BrightonMuseums

A timely tumblr of the goings on at Royal Pavilion and Museums, Brighton & Hove

[brightonmuseums]

Jane Austen Poster Project

Back in November 2016 a cohort of students from the University of Sussex’s BSC Product Design course were invited to the Royal Pavilion for a unique visit. Only weeks into their chosen course and many of them new to Brighton, the students were about to receive their first live brief.  To complete a module in visual communication their challenge was to design a poster for the Jane Austen By the Sea exhibition, aimed at an audience of the age range 18-25.

The students met with the exhibition’s Curator Alexandra Loske, Marketing Manager Jemma Treweek and Graphic Designer Derek Lee. This was their chance to find out more about Jane Austen, as well as gaining practical tips around design and marketing.

4 weeks later and it was time to present their posters, to a panel of museum and university staff.

Alexandra Loske curator of Jane Austen By the Sea said,

“I was impressed by the wide range of interpretation of the theme and brief. It was absolutely fascinating to see young people’s takes and visions, something I admit I don’t consider enough in my work. I particularly liked the designs that dared to go almost completely abstract, the ones that experimented with letting go of the over familiar, iconic images of Austen, such as the dramatic ink blots in black on white. However where the well-known images of Austen were included I enjoyed how they were embedded in a contemporary context and bold graphics.

Some students paid more attention to spelling and grammar than others, and this was a great opportunity for them to learn the pitfalls of copy checking with a live project. I felt that they took our comments positively and amended their work accordingly. I look forward to working with Sussex University on further collaborative projects”

Almost 30 poster designs were presented, and here are our favourites!

Tom Oates

 Tom's use of the ink splatter was a clever image that reflected not only the fact that Jane wrote with ink, but also conjured up a feeling of liquid, water and the sea in that the splash could easily have been a wave or a splash from the beach. A nice use of stark black and white and an image that would make people think about the exhibition and be somewhat intrigued by the content.

Amira Sassi

We loved that this poster located the exhibition in the Royal Pavilion, as it depicts the Music Room. The illustration style is fantastic as well as the use of colour. We liked that Jane and the Prince Regent were left in just blackline, reflecting the style of a colouring book, so implying that the exhibition would have a story to tell, that visitors could see things in their own way, colour in their own experience of Jane Austen and Brighton during her lifetime.

Abigail Kelvie

Abigail has created a poster full of mystery and intrigue, with a really strong clear design. We liked the inclusion of the silhouette which alludes to a sense of mystery about Jane Austen and the Gothic aesthetic and layout remind us of a front cover of a novel. The Pavilion has been used really subtly which sets the scene for the audience.

Isabel Abrams

We enjoyed the more traditional feel of this poster, the colours, the letter illustration and the handwritten font, all give the impression that the poster could have been designed by Jane herself and has a Regency feel. This would appeal to our more traditional audiences, but yet remains a modern, modest and clean design.

Ernest Lee

Ernest's used the very familiar imagery of the beach and pier, with Jane herself sitting in a deck chair looking back over her shoulder at us, inviting us to find out more. We thought the use of all of the familiar images together was very clever, as those places are all also very familiar with our audiences, and it was a great visual representation of what the exhibition is about. There is Jane and she IS by the sea! The illustrations are of a very high standard and beautifully drawn. Also a great use of type in open space and very clear.

Ellis Leahy

A great depiction of a more up to date version of Jane (and her friends!) the use of the triangles and colours makes for an eye-catching design, and reflects again a more modern take on Jane and that there might be something different and new for visitors should they choose to come to the exhibition.  We also liked the use of the text running almost indecipherably in the background, which would make viewers concentrate a little more on the poster.

Zachary Walbrin

We loved the familiar image of Jane Austen being given a new modern twist with the use of the 'glitch' effect. This reflects the content of the exhibition in that visitors will find out 'new and surprising info about Jane Austen, what Brighton was like during her lifetime, and why the town was featured in her novels.  Also like the clear reflection of RPM'S current branding on Zach's poster, he had clearly thought about logo placement and the poster had a great 'balance'.

