I have spent a couple of days at the Bowes Museum helping to curate an exhibition the Northern School of Art textile students of my year have been invited to hold. The work on show is a wonderful eclectic collection of fabrics, scarves, clothes, and objects all inspired by objects in and the building of the Bowes Museum.
The Museum already holds a nationally renowned art collection and now has some contemporary additions. The building itself is stunning, built in the 19th century by John and Josephine Bowes with the idea of creating a world-class museum in order to introduce the wider world of art to the local people.
Our display is spread across the three floors of the museum and is vibrant, colourful and hard to miss in among the more traditional exhibits. The juxtaposition of 19th century artifacts and the modern take really works showing how historical objects, buildings and interior spaces can be developed and represented in contemporary design. Many pieces are timeless but can lend themselves to endless interpretations often capturing a story of both past and present.
It was an interesting experience being part of setting up the exhibits. Daunting in places because this is our work - my peers and my own and it is important to do it justice. Having a show at the Bowes is pretty prestigious, up there with many serious fashion icons, Alexander McQueen, Yves St Laurent, artists such as Damien Hirst, Julian Opie and photographers including Robert Mapplethorpe, to name but a few (the ones I've seen over the years) and now Level 5 students of the Northern School of Art!
There's one large cabinet to fill tomorrow and then the show is on.... Its worth a visit both for the Bowes Museum itself but defo for our contribution, Its technically on from Friday and runs until about June 12th - let me know if you visit and what you think just post a comment on here or any of my blog pages.
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