Tues-Sat 10-5 (Thurs until 8), Sun & fateful voyage of 1912. Memorabilia bank holidays 12.30-5. Admission includes the Engineer’s lucky teddy £7.50, students £4, children £2.30; bear & a watch frozen by the icy family (2+2) £17; all half-price Tues water at the exact time the Titanic Royal Academy: Kuniyoshi: From the Arthur R Miller collection (all day) & Thurs (5-8). sank. Also on show are props & Patrick Caulfield: costumes from the 1997 film. Between the Lines work out of doors, & includes beach NATIONAL PORTRAIT (28 Mar-17 June 2009) NATIONAL GALLERY scenes by Boudin & Monet, showing GALLERY This major survey of the work of Trafalgar Sq, London WC2N 5DN the influence of the Barbizon group St Martin’s Place, London Caulfield (1936-2005) includes Tel: 020 7747 2885 on the nascent Impressionists. WC2H 0HE rarely-seen studies that reveal the www.nationalgallery.org.uk Admission free. Tel: 020 7306 0055 ideas & techniques behind his Daily 10-6 (Fri until 9). www.npg.org.uk distinctive paintings, prints & other Admission to gallery free. NATIONAL MARITIME Daily 10-6 (Thurs, Fri until 9). projects such as a large-scale Sainsbury Wing: MUSEUM Admission to gallery free. tapestry for the British Library & Picasso: Challenging the Past Romney Rd, London SE10 9NF Constable Portraits: Portsmouth Cathedral’s organ doors. (until 7 June 2009) Tel: 020 8858 4422 The Painter & his Circle Bawden, Nash, Ravilious Around 60 works by Picasso, www.nmm.ac.uk (until 14 June 2009) & the British Landscape juxtaposed with Old Masters, Daily 10-5. Admission to The first exhibition dedicated to (until 31 May 2009) demonstrate how the Cubist artist museum free. Constable’s portraits & the insights An exhibition dedicated to the sometimes borrowed themes & North-West Passage: they bring to the artist’s work, life & generation of artists who, between relationships assembles loans from techniques from painters such as El An Arctic Obsession the wars, took inspiration from the both sides of the Atlantic from Greco, Velázquez, Rembrandt, landscape of Britain, seeing it as a (23 May 2009-3 Jan 2010) public & private collections. It offers Delacroix & Ingres. Admission £12, The search for a lucrative short-cut the opportunity to re-evaluate & source of national pride & identity. It seniors £11 (Tues 2.30-6, £6), sea route linking the North Atlantic rediscover the previously shows woodcut prints, etchings & students & children 12-18 £6, with the North Pacific inspired long & marginalised work of a painter watercolours by Paul Nash, Edward under-12s free; family (2+4 over- heroic endeavours. The exhibition celebrated primarily as a landscape Bawden, & Eric Ravilious alongside 12s) £24. Booking (fee applies) on looks at the extraordinary feats & artist. Admission £5, seniors £4.50, works of their contemporaries John 0844 2091778, or via website. tragedies surrounding famous concessions & children £4. Nash & Ethelbert White. Corot to Monet attempts. Drawings record early (8 July-20 Sept 2009) encounters with the Inuit, from an NEW ART GALLERY WALSALL QUENINGTON OLD RECTORY More than 80 sun-baked landscapes 1829-33 expedition; a flagstaff on Gallery Square, Walsall Quenington, nr Cirencester, from the Gallery’s collection chart show marks the discovery of the W Midlands WS2 8LG Glos GL7 5BN the development of landscape North Magnetic Pole in 1831; letters Tel: 01922 654400 Tel: 01285 750 358 painting from the late 18th century & relics recall a doomed 1845 www.artatwalsall.org.uk www.freshair2009.com to 1874–the year of the first voyage in which all 129 expedition Mon-Sat, & bank-holiday Mons 10-5, Daily 10-5. Admission £2.50 (21 Impressionist exhibition. It features members perished; & a tribute is Sun 11-4. Admission free. June admission £4 in aid of the the Barbizon School, near paid to Norwegian explorer Roald Pot Luck: Food & Art National Gardens Scheme), Fontainebleau, where landscape Amundsen who in 1903-06 finally (22 May-26 July 2009) children free. artists such as Théodore Rousseau & managed to sail the route between From antiquity to today, food has Fresh Air 09 (14 June-4 July 2009) Jean-François Millet gathered to the two great oceans. been a recurring subject in art; from This biennial sculpture exhibition MUSEUM NEWS SPRING 09 13 NATIONAL HERITAGE GUIDE

accessories revolutionised the world of play when they first appeared in 1934. This exhibition brings together examples of these popular toys–now collectable antiques–from members of the Dinky Toy Collectors’ Association,

SWANSON GALLERY Thurso Library, Davidson’s Lane, Thurso, Highland KW14 7AF Tel: 01847 896357 www.highland.gov.uk Mon-Wed 1-5, Fri 1-8, Sat 10-1. Admission free. Matisse: Drawing With Scissors – Late works 1950-54 (30 May-27 June 2009) This touring exhibition features 35 vibrant lithographic prints produced in the last four years of Matisse’s life, when the artist was confined to his bed, & includes many of his best- known images, such as The Snail & the Blue Nudes.

