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An English [person] Abroad
At Worcester Museum and Art Gallery
Running from January to October, this exhibition at the
Worcester Museum and Art gallery, like many of its
exhibitions, is an opportunity to see some of the things that
have been tucked away in the museum stores. But this one
has an unusual guest exhibitor – in the shape of me!!
As a trainee in heritage with contacts at the museum I was
delighted when I was invited to contribute to this exhibition.
The exhibit highlights local people who have travelled abroad
throughout history and brought back souvenirs, so my own
souvenirs, photographs and stories from a gap year in
Australia and New Zealand fit nicely alongside artefacts from
the grand tour, pilgrimages
and even the hippy trail.
I love the way the museum
gurus have created a montage
of my photographs and
memories, and I ended up with
a little display all of my own,
carefully crafted by their very
own artistic handyman. But
better still, I enjoyed seeing my
own rucksack and souvenirs
alongside Victorian souvenirs
from other journeys: they
really complement each other.
Check out the art while you wait
In the Hive...
This month in the Hive there have been a number of
innovative exhibitions, and some were quite sneaky. While you
were waiting to see an adviser at the Hub, you could interact
with While You Wait and listen to podcasts on large
headphones. Then you could check out the display about First
World War soldiers also on level 1. Heading to the café or up
to level 3 you could relax looking out of the Hive’s lovely big
windows at wintery Worcester, framed by the Snowdrops
window stickers.
According to Exuent Magazine, ‘[While You Wait podcasts]
allow for a moment of quiet reflection’ while you contemplate
‘the British queue’, in recordings of 10 to 15 minutes by
different artists. The different sounds transported me to
different places. The art is immersive and exciting, and you
never know what might happen next: music, an overheard
conversation, a story read aloud, or a series of sound effects
that feed the imagination. Although the interactive podcast
exhibition in the Hive finishes on 8th March you can still check
it out online: www.fueltheatre.com/projects/while-you-wait
The First World War soldiers’ stories on display are part of an
exhibition called Relating to the War by A Picture for Health.
The stories are of local soldiers but also those with close
connections to people who are still local to Worcester, which
is a great way to link the war from 100 years ago to the
present day. Although the exhibition was originally on display
in Barbourne Health Centre and Thorneloe Lodge Surgery in
Worcester it works equally well here, and includes
photographs of individuals and commemorative objects as
well as their stories. You can learn more about the exhibition
ARTS FEATURE
Other exhibits in this small section of the museum are
paintings by local artists or collected by local travellers that
depict journeys all over the world and at different periods.
There is also a jacket covered in badges that I enjoyed
spotting the ones I have in my own childhood collection, and
the pile of old luggage really evoke the holiday spirit, at a time
of year when we are all thinking about booking our summer
holidays as an escape from the wintery weather.
The exhibit is a prequel to the hugely important Stanhope
Forbes exhibition which will explore idyllic English scenes
from holiday destinations so links nicely to this local
collection. Stanhope Forbes arrives on 21st March and will be
staying over until the 6th June so check it out at your leisure.
Don’t forget to take a little peek at my own contribution while
you are there.
Sarah Ganderton
and others like it, designed to help you while you wait in
doctors surgeries, at:
http://apictureforhealth.org/category/exhibitions/
Finally the Snowdops exhibition by Nathan Garner is
displayed on the windows of the Hive. This is a fitting
exhibition for the current wintery weather, with snowdrop
patterns made from seasonally flowering snowdrop paintings.
When looking out of the Hive’s enormous windows the
snowdrop/snowflake designs really enhance the Worcester
landscape in the wintery sunshine. This exhibition should be
on until some time in March, with souvenirs available from
the café.
Don’t worry if you missed these exhibitions, there are
always new ones coming up at the Hive, as well as live acts,
movies, and talks and workshops. For more information go to
www.thehiveworcester.org to find out about events, or pop
in and pick up a brochure.
Sarah Ganderton
SLAP MARCH 29