A newly refurbished gallery at The Bowes Museum, which opened last month, is providing visitors with a unique experience of seeing how items in the collection are prepared for future displays and exhibitions.
Visitors to the second-floor gallery that is home to the new Objects on the Move project, could be forgiven for thinking it is not yet open to the public.
The gallery display is unique in that items on display, including large objects, are being shown in the same manner they would be in storage – placed on commercial shelving.
Curators and volunteers will also, on occasions, carry out their work, normally done behind the scenes, in a sectioned off space within the gallery lifting the veil on how they care for items within the collection.
When the Teesdale Mercury called in, collections curator Joe Kinsey and learning manager Alia Cruz were busy in their work area using special museum vacuums cleaning a 19th century dolls’ bed.
He said: “It’s quite nice being in the gallery. I haven’t been nervous. It’s nice to share something that we have done alone in a studio. People can see what we do to preserve and conserve items.”
Ms Cruz said: “It so nice that we are bridging the link between the collection and what we do behind the scenes with the community as it is the community’s collection.
“it’s about educating people on what we do to look after each object.”
Objects on the Move follows in the footsteps of the Curiosity Project that was funded by DCS Wolfson and The Friends of the Bowes Museum.
There are integrative displays including a bug detector that identifies different insect pests that can harm collections such as carpet beetles, that curators need to watch out for.
Sarah Webster, marketing and communications coordinator at the museum, said: “The main concept is to show the process of how we get items from the collections ready for going on display.
“Items here will be constantly changing as we prepare for exhibitions. But for the moment we have brought out the much-loved doll house collection which are on show for the first time in many years.”
As a charity The Bowes Museum relies heavily on support from admission, membership and donations to contribute financially towards the preservation of objects in its care, some of which date back to the 14th century. so they can continue to be displayed for years to come.
It is hoped the Objects on the Move project will allow visitors to see first-hand how vital their support is and where a proportion of this money goes.