TATE MODERN Bankside, London SE1 9TG Tel: 020 7887 8008 www.tate.org.uk/modern V&A Museum of Childhood : Snozzcumbers & Frobscottle Daily 10-6 (Fri, Sat until 10). Admission to gallery free. takes place in a 5-acre garden (until late Aug 2009) Examples of the creative range of Futurism (12 June-20 Sept 2009) bordered by trees & running water & An insight into the work of the the remarkable Bawden/Ravilious A celebration of the centenary of this features works–all on sale, from £50 Corps, & its aims in Afghanistan, duo, who first worked together 80 dramatic art movement launched in to £35,000–by 90 artists in bronze, using photography, video footage, years ago. Their ceramics, 1909. The Futurists, a small group of glass, stone, ceramic, fabric, plastic oral histories, paintings by war artist watercolours & graphics continue to radical Italian artists, rejected & resin. Visitors can see how Gordon Rushmer, & exhibits brought inspire today’s designers & artists; anything old & proposed an art that changing light, weather & back from the field of action. York-based Mark Hearld offers a celebrated the modern world of surrounding foliage affect the Aspects include the Marines’ range contemporary take on their work. industry & technology. The exhibition pieces. of war-time roles, life in camp, also looks at other art movements contact with friends & loved ones, & SCIENCE MUSEUM such as Cubism, Vorticism & Russian ROYAL ACADEMY the effect on morale of colleagues’ Exhibition Rd, London SW7 2DD Cubo-Futurism, that reacted to it. Piccadilly, London W1J 0BD wounding or death. Tel: 0870 870 4868 Highlights include Boccioni’s bronze Tel: 020 7300 8000 www.sciencemuseum.org.uk sculpture of a leaping man, Picasso’s www.royalacademy.org.uk ROYAL SCOTTISH Daily 10-6. Admission to Head of a Woman, Nevinson’s Daily 10-6 (Fri until 10). Admission ACADEMY BUILDING museum free. Vorticist piece Bursting Shell, & charges vary. National Gallery complex, The Wallace & Gromit present: works by Braque, Leger, Malevich & Kuniyoshi: From the Arthur R Mound, Edinburgh EH2 2EL A World of Cracking Ideas Duchamp. Admission £12, Miller collection Tel: 0131 624 6200 (28 Mar-1 Nov 2009) concessions £10, children under 12 (21 Mar-7 June 2009) www.nationalgalleries.org This family-orientated interactive free. Booking (fee applies) on 020 More than 150 works by the prolific Daily 10-5 (Thurs until 7). show, based on Aardman 7887 8888, or via website. Japanese artist Utagawa Kuniyoshi Admission to gallery free. Animations’ cartoon inventor & his (1798-1861) whose images of Turner & Italy dog, combines objects from the TATE LIVERPOOL Japan’s traditional warrior heroes (27 Mar-7 June 2009) Museum’s collections with Wallace’s Albert Dock, Liverpool L3 4BB helped keep alive his country’s The only UK showing for this major eccentric fictional contraptions. Tel: 0151 702 7400 great myths & legends. He exhibition explores the enduring Visitors will be encouraged to come www.tate.org.uk/liverpool portrayed fashionable beauties & relationship between JMW Turner & up with their own creative ideas, & Daily 10-5.50. Admission to actors, produced comical & satirical Italy, whose climate enchanted the learn how to protect intellectual gallery free. works, & transformed the genre of painter. It includes loans from property through patents, Colour Chart: Reinventing Colour, landscape prints by incorporating collections in America, Australia & trademarks, designs & copyright. 1950 to Today Western conventions such as use of Europe, plus paintings, sketchbooks Admission £9, concessions: £7; (29 May-13 Sept 2009) perspective & of cast shadows. & watercolours from Turner’s family (1+2) £21, (2+2) £30. A look at the moment in 20th- Admission £9, seniors £8, students own library. Admission £8, Booking (fee applies) on 0870 870 century art when a group of £7, children 12-18 £4, children 8-11 concessions £6. 