Visitors will be able to view a collection of artifacts, ephemera, costumes and images that document not only the history but the living tradition of Britain’s annual and seasonal customs in all their archaic glory. The range is extraordinary: at this point, over 700 annual customs are still in practice across the country.













The selection of objects and programming for the Museum will be highly personal, as exceptional and strange as the subject matter it pays tribute to. The building will utilise all the signs of a museum’s institutional authority – meticulous, state of the art presentation, exhaustive captions, hushed lighting. However, alluring displays and novel lighting effects usually associated with an art installation will work to subvert the traditional way in which items are presented.



As idiosyncratic as the events themselves, the thematic emphasis of the exhibits will reflect the curators own particular fascinations with a comprehensive range of events that they themselves have recorded and participated in over the past fifteen years in addition to documenting and making available to the public an informed study centre for this rich and diverse aspect of British life.



Due to the ephemeral nature of many objects associated with folk events, many things will be specially commissioned while others will be accurately made replicas of long lost items such as the Dorset Osser mask.



The collection will cover the diverse aspects of folk culture such as Witchcraft and Superstition, Vernacular Arts, Legends and Myths. Popularly held beliefs as to the so called ‘ancient origins’ of many of our customs will be explored as well as the ways in which traditions change and mutate along with social and economic conditions within communities.



Contemporary artists will be able to show work to the public in a gallery space in response to a variety of folkloric subjects.



The museum teashop kitchen will provide a place to demonstrate local food specialties and recipes, filmed in front of a live audience with clips used on the website. The museum will provide a range of educational programmes, lectures and workshops, tailored to meet the learning needs at both compulsory and post compulsory educational levels. Inspiration will be drawn from the diverse range of exhibits and their specific contexts and an engaging programme of visiting speakers / practioners who will demonstrate a range of related activities, including music, lectures, and traditional crafts. Professional development workshops will be available to teachers, enabling them to develop strategies to enable the incorporation of folk history, tradition and the artifact into classroom teaching.
 

The museum will provide a marvelous field for projection and fantasy, fostering an environment which will change and expand the viewer’s awareness and appreciation of their British heritage.



Design
I passionately believe that an engaging display is crucial to convey information, inform the subject matter and also deliver a sheer sense of joy, wonder and delight. For the past twenty years, my entire working experience has been spent as an artist, art director and set designer. I will draw upon my experience in these fields to create innovative, strong and historically informed museum displays. I believe that display is crucial in informing subject matter, and therefore the cabinets in which the museum's objects are displayed require excellent lighting, accessibility and wonderful design.



Immediate sources of inspiration for the overall look of the museum have included the illustrations of British designer and illustrator Barbara Jones; the authors of 'English Popular Art' Dr. Margaret Lambert and Enid Marx and the illustrations and linocuts of Edward Bawden.

The internal paintwork at Charleston Farmhouse in Sussex has also been an inspiration, as has the interior of Brickfields, the home of contemporary ceramicist Mary Wondrausch.



Images of the 1970's department store Biba have been of great interest to me; particularly the manner in which its designer Barbara Hulanicki created a stunning, internalised world that made full use of the buildings former art deco glory in a manner which, in my, opinion has never been surpassed.



Some displays will focus on individuals and their folk-objects, especially artifacts connected to specific rites and rituals. Specific practitioners, expertly versed in the traditional production of folk-objects will be invited to produce installations that reflect traditional celebrations. An example would feature Derbyshire Well-Dressing utilising silk flowers, rather than fresh, to provide a more permanent display.



Image courtesy of Anorak

It is crucial to directly involve local individuals to create the displays. This will be one of the fundamental differences between the Folklore Museum and other museums.

Other exhibits will have seasonal, thematic or regional themes. Examples include:

Swan Upping
Wren Boys
Wroth Silver Ceremony
Egg Rolling
Abbots Bromley Horn Dance



Tichbourne Dole
Padstow May Day





May-Pole Lowering & Raising
Jack in the Green



Battle Bonfire
Wicken Love Feast
Stragglethorpe Plough Play
Antrobus Soulcakers



Gooseberry Contest
Hunting the Earl of Rone



The Burry Man



Winster Wakes
Cakes and Ale Ceremony
Eyam Plague Sunday
Church Clipping



Bellringers Feast
Feast of St Wilfred
Nottingham Goose Fair
Lewes Bonfire



Well Dressing
Vintners Street Sweeping
Firing the Fenny Poppers
Clifton Court Leet
Woodstock Mock Mayor
Feather Guisers
Laxton Jury Day
Morris Dancing



Scuttlebrook Wake
Trial of Pyx
Straw Bear
Westminster Greaze
Grovelly Rights





Selkirk Ridings

I have been most fortunate to enlist the contemporary artist and printmaker Jonny Hannah, who has kindly provided the initial identity and logo for the Museum, in addition to the letterhead. His unique style will add greatly to the overall feel of the museum's graphic look.