Museum at Large in Exeter
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Discover an urban trail of eye-catching creativity this October during Museum at Large, in Exeter from 29 to 31 October!
Museum at Large will lead a weekend of arts and culture activity in Exeter, delivering an urban trail of eye-catching creativity across the city.
Funded through an Arts Council National Lottery Project Grant, the artists, creative collaborators and museum professionals have created a vibrant programme of artistic activity, culminating in four temporary art commissions on show in the city centre from Friday 29 to Sunday 31 October 2021.
Museum at Largewill reconnect people with the city, history, and the museum’s collections, with works in a range of media — sound, light, sculpture, installation - encouraging Exeter’s residents and visitors to explore RAMM’s treasures in a fresh and exciting way.
Ancient Jewellery workshop
The artists
Artist Gayle Chong Kwan, known for her participatory and public realm work, has created a collaborative project which began by asking local groups of people, “What objects do you value?” From this Gayle has developed a multi-layered work that connects RAMM’s Roman collection to ideas of value and worth, and visibility in public spaces. Unique to the city and individuals involved, Exeter’s Roman history will be brought to life through intricate collaged headpieces, video, and improvised celebratory processions which can be viewed at the old Debenham’s store in Princesshay.
Caro Williams is a mixed media artist who works with symbols, sound, language and place. Inspired by RAMM’s collection of birds in the ‘In Fine Feather’ gallery, this commission focusses on a species with a strong Devonian association, the skylark. Its characteristic birdsong is brought to life in an installation in Rougemont Gardens that combines light, sound and sculptural materials, subtly changing across the daytime, through twilight— known as the ‘blue hour’—and into the evening.
Gayle Chong Kwan is known for her participatory projects in the public realm
Walid Siti’s arresting installation is a pyramid of stacked columns on a floating platform in Exeter’s Quay, standing around three meters high. Surface carvings refer to RAMM’s collection of cuneiform tablets from Mesopotamia, the earliest forms of writing that resonate with the artist’s own heritage but also suggest a human need to communicate and share knowledge. Walid’s work is also in the collections of New York’s Metropolitan Museum, the British Museum, and the Victoria and Albert Museum.
Museum at Large’s final piece comes from Jon Street. Jon has explored stories associated with RAMM’s collection of treasures to create an interactive video installation which surrounds the viewer, evoking a sense of discovery and travelling back into history. The work enables visitors to control images projected onto the surfaces of buildings at St Catherine’s Chapel, Catherine Street, so head along after dark to have a go! Jon has also helped Exeter College students to create their own animations which will be showcased during the weekend.
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Ramm Museum Exeter
The locations
The four immersive installations will be displayed at various locations across Exeter city centre:
Museum at Large Location 1 – Gayle Chong Kwan
Former Debenhams, Princesshay, 9 Bedford St, Exeter EX1 1GG
Museum at Large Location 2 – Walid Siti
Exe River at The Quay, Exeter EX2 4AP
Museum at Large Location 3 – Jon Street
St Catherine’s Chapel & Almshouses, Catherine St, Exeter EX4 7JJ
Museum at Large Location 4 – Caro Williams
Rougemont Gardens, Castle Street, Exeter EX4 3PT
Museum at Large is completely free, and official project opening hours are 12-9pm, however, please see location details at bit.ly/museumatlarge for viewing times of individual works. All of the artworks are located at accessible sites. Click HERE for more information.
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