4868, or via website. artists began to perceive colour £2.80. Booking (fee applies) on as ‘ready-made’ rather than as 0879 8488484, or via website. SCARBOROUGH ART GALLERY THE SILK MILL scientific or expressive, this The Crescent, Scarborough, Silk Mill Lane, off Full St, exhibition is devoted to the ROYAL MARINES MUSEUM N Yorks YO11 2PW Derby DE1 3AF significance of colour in Eastney Esplanade, Southsea, Tel: 01723 374753 Tel: 01332 255308 contemporary art. It includes works Hants PO4 9PX www.scarboroughartgallery.org.uk www.derby.gov.uk by more than 40 artists, among Tel: 023 9281 9385 Tues-Sun & bank holidays 10-5. Mon 11-5, Tues-Sat 10-5, Sun & them Ellsworth Kelly, Andy Warhol, www.royalmarinesmuseum.co.uk Admission (valid one year) £2, bank holidays 1-4. Admission free. Gerhard Richter, Frank Stella, Yves Daily 10-5. Admission £5.95, seniors concessions £1.80, children free. Diecast delights: Klein, Dan Flavin, Angela Bulloch & £4.75, students & children 5-16 East Coasting: Art & Design A 75th birthday celebration Cory Archangel. Admission £8, £3.75; family (2+4) £14.50. by Edward Bawden & Eric (until 18 Sept 2009) concessions £6. Booking (fee Return to Helmand: Ravilious, with Mark Hearld Meccano’s range of Dinky model applies) on 0151 702 7400, or via Royal Marines in Afghanistan (until 4 May 2009) cars, planes, ships & railway website. 14 MUSEUM NEWS SPRING 09 TULLIE HOUSE MUSEUM Tel: 028 9042 8428 chance to listen to Dahl reading his & ART GALLERY www.uftm.org.uk own tales, film of Blake at work Castle St, Carlisle, Cumbria CA3 8TP Mon-Fri 10-5, Sat 10-6, Sun 11- in his London studio, & an Tel: 01228 618718 6. Admission £5.40, concessions interactive replica of the BFG’s www.tulliehouse.co.uk & children £3.40; family (2+3) cave. Mon-Sat 10-4, Sun 12-4 (from 1 £15.20, (1+3) £10.80. Apr, Mon-Sat 10-5, Sun 12-5). Views of the Past WALLACE COLLECTION Admission free. (until 1 June 2009) Hertford House, Manchester Sq, Donald Wilkinson: Stains of Light This photographic exhibition London W1U 3BN (until 17 May 2009) explores local life in Northern Tel: 020 7563 9500 A major retrospective of work from Ireland between 1860 & 1960. More Les Enluminures at Wartski: www.wallacecollection.org the 1960s to the present day, by than 40 images show aspects of Roman to Renaissance: Daily 10-5. Admission free. this Cumbrian landscape artist who home, work, education, health & A private collection of rings. Treasures of the Black Death has also produced work in Scotland, how people passed their leisure (until 10 May 2009) France & Spain. time. Also on display are examples In the 14th century, the Black Death of clothing, medical equipment, toys wiped out a third of the population TUNBRIDGE WELLS MUSEUM & games, & utilitarian objects from Daily 10-5.45 (Fri until 10). of Europe. Persecuted by local Admission to museum free. & ART GALLERY homes, schools & workplaces. communities, who accused them of Baroque 1620-1800: poisoning wells, many Jews buried Civic Centre, Mount Pleasant, Royal Style in the Age of Magnificence Tunbridge Wells, Kent TN1 1JN VESTRY HOUSE MUSEUM their most precious belongings, Vestry Rd, Walthamstow, (4 Apr-19 July 2009) hoping to retrieve them later. Items Tel: 01892 554171 An exhibition bringing together www.tunbridgewellsmuseum.org London E17 9NH discovered five & six centuries later, Tel: 020 8496 4391 around 200 objects examines the on show here, include medieval Mon-Sat 9.30-5, Sun 10-4; closed flourishing of the Baroque style 10-13 Apr. Admission free. www.walthamforest.gov.uk silver vessels & coins, & the three during a time when great European By Royal Appointment: How Wed-Sun 10-5. Admission free. earliest known examples of Jewish A Tale of Two Tea Sets & colonial empires were ruled by wedding rings. Tunbridge Wells became ‘Royal’ absolute monarchs & the Roman (until 2 May 2009) (20 June-23 Aug 2009) The Walthamstow Tea Service, Catholic Church was all-powerful. WHITECHAPEL ART GALLERY The town celebrates one hundred Displays cover architecture, furniture, produced in the 1820s for a well-to- 77-82 Whitechapel High St, years since it was