Special Display
Quiet Revolutions
22 January – 27 March 2022
Artist’s Dorset Gallery
Work inspired by Sylvia Townsend Warner and Valentine Ackland
Quiet Revolutions, a display of ceramic pieces inspired by the lives of Sylvia Townsend Warner and Valentine Ackland, will run from 22 January – 27 March 2022 in the Museum’s Artists’ Dorset gallery, coinciding with February’s LGBT+ History month.
The display of five works by Bristol-based artist Amanda Chambers form an ‘intervention’ within a section of the gallery devoted to the artistic and literary Chaldon Herring community. Novelist Sylvia Townsend Warner (1893-1978) and poet Valentine Ackland (1906-1969) were part of this community, and it was here that they fell in love and became life partners.
Leading a rich life of literary and political pursuits, Sylvia and Valentine lived through an intense period of the 20th century. However, it is largely the domestic sphere of their lives which inform the six ceramic works being displayed. Living openly together in rural Dorset in the early 1930s, Sylvia and Valentine shared a deep-rooted commitment to each other despite extreme challenges – notably the prospect of a three-way relationship with author Elizabeth Wade White, and Valentine’s struggle with alcoholism, which she endured for several decades in secret. The works highlight the immense resilience shown by both women during their partnership.
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Opening hours:
Dorset Museum & Art Gallery
Daily: 10.00am - 5.00pm
TASTE Café
Daily: 9.00am - 4.00pm
Sunday: 10:00am - 4:00pm
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LGBT+ History Month
LGBT+ History Month is an annual month-long observance of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender history, and the history of the gay rights and related civil rights movements.
Visit websiteAmanda Chambers
Amanda Chambers (Picture Credit Max McClure)
Amanda Chambers is a multidisciplinary artist, and the primary focus of her work is making connections to the past through an exploration of both found material and imaginary concepts. She is often stimulated by textual and archival sources and has worked with some of the most significant museum collections in the UK. She is an Academician at the Royal West of England Academy and a member of the Royal Society of Sculptors. Her interest in Warner and Ackland began in 2013, and in 2014 she produced a series of works inspired by their lives.
Visit websiteWhat's On
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Find out more2 December 2023 - 21 April 2024
Awakened by Frink
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Find out more18 April 2024, 10:00am- 10:30am
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Find out more18 April 2024, 7:00pm - 8:30pm
Traditions and Transitions: The Story of the Chettle Grave Group | Sophia Adams
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Find out more24 April 2024, 7:30pm
Yuanfan Yang, Pianist
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Find out more2 May 2024, 10:00am- 10:30am
Storytime at the Museum
Come and join us for fun-filled Storytime where you can listen to some amazing tales in our Community Space at the Museum.
Find out more16 May 2024, 10:00am- 10:30am
Storytime at the Museum
Come and join us for fun-filled Storytime where you can listen to some amazing tales in our Community Space at the Museum.
Find out more16 May 2024, 7:00pm - 8:30pm
Paul Nash in Dorset | Professor Paul Gough
This richly illustrated lecture explores over 80 Paul Nash artworks created from the mid-1930s until his death in 1946. They range from ancient places such as Maiden Castle and Badbury Rings to the limestone promontories and fossilised forests on the Purbeck coast.
Find out more