Scissors, Paper, Stone

Wakefield Museums recently secured funding from Arts Council England to commission an artist to create an installation using museum objects in an innovative and exciting way in a special showcase in Wakefield One – the building in which Wakefield Museum is based.  

We were looking for an artist to use our collections as inspiration to create a beautifully engaging display. We asked artists to submit ideas that would allow people to engage with museum collections in a different way. 

We received loads of fabulous proposals that used the objects (we suggested a decorative Victorian bath or some stone heads) in some really interesting and unusual ways.

In the end we selected a proposal to use the stone heads in a piece called ‘Scissors Paper Stone’ by artist Rachel Sim.  Rachel is a recent graduate from the Royal College of Art.  Her work offers a graphic interpretation of cityscapes using various methods of printmaking to reflect her personal view of architecture and contemporary urban experience.

In Scissors Paper Stone, Rachel will explore the themes of renewal, reinvention and the passing of time in Wakefield.  She will create a series of sketchbook drawings of the architecture, patterns and textures of Wakefield.  These will inspire structures and prints that will be formed into a 3D installation -a cardboard city. The stone heads (from buildings in Wakefield) will then be placed on plinths within the cardboard city, allowing the viewer to peak through and spot them.

The installation will be in place from autumn this year.  So watch this space for more updates.

For more information about Rachel Sim, visit her website.

Behind the scenes for Castleford Museum

Some of the rarest and most important pieces going on display in the new Castleford Museum are the remains of an Iron Age chariot. 

After over 2000 years in the ground they are very fragile and had to be sent to a specialist conservation lab at York Archaeological Trust to get them ready for the exhibition. Here is one of the finished tyres in its protective sealed box being loaded into the van to come back to the museum stores. The next step is for a specialist mount maker to create some sort of cradle to hold it all in place.

Inside this box is an Iron Age tyre!

Buried in the chariot was the body of an Iron Age man. His remains are also very fragile and the conservator’s next job is to prepare the skull for display.

 

Archaeological conservator, Mags Felter from York Archaeological Trust

This skull was buried with the iron age chariot and is now very fragile

Imagine... Castleford Forum Library and Museum

This is the top floor of the new Castleford Forum Library and Museum, it may not look special yet but imagine….

A brave warrior being immortalised in a grand chariot burial

A roman soldier in full armour, making his way to Castleford and missing the home cooking of Rome

The heat of a glass works – hot enough to melt the soles of your shoes

The anguish of a community ripped apart by closing mines, over time finding pride and strength in their town.

The roar of a crowd as Castleford beat Huddersfield 11 – 8 in the Rugby League Cup 1935

The great and good of Castleford in their fancy frocks playing marbles on a ‘Reet Night aht’

These are some of the stories you will encounter at the new Castleford Museum opening later this year; Imagine….

All in a flap - and the winner is...

The votes have been cast.  The scores have been counted.  We have a winner!

Thank you for voting on your favourite flapper dress! 

Come to Wakefield Museum on Wednesday 31 July (5-7pm) to see all 3 dresses, and see which one has gone on display along with carefully chosen accessories.

To celebrate the change in our displays, we are going all 1920s for the evening, and everyone is invited to come and get into the spirit!

Picture taken from a 1920s birthday card in the museum collection

Inspired by three gorgeous 1920s flapper dresses in our collections this event is bound to be hotsy- totsy!

The joint will be swinging, with a Charleston inspired Zumba, a fascinator workshop, bow-tie tying demonstrations, a display of vintage inspired headpieces, and much more.

So don’t be a sap, pop on your glad rags and head on down for a swell time.

Flapper Dresses
The public has been casting votes as to which 1920s flapper dress should go on display at Wakefield Museum.  For tonight only all three dress will be displayed, with our social history curator on hand to talk about the dresses and the museum collections.
 

Fabulous Fascinators

Join in with a drop in workshop to make a 1920s inspired hair fascinator.  Plus bow tie tying demonstrations for the gentlemen!

Milliner extraordinaire

Knottingley-based milliner, Deborah Walton will be showing some 1920s-inspired hats in her collection, and will be available for hat advice!

