Temporary Exhibitions
We offer a range of talks and activities to tie in with our museums' changing
exhibitions programme.
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The Royal Pavilion Music Room |
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Chinese Whispers
Chinoiserie in Britain 1650–1930
A major exhibition at Brighton Museum and the Royal Pavilion
3 May to 2 November 2008
China has fascinated the imagination of the West for centuries. The story of chinoiserie in Britain is a dazzling example of contact between two very different cultures. English merchants who traded with China returned with silk, porcelain and lacquer. These fabulous items - objects of wonder - inspired English craftsmen, artists and designers. They emulated the materials and patterns of these wares, to produce their own objects and interiors, using the fanciful imagery of an imaginary China. The term given to this evocation of Chinese art is chinoiserie.
Chinese Whispers is the first major exhibition in Britain for more than 70 years to highlight the impact of chinoiserie on style, fashion, décor and social behaviour. Spectacular displays, which include major loans from throughout the country, trace the history of chinoiserie in Britain from the late 17th century until the 1930s.
Chinoiserie is exotic, stylish, often outlandish and, above all, fun. In a chinoiserie interior, surfaces are adorned with fantastic mountainous landscapes, pagodas, fabulous birds, mandarins, dragons and phoenixes.
This glittering exhibition, the culmination of many years of research, includes examples of the earliest Chinese and China Trade objects exported to Britain, as well as outstanding chinoiserie furniture, ceramics, silver, textiles and rarely seen prints and drawings.
Professional Development Day for Teachers
Brighton Museum
Wednesday 4 June, 10am – 3pm
Discover the Royal Pavilion and explore the Chinese Whispers exhibition. Suitable for all Key Stages, Art and History Curriculum.
Free School Workshops
All workshops take place from 10am-12pm and 1-3pm. Workshops include a gallery tour and a practical workshop. Please state your preference when booking.
Key Stage 1 Art
Key Stage 2 Art or Literacy
Key Stage 3+4 Art or History/Citizenship
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| Thursday 24 |
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Please contact Museum Learning on 01273 292843 or email museum.learning@brighton-hove.gov.uk to make your booking
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Little Black Dress
1 December 2007 to 1 June 2008
Brighton Museum, Fashion & Style gallery
It’s the fashion icon of all time! Whatever the occasion, the Little Black Dress is the one item guaranteed to transform you into a sophisticated goddess of style – at a moment's notice.
The appeal of the Little Black Dress is its timeless glamour – from Coco Chanel to Audrey Hepburn to Elizabeth Hurley, it has the power to make all women feel special. The Duchess of Windsor, Wallis Simpson, once said in its praise “When the little black dress is right, there is nothing else to wear in its place”.
Brighton Museum celebrates the contribution of the Little Black Dress to women’s lives with an exhibition charting the history of this iconic garment, curated by leading fashion designer Andrew Fionda (of the label Pearce II Fionda).
FREE gallery talk for all schools for all key stages available
To book a place or find out more contact Museums Learning Bookings Officer 01273 292843 museum.learning@brighton-hove.gov.uk
Exhibition Programme June 2007 – November 2008
There will be schools workshops, gallery talks and online resources to accompany our temporary exhibition programme.
Gallery talks are available for all of the temporary exhibitions for all key stages. Gallery talks last 40 minutes and cost £1.75 per student.
To book a place contact Museums Learning Bookings Officer 01273 292843 museum.learning@brighton-hove.gov.uk
Life in Death: The Victorian Art of Taxidermy
Booth Museum of Natural History
16 June 2007 – 15 June 2008
Before television, mass entertainment and the other delights of 21st century living, the art of taxidermy became a fashionable high point in Victorian style. Thriving on the huge emergent interest in natural sciences and the opening up of world trade routes throughout the 19th century, every stylish Victorian home included at least one display of stuffed animals and birds amongst its knick-knackery. Life in Death: The Victorian Art of Taxidermy puts the practice into its context enabling visitors to enjoy its appeal in the light of the Victorians’ way of life.
Asante
Brighton Museum & Art Gallery
5 September 2007 – 3 August 2008
Asante: display to coincide with the 50th Anniversary of Ghanaian Independence. The display will celebrate vibrant culture of the Asante people of West Africa. It will feature historical and contemporary material that reflect the belief and arts of the Asante. To include small metal weights in the form of animals, a gown adorned with amulets, a ceremonial sword, and a beautiful piece of brightly coloured contemporary woven Kente cloth.
11 September 2007 – 31 March 2008
People, Places & Profits, museum trail: to mark the bicentenary of the Abolition of the Slave Trade Act. This cross-collection museum trail, will feature objects on display which link to the history of the slave trade. The trail will explore the links between the slave trade and objects from Africa, the Caribbean, and Europe, reflecting its global nature. It will highlight the legacies that can be understood through objects in the museum’s collections.
Little Black Dress
Brighton Museum, Fashion & Style Gallery
1 December 2007 – 1 June 2008
It’s the fashion icon of all time! Whatever the occasion, the Little Black Dress is the one item guaranteed to transform you into a sophisticated goddess of style – at a moment's noticed. Curated by leading British fashion designer Andrew Fionda the exhibition charts the history of this iconic garment.
On the Pull
Brighton Museum & Art Gallery
14 February – 31 August 2008
Brighton & Hove Museums’ Service has successfully secured funding from the Designated Challenge Fund to develop an audience-informed, cross-collection project on the theme of courtship. The project will take this universal theme to engage new audiences by developing fresh perspectives on the Designated collections, Decorative Art, World Art and the Natural Sciences, and by incorporating objects from the Fine Art, Fashion, Local History and Archaeology, Toys, Film and Media collections. The creation and development of focus groups from target audiences will inform the sub-themes for research, object interpretation and display, new web content and a programme of public events. The research, carried out through six bursaries, will consider objects in the processes of wooing, and animal courtship, drawing contemporary relevance and new meanings from the collections.
Chinese Whispers: Chinoiserie in Britain 1650-1930
Brighton Museum & Art Gallery and the Royal Pavilion
3 May – 2 November 2008
Chinoiserie (from the French Chinois, meaning Chinese) is the term given to an exotic and fantastic Western style derived, and occasionally copied, from Chinese and Japanese imports to Britain in the 17th and 18th centuries. The Chinese taste reached its apogee in the interiors of the Royal Pavilion and one of the aims of the exhibition is to provide a context for that building's stunning decor. Exhibits will be borrowed from public and private collections throughout Britain and the exhibition will evoke an imaginary world of Eastern magnificence and splendour.
To find out more about current temporary exhibitions at Brighton & Hove
Museums you can visit the relevant exhibitions page:
