This month visitors to Exeter’s Royal Albert Memorial Museum can enjoy exhibitions of Exeter’s Fine Art, Kurt Jackson: Revisiting Turner’s Tourism, the final days of Michael Shaw: Sculpting the Museum, a new exhibition of famous Japanese woodblock prints Hiroshige’s Japan, and a selection of displays.
Highlights of the exciting events programme include, a creative arts conference, talks on art and on the contributions made by diverse communities to the First World War, a writing workshop and dementia-friendly art making. Tickets for events are available online or from reception in person or by phone using a credit or debit card on 01392 265858 during opening hours: Tuesday to Sunday, 10am to 5pm.
New exhibitions are followed by September events, on-going exhibitions, displays then forthcoming events.
New exhibitions
Hiroshige’s Japan: Stations of the Tōkaidō Road
29 Nov 2016 to 16 Apr 2017, £4 (£2).
This exhibition showcases a selection of Japanese woodblock prints from the series that made Utagawa Hiroshige (1797-1858) one of the best known of all Japanese artists. His landscape prints are among the most frequently reproduced of all Japanese works of art and were hugely successful both in Japan and in the West.
He is particularly renowned for his landscape prints and his unusual compositions, humorous depictions of people involved in everyday activities and masterly expression of weather, light and seasons. His work influenced many leading European artists such as Monet, Van Gogh and Whistler.
This exhibition of 21 prints selected from the Ashmolean Museum collection, celebrates the series that made Hiroshige’s name: Fifty-three Stations of the Tōkaidō Road. First published around 1833, the series depicts views along Japan’s major highway and is full of fascinating insights into the journey between the great Japanese cities of Edo and Kyoto.
Organised by the Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford. The catalogue Hiroshige: Landscape, Cityscape is available, £15.
Concessionary price applies for X-card holders, supporter groups and students. Under-19s free.
Accompanying event
Wednesday 1 March: Hiroshige’s Japan: 53 Stations of the Tōkaidō Road, 2pm to 4pm, £20 (£18). In association with Art Fund Devon Fundraising Committee.
Events
World Cultures Tour
Tuesday 1 November, 2pm, £5.
Join a 60-minute tour of the internationally important World Cultures collection, which includes objects from the Pacific, Africa, the Americas, Asia and the Near East.
Creative Collaborations Conference
Thu 3 Nov, 10.30am to 4pm, £6.
Contemporary Artists & Cultural Heritage - Artists working in different media share their experiences of exploring and responding to historic collections and creating new perspectives on cultural heritage.
Organised and hosted by RAMM, the conference is an opportunity to hear about the visual arts ecology in Exeter from partner organisations and the Arts Council Collection during its 70th anniversary year. Presentations from artists and curators and plenary sessions are combined with a chance to view current exhibitions in Exeter Phoenix and RAMM. Participants include artists who have worked with RAMM’s collections: Mark Anstee, Professor Sonia Boyce MBE, Rod Dickinson and Serena Korda; and curators Matt Burrows (Curator, Exeter Phoenix), Jill Constantine (Head of the Arts Council Collection at Southbank Centre) and Kathy Norris (Project Manager, Spacex).
Special dietary requirements
The £6 admission charge includes refreshments and lunch. If you have any specific dietary requirements please email: ramm@exeter.gov.uk.
Explore Roman Devon: Handling Session
Thursday 3 November, 10.30am to 12.30pm and 1.30 to 3.30pm, free, drop-in.
Explore the Roman collection and handle authentic and replica Roman objects and coins in RAMM’s Making History gallery.
Explore Roman Devon: Tours
Thursday 3 November, 12noon and 2pm, free.
Join a 30-minute tour to learn about life in Roman Devon and the story behind the collection. Tours leave from the ground floor geology corridor. Each tour is limited to 8 people on a first-come-first-served basis.
Evening Lecture: Mills in art and illustration
Tuesday 8 November, 6.30 to 8pm, £8.50.
The depiction of watermills and windmills in art and illustration enables us to look beyond the technology and explore what these buildings meant to the people who built and used them. Sometimes they provide a valuable record from times when no other illustrative evidence survives. Since the late 1970s Martin Watts has worked full time on researching, repairing and conserving water- and wind-powered machinery.
Organised by Friends of Exeter Museums & Art Gallery, registered charity no. 306649. The Friends support the museum with financial help towards acquisitions and conservation. www.exeter.gov.uk/friends, E friends@exeter.gov.uk.
Second World War handling session
Tuesday 8 November, 11am to 3pm, free, drop-in.
Explore and handle authentic and replica Second World War objects in RAMM’s Making History gallery.
Hikmat Remembers: Uncovering the stories of diverse communities in the First World War
Tuesday 15 November, 10am to 2pm, free, drop-in.
Join enthusiastic historians for presentations, displays and discussions about the involvement of diverse communities in the First World War. Researchers from local community group Hikmat are uncovering hidden stories about African, Chinese and South Asian contributions. Learn about Bengali soldiers in the First World War and the Chinese Labour Corps on the Western Front.
Explore Roman Devon: Handling Session
Thursday 17 November, 10.30am to 12.30pm and 1.30 to 3.30pm, free, drop-in.
Explore the Roman collection and handle authentic and replica Roman objects and coins in RAMM’s Making History gallery.
Explore Roman Devon: Tours
Thursday 17 November, 12noon and 2pm, free.
Join a 30-minute tour to learn about life in Roman Devon and the story behind the collection. Tours leave from the ground floor geology corridor. Each tour is limited to 8 people on a first come first served basis.
The Smallest Artists: Takeover Day at RAMM
Friday 18 November, 10.30am to 12noon, free, drop-in.
The Carousel Project take over RAMM’s Courtyard for the morning with the smallest artists around. Come and see how very young children can become installation artists and create their own exploratory-space, inspired by the museum.
Part of National Takeover Day, organised by Kids in Museums.
Museum Full Site Tour
Saturday 19 November, 11am, £5.
Join a 60-minute tour of RAMM’s permanent collections.
Fine Art Gallery Guided Tour
Wednesday 23 November, 1 to 2pm, £10 (£8).
A guided tour with Assistant Curator of Art Michele Green. Learn more about the art on a seasonal theme, and find out about some of the museum’s new acquisitions of Exeter Quay by John Piper and the extraordinary realistic illustrations from The Concise British Flora by William Keble Martin.
Coat Tales: The Stories Clothes Tell
Wednesday 23 November, 1 to 4pm free, drop-in.
A workshop exploring how clothing can tell stories. View clothing that was worn by people at important life changes: a waistcoat worn by a blacksmith for his wedding, a christening dress and a mourning necklace. What alternative histories are woven into such objects? Imagine your own stories through writing and drawing.
Part of the National ‘Being Human’ Festival 2016: http://beinghumanfestival.org.
Dementia-friendly art making
Thursday 24 November, 10.30am to 12.30pm, £15 (including companion).
A hands-on creative activity inspired by paintings of the sea. For people with dementia and their carers.
Part of RAMM’s programme of Living Each Season dementia-friendly programme, activities are suitable for people with mild to moderate memory problems, accompanied by a friend, relative or carer. Led by specially trained staff, and designed to be enjoyable for both people with dementia and carers, each visit begins with refreshments and ends with an illustrated information sheet to take home and carry on the conversation. Numbers are limited to ensure the best possible experience, so please book in advance.
Discounts and subsidies - Your first session is free while funds are available, please mention when booking. We can pay travel costs within an hour of Exeter if you ask in advance, thanks to the Norman Family Charitable Trust. Limited disabled parking is available. For more information and about subsidies: T 01392 265305 E ruth.gidley@exeter.gov.uk, www.rammuseum.org.uk/about-ramm/participation/living-each-season.
Roman Devon and Seaton Down Hoard Activities
Saturday 26 November, 10.30am to 1.30pm and 12.30 to 3.30pm. Free drop-in.
Tours 12noon and 2pm
Learn about life in Roman Devon with short activities including designing your own Roman coin, laying out a mosaic floor to your own design, having a go at a Roman board game and examining real Roman coins under a microscope.
Second World War handling session
Tuesday 29 November, 11am to 3pm, free, drop-in.
Explore and handle authentic and replica Second World War objects in RAMM’s Making History gallery.
On-going Exhibitions
Kurt Jackson: Revisiting Turner’s Tourism
10 September to 4 December.
Contemporary British artist Kurt Jackson visited 12 locations in Devon and Cornwall depicted in the work of J.M.W. Turner – one of Britain’s greatest landscape painters.
Kurt Jackson has worked within the landscape for over 30 years. Largely influenced by current concerns and seen with an environmental slant, he has become fascinated by the dynamic element of change through both our own pressure and the Earth’s natural processes. From Land’s End to Exeter he investigated and recorded the profound changes that have occurred between the 19th century and the present.
The exhibition showcases a diverse body of work in a variety of media with accompanying film, sketchbooks and other relevant material. Jackson’s new works will be shown together with the Turner engravings that inspired them.
Kurt Jackson is based in Cornwall and his practice has taken him throughout the country and Europe. He was given access to the University of Exeter’s collection of Turner engravings, produced to promote tourism through ‘the picturesque’.
Exhibition catalogue, Kurt Jackson: Revisiting Turner’s Tourism, available: £20.
Organised in collaboration with the University of Exeter.
Michael Shaw: Sculpting the Museum
17 September to 13 November.
Artist Michael Shaw’s sculpture is original, dynamic and fun. He has created a massive, inflatable sculpture to inhabit RAMM’s gallery. Shaped by the gallery walls, high ceiling and annexe, and animated by cyclical inflation and deflation, it becomes a living, breathing object. Michael Shaw’s responses to artefacts from the museum collections are made in metals, plastics and natural materials, using laser cutting and rapid prototyping. They sit alongside the originals which are displayed as a 21st-century Cabinet of Curiosities.
