Currently on at Bridport Arts Centre’s Allsop gallery is the show “Wonderful Things”, a selection of work from Bridport Museum’s art collection.
Arts Centre Director, Lindsay Brooks said: “The title of the show comes from words said at the entrance to the tomb of Tutankhamun, when in answer to Lord Carnarvon’s question “Can you see anything?”, Howard Carter famously replied “Yes, wonderful things”.
“For many, seeing collections behind the scenes in a museum’s stores are the nearest we’ll come to Carter’s experience, that moment of astonishing discovery as closed doors open. For this exhibition, we’ve raided Bridport Museum’s art store, where many pictures have been preserved since they were bought decades ago. For some of these pictures, exhibition has rarely, if ever, been possible.”
From its inception in 1932 up to the 1970s, the museum was called the Bridport Museum and Art Gallery. Museum director, Alice Martin said: “We want to get our collections out and seen. Many of the works need conservation and it is hoped that by putting them on display it will raise awareness of their plight whilst at the same time allowing greater access to the town’s collections. This is part of a two year strategy to raise funds and awareness to conserve the art collection.”
The “Wonderful Things” exhibition is the second recent collaboration between Bridport Arts Centre and Bridport Museum who worked together last year on the show Record Pictures by Michael Collins, when Bridport Arts Centre exhibited record picture photographs from the museum’s collection. The atmospheric images of 1920s Bridport were on display in the arts centre foyer, showing early morning views along East Street and West Street.
The current show “Wonderful Things” can be seen upstairs in the Allsop Gallery, Tuesdays to Saturdays 10am to 4pm, until Saturday 11 October. Free admission
Tel: 01308 424204
website: www.bridport-arts.com
email: info@bridport-arts.com
