Posts tagged British Museum

Grayson Perry: The Tomb of the Unknown Craftsman, British Museum, review - Telegraph

Using a word I wouldn’t normally associate with a trip to the British Museum, but this was fun:

Tombs, pots, craft, history, transvestites, what? If you have heard anything about the concept of the British Museum’s latest exhibition you will likely be feeling confused or sceptical. What has the Turner Prize-winning artist, mad potter, and celebrity transvestite been doing in one of Britain’s best-loved museums?

For two and a half years now he’s been raiding the bowels of the museum’s archives with a license to extract whatever treasure he wants from its academic context and present it to the public alongside the products of his own most recent creative outpourings. The result is a smorgasbord of world history, as seen through the eyes of the artist, or what he calls “a journey through my mind”. That, by the way, takes some serious confidence - both on his part and that of the exhibitions team at the British Museum.

Good on Grayson for opening the show with a retort to all his sceptics then. You are greeted at the entrance by a typically homebaked Perry-esque pot bearing some distinctive figures scrawled in his scruffily imperfect manner. It is called ‘You Are Here’ (2011) and depicts you, the museum-going public, explaining with speech bubbles why you went to see the show. It includes: “I liked the poster” and “I just wanted to satisfy myself that I am more clever than this celebrity charlatan.”

It’s my first exposure to the work of Grayson Perry, which seems to revolve around the twin-poles of teddy bears and cross-dressing. It was utterly insane, but gloriously so. Worth a visit for the gift shop alone.

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The Rosetta Stone is one of the British Museum’s best known objects and a valuable key to the decipherment of hieroglyphs. Neil MacGregor, Director of the British Museum tells the story of the Egypt of Ptolemy V. He also looks at the Greek kings who ruled in Alexandria and the struggle between the British and the French over the Middle East and their squabble over the stone. Historian Dorothy Thompson and the writer Ahdaf Soueif help untangle the tale.

Librophiliac Love Letter: A Compendium of Beautiful Libraries | Curious Expeditions

I am shocked - SHOCKED - that the Hornsey Public Library doesn’t take pride of place on this list.

Everyone has some kind of place that makes them feel transported to a magical realm. For some people it’s castles with their noble history and crumbling towers. For others it’s abandoned factories, ivy choked, a sense of foreboding around every corner. For us here at Curious Expeditions, there has always been something about libraries. Row after row, shelf after shelf, there is nothing more magical than a beautiful old library.

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BBC - Podcasts - A History of the World in 100 Objects

A History of the World in 100 Objects is a joint project of the British Broadcasting Corporation and the British Museum, comprising a 100-part radio series written and presented by British Museum director Neil MacGregor.

In 15-minute presentations broadcast on weekdays on Radio 4, MacGregor uses objects of ancient art, industry, technology and arms, all of which are in the British Museum’s collections, as an introduction to parts of human history.

The series, four years in planning, began on 18 January 2010 and will be broadcast over 20 weeks.

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