A Hive of Industry | |||
And other exhibitions at Gunnersbury Park Museum
Quietly over the summer a new exhibition has been installed at the Museum at Gunnersbury. A fantastic array of products made in Hounslow and Ealing, the two boroughs the museum serves, has been brought out of the stores. Visitors will be amazed at the number of famous brands which have local connections! A Hive of Industry is the kind of exhibition Gunnersbury does really well and it demonstrates what our Museum could be with some proper investment. Despite its extreme lack of resources, the combination of a rich collection and an imaginative curator really works. This display is thoughtfully laid out, clearly labelled, and very enjoyable. Stir-Up Sunday: free family event Join the Victorian servants as they prepare for the Christmas festivities! Traditionally, the preparations would begin on the last Sunday before Ad-vent, known as Stir-Up Sunday. The Victorian kitchens will be decked with holly and ivy to put you in the Christ-mas spirit, and you can help the servants pound the sugar and spices, stir the plum pudding and make a Christmas wish! You might also discover a few Christmas traditions. . . Why do we stir the pudding from East to West? Why do we put three spices into the mince pies? And who are the Lord and Lady of Misrule? Sessions take place first-come, first-served as follows: 11.30am –12.30pm, 1–2 pm and 2.30–3.30pm. Children must be accompanied by an adult at all times. Phone 020 8992 2247 for details The Polish Lives exhibition 5 Dec 2010 – 20 Jan 2011 Ealing is renowned for its large Polish community, the result of several waves of migration which began with the famous Polish pilots based at Northolt during World War II. This exhibition is the result of an oral history project carried out by Ealing Local Studies Library, with support from the Heritage Lottery Fund. Different generations of Polish residents were interviewed about their origins, experiences of living in Ealing and how they have maintained or adapted Polish cultural traditions and attitudes. The interviews are being edited for a website, which can be used by local schools. Gunnersbury Park Museum is providing the main venue for the exhibition and will add the original interviews to the museum’s oral history archives. Vocational training for schools In February 2011 the museum education department will be working on a joint project with the London Transport Museum Depot at Acton and the Award Scheme Development and Accreditation Network (ASDAN) to provide vocational training for a group of secondary school pupils from Acton High School. Museum staff will train the pupils to deliver sessions on the Victorian Kitchens to a class from Derwentwater Primary School – they will be learning the skills of live interpretation in museums. This project will help them to work towards their Certificate of Personal Effectiveness (CoPE) by enabling them to practice key skills such as communication and team-work. Some of them will be "actors" in the Kitchens and some will be our "site managers". The latter will be expected to focus on customer service skills. Iron Age coins The Friends made a donation to the Museum to enable it to buy seventeen Iron Age coins found in Brentford. These have now arrived at Gunnersbury and are being carefully documented before they go on show in the not too distant future.
November 24, 2010 |