REVIEW- Shakespeare In Ten Acts

On one of the exhibitionologist’s first forays into exhibition reviewing, back in 2012, I found myself at an exhibition all about William Shakespeare. Hosted by the British Museum and accompanied by a BBC Radio 4 series, Shakespeare: Staging the World was jam packed full of objects that each, in some way, related to the events, the places and … Continue reading →

REVIEW- Samuel Pepys: Plague, Fire, Revolution

In the great hall of Christ’s Hospital School in Horsham, West Sussex, there hangs a gigantic painting showing an enthroned King James II receiving the mathematical scholars of the school, painted between 1684 and 1690 by Antonio Verrio. Its impressive scale makes its extensive cast of figures appear practically life-size. Among the great crowd of dukes, earls, soldiers, bishops, courtiers and … Continue reading →

REVIEW- Sherlock Holmes

We begin the Museum of London’s tour of the cultural phenomenon that is Sherlock Holmes with a dizzying wall of television screens, showing the world’s most famous detective in all his various film and television incarnations. This is immediately followed by a procession of brightly coloured film posters from around the globe, that invite us to … Continue reading →

REVIEW- Germany: Memories of a Nation

2014 has been a year of anniversaries, and accompanying exhibitions to go with many of them. And curiously, from the centenary of the outbreak of World War One to the tercentenary of the ascension of the Hanoverian dynasty to the British throne (the start of the Georgian era), several of these anniversaries have involved Britain and … Continue reading →

REVIEW- Ming: 50 Years That Changed China

Six hundred years after it first emerged from a Beijing workshop, the exquisite cloisonné enamel jar looks like it was made yesterday. Bursting with vivid colour, its fine gold lines shimmering in the light, and the beady-eyed dragon almost jumping out of the glass cabinet at you. A truly awesome object, that made such an impression on me, I bought a … Continue reading →

REVIEW- Georgians Revealed: Life, Style & the Making of Modern Britain

The title of the British Library’s new exhibition Georgians Revealed: Life, Style, and the Making of Modern Britain makes a bold statement about the period of history it explores. I think it’s fair to say that several historical eras could make a claim to being the one that made modern Britain and, naturally, it would … Continue reading →

REVIEW- David Bowie Is

David Bowie is the single greatest solo artist popular music has ever produced. Anyone who doubts this simple fact (and I assume there is not anyone reading this who does, but for the sake of sounding diplomatic I thought I’d say this anyway) should give Ziggy Stardust and Aladdin Sane a few listens, and if … Continue reading →

REVIEW- Shakespeare: Staging the World

Back when I was young enough to first encounter a Shakespeare text – it was Macbeth, I think, when I was in my third year of secondary school – it used to frustrate me when people, usually teachers, would say something along the lines of ‘the thing about Shakespeare is, his work is timeless.’ The … Continue reading →