CALLING ALL COLLECTORS! PEOPLE’S SHOW 2020 at the Weald and Downland living museum

I just spotted this call for help from the Weald and Downland living museum:

Calling all collectors. As part of the Weald & Downland Living Museum’s 50th Anniversary we will be holding a ‘People’s Show’ from 13 February until 11 May 2020.

At the Museum we have around 16,500 items in our collection dealing with rural life and building activities, but we also know that some of you have wonderful collections too and we want to see them.

A People’s Show turns the spot-light on our visitors own collections and gives the opportunity to display them in a public setting. The first People’s Show was held at Walsall Museum and Art Gallery in May 1990, and is said to have been inspired by a discovery of a private ‘museum’ of native American artifacts in a local resident’s attic. The Walsall People’s Show proved so popular that further People’s Shows were held across the country and by the end of 1994 over half a million objects had been loaned by the public to similar exhibitions.

So not only will this exhibition celebrate 50 years of the Weald & Downland Living Museum but also 30 years of the Peoples Show and we think it about time to revisit this very popular event.

To help us celebrate our 50th anniversary we are interested in the personal collections of people who have some link to the Museum; these can be the collections of visitors, staff, volunteers, associates, tutors, contractors and anyone else with a connection – and absolutely anything will be considered, in fact the more unusual the better!

The exhibition will be located inside one of our buildings in secure display cases where necessary and practical, and the displays will be stewarded whenever the exhibition if open to our visitors. Obviously we’d like to know as much as possible about you and your collection but if you’d prefer, you can remain anonymous.

If you’d like to be involved or would like any further details, please contact Julian Bell or Jo Embleton by e-mail or snail-mail. We will need to consider each collection carefully and for various reasons unfortunately cannot guarantee that we will be able to accept all applicants to the exhibition. We are calling for your help.

To help us in our decision making please send us your name, age and contact details, what your link is to the Museum along with a description of your collection including number, size of items, how long you’ve been collecting and why, and some images.

The deadline for applications will be 30 November and chosen collections will need to be delivered to the Museum at the end of January.

We greatly look forward to hearing from you and learning just what you all collect.

For further information or to send your submission/s, please contact the Curatorial Team below:

Email:
Julian Bell – jbell@wealddown.co.uk
Jo Embleton – joembleton@wealddown.co.uk

Address:
Att: Curatorial Team
Weald & Downland Living Museum
Town Lane
Singleton
PO18 0EU