Michael Shaw is best known as a sculptor who works with inflatable structures to express his interest in space, light, translucency and transparency. He has responded to other historic buildings including Burghley House in Lincolnshire; Bethesda Chapel in Stoke-on-Trent; the Victoria & Albert Museum, London; and the Varna Palace in Aarhus, Denmark.
He has also exhibited in Berlin, Florence, Hamburg, Paris, Rome and Tokyo and was shortlisted for the Jerwood Sculpture Prize and the Lynn Chadwick award at the Royal West of England Academy.
Exeter’s Fine Art Collection: Winter and Spring
25 October to 31 May
This exhibition features a selection of drawings, watercolours and oil paintings from RAMM’s collection with a seasonal themes, as well as Devon Landscapes, Exeter and People. Devon Landscapes include 18th-century watercolours by John White Abbott and more recent works by Robert Organ and Alan Richards. There are also topographical drawings and watercolours of Exeter by Sidney Endacott and Francis Towne. Three recently acquired botanical watercolours by Reverend William Keble Martin are displayed. These were plates for his book The Concise British Flora in Colour (1965).
Seasonal scenes include William Henry Hunt’s exquisitely detailed Primroses and Bird’s Nest, along with Henry Hainsselin’s expressive work Friesland Boer Skating and botanical illustrations from The Concise British Flora by William Keble Martin.
Accompanying event
Wednesday 23 November: Fine Art Gallery Guided Tour, 1 to 2pm, £10 (£8).
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Displays
Cafe exhibition: The Numinous by Jemma Cholawo
4 October to 8 January.
This exhibition of black and white photographs and paintings captures the great mystery that lies inside the forces of nature in landscapes touched by wild weather and overwhelming beauty.
Jemma Cholawo has completed commissions for artwork in the UK, Canada and America. The work in this exhibition is for sale.
What do you Collect? Rugby World Cup Memorabilia
Tuesday 4 October to 8 January.
Marc Astley started collecting during Rugby World Cup last year to ensure there was a legacy to remember this historic sporting event for Exeter.
If you have a collection that you would like to display, email ramm@exeter.gov.uk.
Commemorating the First World War
Part of a four-year programme commemorating the First World War led by the Imperial War Museum this small changing display focuses on the First World War’s impact on the South West.
Museum Activity 1914 to 1918
Until 27 November
In this small display case, objects recall the activities at the museum during the First World War. New acquisitions, public talks and field trips, requisition of a museum building for a military hospital and the opening of St Nicholas Priory as an historic attraction are revealed using RAMM’s collections.
Seaton Down Hoard: A first Glimpse
26 July to 18 June 2017
Thanks to a number of donations and grants, the Seaton Down Hoard has been purchased for the benefit of the people of Devon and Exeter and for future generations.
The purchase and conservation of the hoard of coins has been made possible by the Heritage Lottery Fund, Clinton Estates, a private donation by Patrick Long, and many contributions by members of the public.
The Seaton Down Hoard is the largest Roman coin hoard ever found in Devon. The coins were discovered in November 2013, and have recently been purchased by RAMM. Around AD348, the coins were buried, probably by a private individual or soldier for safe-keeping. They provide a fascinating glimpse into the world of 4th-century Roman Britain.
Work has begun to stabilise the collection of almost 23,000 coins, which will help us unveil the rich story of Roman East Devon and its place in the Economic history of late Roman Britain.
Each coin will need to be checked and a selection of coins conserved to reveal precise details of their date, type and place of mint.
See a display of the coins
A few of the coins will be on display for visitors to enjoy while conservation work continues on the main collection. Catch an early glimpse of a small part of the hoard from Tuesday 26 July. A new display will be created for the entire hoard in 2017.
Ends
For more information contact Rob Mackenzie, Marketing Assistant, on 01392 265317 or robert.mackenzie@exeter.gov.uk or Steve Upsher, Media Relations Officer, on 01392 265103.
The Royal Albert Memorial Museum & Art Gallery (RAMM) is one of Exeter City Council’s flagship services. RAMM is also supported using public funding by Arts Council England.
Stunning displays reveal Devon and Exeter’s rich history and global connections. Exotic animals, birds and insects delight children and a changing programme of exhibitions and events means there is likely to be something different to see on every visit. Free entry gives everyone the freedom to visit many times and to stay any length of time.
Awards and standards include Museum of the Year 2012, the Arts Council Designation Scheme, Devon Visitor Attraction of the Year 2012, Collections Trust Best Practice Award 2013, RIBA South West Special Award for Conservation and Building of the Year 2013, the Accreditation Scheme for Museums in the United Kingdom, Inspiring Learning for All, 2012 Silver Tourist Attraction Award in the South West and Trip Advisor Certificate of Excellence 2015.
The Royal Albert Memorial Museum &Art Gallery is in Queen Street, Exeter EX4 3RX. Phone 01392 265858. Web: www.exeter.gov.uk/RAMM Email: ramm@exeter.gov.uk or www.facebook.com/RAMMuseum and twitter.com/RAMMuseum.
Free admission. Open 10am to 5pm Tuesday to Sunday. Closed Mondays and bank holidays.
Sign up for email bulletins at www.exeter.gov.uk/rammmail.