[brightonmuseums]

The World’s First Trackless Train comes to Brighton in 1926

Preston Manor staff and Royal Pavilion & Museums conservation team and volunteers used the February half-term last week to give the rooms and furnishings a thorough overhaul. As part of the general tidy up and deep clean a filing cabinet was opened to reveal a collection of photographs that w

Think driverless cars are exciting? Pah. Back in 1926 our director took the wheel of a trackless train in the Royal Pavilion garden.

[brightonmuseums]

Sister Agnes: a buried secret at Preston Manor?

On 28 January, we'll be opening up the cold case of a body found at Preston Manor over a century ago. In this post, Paula Wrightson, Venue Officer at Preston Manor, introduces the mystery of 'Sister Agnes'. Mysterious Case of the Preston Manor Skeleton On Friday 29 January 1897, workmen

In advance of our event at Preston Manor on 28 January, an introduction to the mystery of Sister Agnes.

[brightonmuseums]

New Year, New Dimension: the Royal Pavilion Estate in VR

It's always good to kick off a New Year with something new, so I'm delighted to introduce the Royal Pavilion & Museums first venture into virtual reality (VR). Volunteer 3D modeller Colin Jones has produced a model of the Royal Pavilion Estate that allows you to explore some of the buildi

We'll be taking several trips into 3D in 2017, kicking off with this virtual reality model of the Royal Pavilion Estate.

[brightonmuseums]

‘Everything about her was white’: Edmund Dulac's haunting 'Ice-Maiden'

A beautiful young woman dressed in white is walking through snow and ice, accompanied by two polar bears that appear to be submissive and loyal. Her slim figure is silhouetted sharply against an inky blue starry sky. She wears a long gown and veil of shimmering white fabric, embroidered with pearls

Frosty morning in Brighton, so a perfect time to showcase Edmund Dulac’s haunting ‘Ice-Maiden’.

[brightonmuseumlab]

Our activities table needs populating with creatures from the depths, critters that roam on terra firma and others that soar up in the skies! Add to our collage with cut-outs and drawings of animals, inspired by those on display in MuseumLab. We’ll post a selection of them here as it is added to.

The Lab is open to the public every week from 2pm-5pm on Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday afternoons for ‘Drop In & Do’ sessions.

[brightonmuseumlab]

We’re delving into subversion across Brighton Museum & Art Gallery today. 

Here’s a small selection of objects on display in MuseumLab, including: 

Garments designed by the Queen of punk fashion Vivienne Westwood

Lily Allen’s ‘Bambi Killer’ dress

Cheeky Regency caricatures

A chamber pot given as a wedding gift with ‘Keep me Clean and use me well / And what I see I will not tell’  inscribed inside

Portuguese dishes with grotesque models of frogs, moths and millipedes

[brightonmuseums]

Two worlds colliding harmoniously: a 1797 watercolour of the Steine and Royal Pavilion

This small watercolour and gouache painting from c1797 in the collection of the Royal Pavilion & Museums is by the amateur artist James Bennett (not to be confused with the Victorian oil painter of the same name), who created a number of simple but evocative images of Brighton between the 1790s

An 18th century painting that reveals how a royal palace sat beside Brighton's fishing community.

[brightonmuseumlab]

Precious Wendletrap: Epitorium scalare

During the 16th and 17th centuries this shell was much sought after by collectors, fantastic prices often being paid for large examples. Such was the demand that the Chinese resorted to making rice-paste fakes! It was later discovered to be a fairly common shell! It occurs in the Indo-Pacific region. 

[fashion-africa-brighton]

Africa Arts Festival

Brighton’s very first Africa Arts Festival is nearly here!  From Friday 28th-Sunday 30th October, Brighton Museum & Art Gallery will host a celebration of African fashion, film, food, music and literature. 