given the ‘Royal’ silver, ceramics, painting, sculpture, & do family, consists of hand-painted London E1 7QX title by King Edward VII, reflecting textiles. The exhibition also explores porcelain cups, saucers and bowls Tel: 020 7522 7888 special links with the monarchy that the Baroque style in performance & bearing images of local houses. The www.whitechapel.org stretch back over four centuries. the theatre; the public city square; exhibition considers the changes to Wed-Sun 11-6 (Thurs until 9). Images & objects from the religious spaces including St Peter’s Walthamstow since then, and Admission free. Museum’s collection show the Basilica in Rome; & secular spaces contrasts the original with a modern Isa Genzken–Open, Sesame! changing nature of royal visits–from such as Louis XIV’s Palace of tea service created by artist Rachel (5 Apr-21 June 2009) that of Henrietta Maria in 1629 to Versailles. Admission £11, seniors £9, I’Anson with pupils at Kelmscott A major retrospective for this that of Princess Anne in 2006. students & children (12-17 years) £6. School . German sculptor, regarded as one of Booking (fee applies) on 0844 209 the most important artists of her ULSTER FOLK & TRANSPORT 1770, or via website. VICTORIA & ALBERT MUSEUM generation, spans the late 1970s to MUSEUM Hats: An Anthology by Stephen Cromwell Rd, London SW7 2RL today. While not generally widely 153 Bangor Rd, Cultra, Jones (until 10 May 2009) Tel: 020 7942 2000 known in the UK, her sculptures Holywood, Co Down, Drawn from V&A & international www.vam.ac.uk have been an influence on younger Northern Ireland BT18 0EU collections, exhbits range from a generations. 17th-century Puritan’s hat through a 1950s Balenciaga couture piece to THOMAS WILLIAMS FINE ART more recent headwear by Stephen 22 Old Bond St, London W1S 4PY Jones & his contemporaries & the Tel: 020 7491 1485 latest creations by young milliners www.thomaswilliamsfineart.com such as Noel Stewart. The exhibition Mon-Fri 10-6; closed 4 May. investigates the cultural & historic Admission free. importance of millinery, looks at Barry Fantoni: techniques, materials & processes; Public Eye, Private Eye the buying & selling of hats & their (22 Apr-22 May 2009) wearing & etiquette. Admission £5, Well-known for his work on Private concessions £4, children under 12 Eye since 1963, Fantoni has been free. Booking (fee applies) on 0844 front-page cartoonist & art critic for 209 1770, or via website. The Times, a regular illustrator for Radio Times & The Listener & a V&A MUSEUM music reviewer for Punch. He has OF CHILDHOOD also been a TV presenter, musician, Cambridge Heath Rd, playwright & author of detective London E2 9PA novels. The exhibition includes his Tel: 020 8983 5200 landscapes, interiors, & images of www.vam.ac.uk/moc friends & lovers. Daily 10-5.45. Admission free. Snozzcumbers & Frobscottle (2 May-6 Sept 2009) A celebration of the coming together of two creative forces, leading into The details in this guide were correct the quirky, humorous world of at the time of going to press, but may Quentin Blake & Roald Dahl. Original be subject to change. For a more manuscripts & illustrations are on comprehensive guide visit our display revealing the way an website–www.nationalheritage.org.uk illustrator works with an author. Material for possible inclusion in the Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery: Matthew Boulton: Selling Exhibits include the Norwegian next listings (September 2009- what all the world desires sandal on which the Big Friendly January 2010) may be sent to Giant’s footwear was based, a [email protected] MUSEUM NEWS SPRING 09 15 EVENTS

THE HANDEL HOUSE MUSEUM 25 BROOK STREET, MAYFAIR, LONDON W1K 4HB Thursday, 14th May, 4pm

