Maybe displaying seashells collected on holiday on a windowsill? Planting a riot of colourful flowers in the garden? Or even programming a season of theatre performances?
This October, join the Cambridge University Museums on a journey of exploration into the culture, community, passion, diversity, vision and individuality that makes Cambridge what it is.
Cambridge is home to eight museums displaying artefacts from delicate 18th century telescopes and navigational instruments to Egyptian mummies, dinosaur skeletons and Captain Scott’s polar diaries. There might be some you haven’t visited yet – and now’s the time to get exploring.
Running 20 October-23 November, Curating Cambridge will take the form of exhibitions, workshops, music, talks and performances for all ages. At the Fitzwilliam Museum, Silent Partners: Artist & Mannequin from Function to Fetish (14 October until 25 January 2015) reveals the surreal and fascinating purposes of the artist’s mannequin, and at Kettle’s Yard visitors can follow the work of video artists Nina Pope and Karen Guthrie in a specially constructed gallery cinema, until 23 November.
At The Polar Museum, visitors will be invited to contribute to the curatorial process using innovative touchscreen technology in the exhibition The Thing Is… An object on loan from each of the other University of Cambridge Museums and the Botanic Garden will be paired with an item from The Polar Museum’s collections, raising questions about the nature of curating, collecting and the stories objects can tell us (until 20 December).
At the same time, an intervention in the main gallery, called The Polar Muse, examines how poetry can help create alternative interpretations of some of the museum’s objects.
There’s plenty for families including a two-day extravaganza during half term when The Campsite takes over Christ’s Pieces (25-26 October). A pop-up venue with a difference, this collection of vintage campervans, caravans and tents will become venues for theatre, music, poetry and art installations.
“Curating Cambridge is a fantastic opportunity for visitors to the city, and for local people looking for fun on their doorstep, to question, discover and explore all that this vibrant city has to offer,” comments Heather Lane, keeper of collections at The Polar Museum and chair of the Cambridge Museums Steering Group.
“Working with cultural organisations and community groups, the University of Cambridge Museums are able to offer a wide-ranging programme that celebrates everything that makes Cambridge a great place to be – the people, the tales and the triumphs.”
Curating Cambridge: our city, our stories, our stuff is presented in connection with the Festival of Ideas, cultural partners and community organisations, and Cambridge Edition is media partner for the event.