On Friday evening we will invite people in from the October cold for after-hours fun, as Brighton Museum stays open for Museums at Night. Visitors are welcome to relax with a drink, music and recitals of stories and poetry from writers inspired by the role that fashion has played on their lives. To learn more about the writers appearing on the evening, keep your eyes peeled; name-dropping, biographies and photos to come!

The rest of the weekend will see a mahoosive range of activities, workshops and events, a handful of short film showings, including a creative writing workshop, a discussion between journalist Hannah Pool and fellow festival contributors, and a performance from some of Congo’s finest musicians. Old or young, there’s something on offer for everyone! 

Fashion Cities Africa remains open to the public until January 2017 so if you haven’t yet grabbed a chance to see the exhibition, this weekend could be a perfect opportunity to kill two birds with one stone.

To find out more about the festival, check out www.brightonmuseums.org.uk. 

See you there!

[worldart-brightonmuseums]

“We are surviving without a dream” Kachin refugees in Kuala Lumpur

Helen Mears, Royal Pavilion & Museums’ Keeper of World Art, reports from a recent trip to Malaysia undertaken as part of her doctoral research at the University of Brighton into the use of heritage amongst overseas Kachin communities. Brighton Museum & Art Gallery is the caretaker of a rare collection of photographs and textiles relating to the Kachin minority in northern Myanmar.

An estimated 1,500 Kachin asylum seekers and refugees live in Kuala Lumpur (KL), Malaysia. Displaced by conflict, especially that which erupted following the breakdown of a ceasefire agreement between the Myanmar government and Kachin Independence Organization in 2011, most undertook dangerous journeys to the city in pursuit of safety and, hopefully, the opportunity of resettlement in a third country. In KL they joined one of the world’s largest urban refugee populations.

Registration with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) at the organisation’s KL office provides little protection to refugees in Malaysia. Malaysia is neither a party to the 1951 Refugee Convention nor its 1967 Protocol and lacks a legislative and policy framework for refugees. Asylum seekers and refugees are treated as illegal migrants and are vulnerable to arrest, extortion and detention. If arrested and unable to pay the fine levied refugees run the risk of being sent to one of the country’s twelve immigration detention depots. Conditions at some of these have been described as amongst the worst in the world.

My doctoral research at the University of Brighton on overseas Kachin communities led me to KL where a third country resettlement programme run by the UNHCR has seen several thousand Kachins, and members of other Myanmar ethnic groups, resettled in the US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and northern Europe. During my stay I interviewed Kachin asylum seekers and refugees. Like others of similar status in Malaysia they are prohibited from working and from accessing state healthcare and their children are denied access to government-funded public schools. Most refugees, inevitably, have to work to survive. Their employment choices are limited to insecure and low-paid jobs in restaurants, retail and construction where they work under the constant threat of arrest. A lack of recourse to legal protection also leaves refugees vulnerable to becoming victims of crime and abuse.

Above image:  Kachin youth attend an English language class run by a volunteer teacher. The class starts at 11pm to accommodate those in employment.

Lack of legal recognition not only brings the immediate danger of arrest, extortion and detention. It also is life-inhibiting in other ways, including by preventing refugee access to the Internet, to mobile phones and to banking facilities. For most Kachin refugees the lack of access to education is amongst the greatest of their frustrations, making their time in the city feel ‘meaningless’. Whilst the Kachin community runs two learning centres for refugee children, they are dependent on the efforts of volunteer teachers and, without access to funds, no opportunities for tertiary education exist in KL.

Like all Myanmar refugees in Malaysia, the Kachin must endure a cruel waiting game. UNHCR-administrated resettlement places have dried up for all but the most vulnerable and, at this point, the UNHCR’s other two durable solutions for refugees – local integration or voluntary repatriation – remain unviable; the lack of legal recognition and protection preventing the former and the ongoing conflict in the Kachin region the latter. Even the registration of asylum seekers and refugees can take several years as the UNHCR is facing a significant administrative backlog. 800 Kachin people are still waiting for a UNHCR identity card.