Spring’s visit it to the home of the composer George Frederick Handel in Brook Street, Mayfair. He first moved in as the first occupier in 1723 when he followed the Hanoverian King George to London, and lived and worked there for 36 years, dying in the compact townhouse in April 1759. It was here that Handel composed most of his finest works, including The Messiah, Zadok the Priest and The Royal Fireworks Music . Using archaeological evidence including scrapings of the original paint and an inventory of the contents taken after his death, the house has been returned to the way Handel would have known it. Among the objects on display is a letter from Handel to his librettist, Charles Jennens, about the Messiah, and Mozart's hand-

written arrangement of a Handel fugue. There are also portraits ✁ and caricatures of the great man. THE HANDEL HOUSE MUSEUM, May 14th, 4pm Handel made use of the whole house with his servants sleeping on the top floor – where in the 1970s the rock star Jimi Hendrix I am a member of National Heritage, Please send me one free lived for a year. On the second floor was his bedroom and dressing ticket and ……. tickets at £12.50 each for the visit to The room, and on the first he composed, rehearsed and he would Handel House Museum on Thursday, May 14th at 4pm. informal performances. From the ground floor he sold music and tickets to his concerts. I enclose remittance and stamped addressed envelope. To mark the 250th anniversary of his death, a special exhibition On Thursday evenings Handel House hold concerts at 6.30pm. opens in April, curated by Christopher Hogwood, Handel’s Numbers are limited to 28 seats only and sold on a first come biographer. Handel Reveal’d will look at aspects of the composers basis. Tickets are £9, or £7.50 for concessions, each. If you wish life in detail which will be seen for the first time, looking at his to stay for the concert after the tour, please complete the health and his accounts among other aspects of his life. section below and enclose your cheques for the full amount. Among the exhibits will be a rarely seen life mask by Roubiliac, Please reserve me ...... tickets for the post-tour concert. loaned from a private collection, and the scores of the final piece of music Handel wrote, Jeptha. It will also look at his eating habits – a notable gourmand, he was caricatured in his day as an organ- Name ...... playing pig, and called The Harmonious Bore. The exhibition will also look at his patrons. Although he was never Address ...... a court composer as such, he wrote for cardinals, lords and most famously kings all his life...... But from middle age onwards he had a succession of health problems, including strokes, palsy and finally blindness, and the ...... exhibition will display the sorts of surgical instruments he would have been treated with. Telephone number ...... On the evening of April 13, 1759, Handel had had guests for dinner, but after they had left he told his servants that he was To: Liz Moore retiring and “had done with the world”. He died in his bed the next National Heritage Administration Centre morning. Rye Road, Hawkhurst, Kent TN18 5DW There will be other visits this summer and autumn, so please (01580 752 052) check our website, www.nationalheritage.org.uk

To ensure your copy of Museum News in future, and to support National Heritage’s campaigns on behalf of museum enthusiasts, join now. I wish to apply for annual membership as follows Name ………………………………………………………… (please tick appropriate box): Address ………………………………………………………. ❑ Single £25 ………………………………………………...……………… ❑ Single concession (under 20/over 65) £20 ………………………………………………………………… ❑ Double £40 (2 membership cards, 1 set of publications) ………………………………………………………………… ❑ Affiliated museums & galleries £35 Telephone …………………………………………………… ❑ Corporate membership £250 If you have any questions about filling in this form or about membership please call Liz Moore on 01580 752 052. ❑ I would like to add a donation of £ ……. ❑ I would like to Gift Aid my subscription, please send me details To: National Heritage Administration Centre Rye Road, ❑ Please send me details about paying by direct debit Hawkhurst, ❑ I enclose a cheque (payable to National Heritage) for £…...... Kent TN18 5DW Museums need your support