Joanne Kaar

Textile Designer Joanne Kaar lives and works in Thurso. Her latest project is another 'Portable Museum' (see previous post). This one records the story of how Caithness Whalers introduced the Magellen daisy, a native of South America, to the northern coast of Scotland.

Simon Costin

Simon Costin is an art director and set designer whose passion for our folk heritage led him to create The Museum of British Folklore. As yet without a permanent home, the Museum instigates exhibitions around the country. Simon was asked to create a Victorian street scene diorama for the Museum of London to celebrate Dickens' 200th birthday.

When lifelong collector of fireworks and related memorabilia, Maurice Evans, donated his entire collection to the Museum they worked with Compton Verney to stage 'Remember, Remember. A History of Fireworks in Britain'.

Artists' responses to Museum/Gallery Collections

 I have been looking a examples of artists who have used existing collections as inspiration for their own work. The most notable from the past few years was Grayson Perry's 'Tomb of the Unknown Craftsman', pictured above. I took a group of my students to see the exhibition and we were lucky enough to hear Grayson speak about his work. He described it as a 'pilgrimage' through the British Museum's collection and a homage to the skill of centuries of unnamed people.

Simon Fujiwara's 'Since 1982' at Tate St Ives explored his Cornish childhood through the work of Barabara Hepworth, Alfred Wallis and other well known artists represented at the gallery.

Last year, Simon Starling produced a film that was shown in the Duveen galleries in Tate Britain. 'Phantom Ride' explored the history of the gallery space and the exhibitions that have been held there.

Bob and Roberta Smith's Epstein Archive Gallery

Bob and Roberta Smith (Patrick Brill) worked with curator Neil Lebeter to 'rifle through' the Jacob Epstein Archive at The New Art Gallery in Walsall. The culmination of two years work was the Gallery pictured below. A combination of Brill's trademark typography and items from the archive tell a narrative about the sculptor and his extended family.

Chiharu Shiota at The New Art Gallery Walsall

I have seen Chiharu Shiota's work before, at 'Lost in Lace' at the Gas Hall in BM&AG. The two installations at Walsall are similar in scale and use the same mass of 'spiders web' threads. What I liked about the exhibit at Walsall was that you could walk right into each room - totally immersing yourself in the work.

In one gallery, over 400 old suitcases were suspended from red rope. Towards one end they almost touched the floor and they gradually got higher and higher towards the other end of the gallery, making unusual use of the large space.

Moseley Dovecote and Cow House

 

Today I met with Fiona Adams from the Moseley Society to discuss the possibility of using the 18th century Dovecote and adjoining Cow House for my MA exhibition. They were both renovated in the 1980's and are open to the public on a monthly basis from Easter through to October. They are positioned centrally in the village and were originally part of the Moseley Hall Farm Estate.

The Society use the Cow House mainly to store their exhibition boards and the tools to maintain the kitchen garden surrounding the Dovecote. There is an upper floor reached by steep steps which used to be a feed store for the livestock.

 

The Dovecote is reached by wooden stairs and the first floor contains a permanent exhibition which would have to be covered up. It is possible to go up to the actual dovecote at the top, but the entrance is too small for the public to enter.

Fiona was very positive about my plans and I think this will be an ideal location for my exhibition.