While the situation facing Kachin refugees in KL is perhaps less dire than that facing the near 100,000 Internally Displaced People (IDP) living near the Myanmar-China border, both communities have suffered from a lack of international attention. Conditions for both are also worsening, as the already limited international aid directed to the IDPs reduces to a trickle and Malaysia adopts new legislation which is likely to make life even more unbearable for refugees seeking its protection. While Kachin-led civil society organisations actively campaign for greater awareness around the challenges currently facing Kachin people, international agencies must do more than just watch and wait.

Helen Mears, September 2016

Helen’s visit to Malaysia was generously funded by the University of Brighton’s College of Arts and Humanities and supported by the Malaysia Kachin Baptist Church (MKBC). She is currently exploring the viability of establishing an educational fund to support Kachin refugees in Malaysia. Contact her ([email protected]) for more information.

[fashion-africa-brighton]

Five minutes with a gallery explainer

Meet Martina! She’s recently started working in a retail position at the Royal Pavilion and Brighton Museum but has been a Fashion Cities Africa Gallery Explainer since April. We grabbed her for five minutes to chat about her experiences in the galleries over the past few months.

“If I had to choose a favourite part or piece of Fashion Cities Africa, I’d choose the work of 2manysiblings in the Nairobi gallery because it’s quite different to a lot of the other fashion designers - they aren’t actually fashion designers, but are creating their own style from scratch. The nice part is that they’re using social media to create a community around what they’re doing - People are seeing them as a meeting point. I like that we talk in the exhibition about second-hand clothes and the cool places that some clothes can end up when they’re no longer wanted; We’re not just talking about high fashion but about street fashion too, and visitors are really appreciating this - we’re offering a good range of fashion backgrounds and perspectives. I was surprised by how shy and quiet 2manysiblings were when I met them; immediately I realised that they are just normal, down to earth people and not at all stuck up, despite how how popular and successful they’ve become.

“I’ve noticed that we’re asked about the wax prints all the time - how they’re made, what the difference is between wax prints and Batik prints, and so on. Another question that we’re asked a lot is why we’ve chosen these four cities (Johannesburg, Casablanca, Nairobi and Lagos.) I think these cities were selected because we wanted to give points of view from each compass point of Africa; North, South, East and West - this is what I usually tell people who ask this. 

“We are asked about the fabric of the clothing a lot, too; “is this real coral?”, “is this authentic African textile?”, etc. People aren’t allowed to touch the clothing so they’re really curious about their textures and what they’re made from. We also get asked a lot about Sauti Sol and why they were criticised for their clothing - our answer is usually that the band weren’t wearing traditional clothes that were representative of their tradition and heritage.

“I personally love to talk to customers about the point that Fashion Cities Africa isn’t just about fashion, but about the African continent and different interpretations of what it means to be ‘African’. We use fashion as a starting point and use video, photography and design to communicate the contributors’ stories. I love chatting with visitors about Yinka Ilori’s furniture and the fact that he upcycles - I think his work is similar to 2manysiblings’ in that respect. This approach offers ideas of how you can make the most of what little you have.”

Fashion Cities Africa remains open until the end of January 2017, with Gallery Explainers available to chat to and ask questions every day.

[brightonmuseumlab]

A female common pheasant on display at Brighton Museum. Come see her and other animals in person at the Museum Lab!

[worldart-brightonmuseums]

Top left and right: Charles Makhuya in Mafela Trust office, Bulawayo Zimbabwe, August 2016

Bottom left: Charles with his AK47 rifle in guerrilla fatigues in the late 1970s in Angola during training

Bottom right: Charles (left) with a fellow Zipra guerrilla in a Luanda photo studio during their training in Angola in late 1970s.