Photo Credit: Jessie Leong Photography

Charleston Zumba
Get with the swing of things with a taster session of Charleston Zumba from Sports and Active Lifestyles.  Sessions are at 6.30 and 7.00pm.  Sports gear not necessary!

A 1920s card in the museum collection

The Great Gatsby

“Can’t repeat the past?…Why of course you can!”  F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby

Need some literary inspiration…take a look at some of the classic novels written during this period in a novel book display from Wakefield Libraries.

Mocktails @ Create Café

Indulge yourself with a 1920s style mocktail at Create Café.  Create café will also be offering a special menu for the evening.  Charges apply.

Life in the 1320s!
Plus visit our temporary exhibition Food For All Seasons to meet our infamous peasant Alice Gerbod and find out what life was like in the 1320s!

All events are free unless otherwise stated.

Drop in to Wakefield Museum between 5.00pm & 7.30pm.

Some fabulous drawings!

Last week we received a lovely package in the post...

In early June a group of pupils from Silcoates School visited Sandal Castle as part of their school project work.  Pupils were taken around the castle site by one of the Museums' Learning  Officers and told the history of the site along with information about the castle's surviving features.

Pupils asked thoughtful questions to further their understanding and worked on site collating evidence for their project work.

Along with this lovely letter, were some pupils' drawings, and they were all so fantastic, we had to share a few!

What a lovely letter to receive!

What we can remember about our trip to Sandal Castle:

A pupil's drawing of Sandal Castle done back at school - all the features are there!

This picture shows an aerial view of Sandal Castle, showing impressive visualisation skills!

We love this image of a knight at the Battle of Wakefield!

Castleford's new museum!

Castleford’s eagerly awaited new library and museum, is well underway.

The museum team is working hard on the internal fit out design for the third floor museum space.

Displays will include:

• The importance of Bronze Age Castleford

• A unique and fascinating Iron Age burial chariot

• Objects from Roman Castleford (or Lagentium as it was known then), including a leather sandal, a milestone and an ear pick!

• How mining has shaped the community

• A stunning display of Castleford made glass and ceramics

• Plus rugby, marbles and not forgetting Henry Moore.

There will also be 4 very special community cases, offering the opportunity to the people of Castleford to make their own museum displays.

This plan shows the basic layout of the new museum space. The display cases on the left hand side will consist of roman stonework pieces.



This plan shows the central display island that will feature a large screen showing historic film from the area.

As we get closer to the scheduled opening in autumn this year watch this space for more behind the scenes updates…

Extraordinary Ordinary

Extraordinary Ordinary – pit village life by Jack Hulme

Two very different visions of manliness!

A stunning new exhibition at Pontefract Museum celebrates the touching and captivating photographs by Jack Hulme.

Jack Hulme’s photographs of the pit village of Fryston, on the outskirts of Castleford, are a fascinating, unique and revealing record of a mining community in the mid twentieth century.  He was born in the village but, after an injury, was unable to work as a miner.

When his wife bought him a Leica camera he became the village photographer, and it is for his black and white images that he is now remembered. The enduring value of his images is that he captured the ordinary – domestic chores, playing in the street, the daily grind.

From the attitude of his subjects towards him, you can see he was part of the life he was documenting. From the National Strike to the Miners’ Strike he witnessed the passing of the industrial age in Yorkshire.

Can you imagine doing this now?

Fanny Morgan and her sister

Before Health and Safety went mad!

Before computer games took over!

Some of what he photographed is the same today but there are big differences. Change is sometimes most obvious to people who haven’t lived through it. Therefore the Museum asked students at Pontefract New College for their reactions to the images in this exhibition.

Photography is an incredibly popular subject at New College. The A-level students experience both the traditional dark room photography Jack Hulme would have recognised as well as modern digital manipulation. They have researched some of these photographs and written their own personal responses. These captions next to the originals give new perspectives on this powerful record.

Pontefract Museum, Salter Row, Pontefract, WF8 1BA, 01977 722740

Opening Times: Mon – Fri 10.00am – 4.30pm, Sat 10.30am – 4.30pm

Free Admission