CAG on museums: Creating a decorative arts exhibition on Spain and Portugal

 

When the opportunity to create an exhibition arises you don’t say no. That’s why when I was asked to help organize a display on behalf of Newcastle University to promote their collaboration with the Vamos Festival (http://www.vamosfestival.com) I jumped at the opportunity. The Vamos Festival is on for a month in Newcastle and celebrates Spanish and Portuguese cultures. The festival promises to be very arts, music, and performance based –  the backbone of any really great festival! But putting together an exhibition from the museum’s collection to represent these cultures hasn’t been especially easy since I don’t actually have much background knowledge about Spain or Portugal – unless we’re talking about food.

Spanish facon with steel blade, 1896

Detail of walrus ivory handle and inlay

The museum also doesn’t have anything that particularly corresponds to the contemporary music and vibrancy the festival will present, but does have what many museums have, lots of historic objects. In an attempt not to be too boring with this display as it’s quite small and I want to draw an audience in, I have decided to pull together an exhibition that spans Portuguese and Spanish cultures from the 5th century B.C. to the 19^th century and focuses on beautiful and skillful artistry. This will allow viewers a glimpse of the long history of Spanish and Portuguese creativity seen in decorative arts throughout the centuries.

Textile fragment, heraldry from Spain circa 1545 or later

The title of the exhibition will be ‘Material Connections: Spanish and Portuguese decorative arts’, and will include textiles, ancient religious bronze offerings, and various elaborately decorated accessories of daily life. By focusing on the decoration and artistry in Spanish and Portuguese daily and religious life, this exhibition will bring the depth of the collection into focus and connect with the more academic contributions of Newcastle University and their collaboration with the Vamos Festival. Now… to get writing all about decorative arts and get everything else done by the 14^th of June.