A new exhibition celebrating rare books and manuscripts, as well as UK national treasures, which celebrate nature through the ages, is to be unveiled in Blackburn.<\/p>\n
Hosted at Blackburn Museum and Art Gallery, the exhibition will display a collection of rare books, manuscripts and ceramics alongside work from major national institutions.<\/p>\n
Called \u2018The Nature of Gothic: Reflecting the Natural World in Historic and Contemporary Artistic Practice’, the show will explore how artists across faiths, eras and disciplines have turned to nature for symbolic inspiration.<\/p>\n
(Image: National Museums Liverpool)<\/p>\n
Co-curated by Dr Cynthia Johnston, from the University of London and Anthea Purkis, from Blackburn Museum, the exhibition will feature items from the museum\u2019s collection.<\/p>\n
These include items bequeathed by industrialist and rope maker Robert Hart as well as items on loan from the British Library, Manchester Art Gallery, Cambridge University Library and others.<\/p>\n
Dr Cynthia Johnston said: “Through Blackburn Museum\u2019s exceptional collections, we are able to explore this shared cultural theme of gothic decorative art using the natural world, present across books, paintings, textiles and ceramics.<\/p>\n
\u201cBlackburn\u2019s collections are astonishing in scope and quality. With this exhibition, we place it within the national narrative of collecting, creativity and cross-cultural exchange.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe loan from the British Library is particularly significant and generous, it includes six medieval manuscripts, including a national treasure, the \u2018Bedford Psalter and Hours\u2019.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis manuscript was made in London in the early 15th century in the workshop of the famous illuminator, Herman Sheere.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Bedford Psalter will be matched by a manuscript from the museum\u2019s Hart Collection, which also comes from Sheere\u2019s workshop.\u201d<\/p>\n
There will also be two new artist commissions, which will become permanent in the museum\u2019s collection.<\/p>\n
One of these is from Jamie Holman, who was inspired by a collection of Tregaskis bindings on loan from the University of Manchester\u2019s John Rylands Library.<\/p>\n
Anthea said: \u201cThe Nature of Gothic\u2019 is a powerful example of what happens when a local museum thinks nationally and curates with ambition.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s about weaving Blackburn\u2019s story into a much larger cultural fabric.\u201d<\/p>\n
Holman is creating new bound editions through collaborations with an artist in Islamabad, Pakistan, echoing the original project’s international engagement.<\/p>\n
His work will be joined with Nehal Aamir, who appeared at the National Festival of Making, and his work explores themes of migration and identity through craft.<\/p>\n
Her work will draw from Blackburn\u2019s historic ceramics collection and will highlight the visual and technical connections between Islamic decorative traditions and the Arts and Crafts movement.<\/p>\n
The exhibition is funded by the Brian Mercer Trust and is part of the Museum\u2019s National Portfolio Organisation (NPO) status, awarded by Arts Council England, part of a wider story of cultural renewal in the town.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A new exhibition celebrating rare books and manuscripts, as well as UK national treasures, which celebrate nature through…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":247389,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3938],"tags":[22126,95796,3444,95801,95802,95797,77,6968,95800,81597,95803,95799,95798,92304,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-247388","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-books","8":"tag-blackburn","9":"tag-blackburn-museum","10":"tag-books","11":"tag-british-library","12":"tag-cambridge-university-library","13":"tag-cynthia-johnston","14":"tag-entertainment","15":"tag-exhibition","16":"tag-jamie-holman","17":"tag-manchester-art-gallery","18":"tag-manuscripts","19":"tag-medieval-manuscripts","20":"tag-national-museums-liverpool","21":"tag-national-treasure","22":"tag-uk","23":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114816386705998446","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/247388","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=247388"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/247388\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/247389"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=247388"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=247388"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=247388"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}