A unique piece of Zimbabwean history acquired by Royal Pavilion & Museums, Brighton & Hove

This long-sleeved shirt formerly belonged to Charles Makhuya. In the 1970s Charles was a guerrilla / freedom fighter with the Zimbabwe People’s Revolutionary Army (ZIPRA), the armed wing of the Zimbabwe African People’s Union (ZAPU). Charles had been a ZAPU nationalist youth activist in his home town of Bulawayo but at the age of 15, he decided to leave Zimbabwe to join the armed struggle for Zimbabwe’s independence. He left clandestinely, crossing first into Botswana and then onto Zambia, where ZAPU in exile had its headquarters. ZAPU sent him for military training in Angola. He travelled to the Angolan town of Luena in convoy with a group of 2000 other ZIPRA fighters, where he was trained by Cuban and Soviet instructors. He gained expertise in anti-tank warfare as well as medical training, and survived the 1979 bombing of the ZIPRA camps by the Rhodesian Air Force, in which around 200 guerrillas died along with Angolans, 6 Cubans and one Soviet instructor, and more than 1000 were wounded. The trainees were given white long-sleeved shirts by their Cuban trainers. Many individualised these by adding tie-dye designs, using the dye in woollen blankets they possessed, released by immersing these in hot water.

After Zimbabwe’s independence in 1980, Charles returned home to Zimbabwe with other ZIPRA colleagues. The first British-supervised independence elections were won by Robert Mugabe’s Zimbabwe African National Union Party (ZANU), and relations between ZANU and ZAPU deteriorated. In the early 1980s, ZAPU and ZIPRA members became a target for “anti-dissident” violence. At this time, any evidence of personal association with ZAPU or ZIPRA brought great risk and most ZIPRA fighters disposed of items that might identify themselves as such, including these distinctive shirts. Charles’s shirt is likely to be one of very few in existence today making it a unique document of a period in Zimbabwe’s turbulent political history.

Royal Pavilion & Museums is grateful to Charles for enabling the shirt’s long-term preservation in a public museum collection and to Zephaniah Nkomo of the Mafela Trust and Professor JoAnn McGregor of the Sussex Africa Centre at the University of Sussex for facilitating its transfer. The acquisition of the shirt forms part of Royal Pavilion & Museums’ Fashioning Africa project supported by the Heritage Lottery Fund’s Collecting Cultures scheme, which is working with partners to build a new collection reflecting the changes in African fashion identities 1960-2000.

Helen Mears, Keeper of World Art

[boothmuseum-bts]

New displays at the Booth Museum

In partnership with ONCA gallery we decided to put on a display to launch their season of events dedicated to Remembrance Day for Lost Species (30th Nov). The display looked at a number of species driven extinct by humans, and some of the thousands of species now facing extinction by human activity. The launch night for the displays and their season of events took place on the 7th September - Thylacine Day - which was the 80th anniversary of the extinction of the last known Thylacine (otherwise known as the Tasmanian Tiger). Our extinct display includes Huia (male and female), Eskimo curlew, Carolina conure and our mounted thylacine specimen - one of only 15 in the UK.   

The launch night was a great success, and a good audience stayed for talks on extinction and art projects built around the subject. ONCA will host a variety of events over the next couple of months which can be found on their website: http://onca.org.uk/  The linked elements, such as QR codes, will remain on the displays until the 30th November. The exhibition itself will remain in place for the foreseeable future, so please come and take a look if you’re in the area!.

[brightonmuseumlab]

New Volunteers on the Booth Collections

Two new volunteers started work on our collections today. After a crash course in database and photography they started carrying out work on the collections in MuseumLab, allowing the public to get involved with the process. Both Sarah and Stephen showed the public how to photograph and store cabinet skins and allowed them to have a go too, answering questions such as ‘how old are they?’ 'do you still kill birds?’ (answer - no!) and 'where are they from?’.

We hope that this public facing museum work will continue in the space for the next few years.

[brightonmuseumlab]

Wild Wednesdays at Brighton Museum

In conjunction with the RSPB, Wednesdays have gone wild at Brighton Museum, in the gardens and the MuseumLab! Families are invited to look for birds, insects and other critters in the Pavilion Gardens, before bringing their pictures to MuseumLab to find out more about the creatures they’ve seen.