Collection Blog
Items gifted by singer-songwriter PJ Harvey go on display at Dorset Museum
March 28, 2023
An archive of items gifted to Dorset Museum by PJ Harvey on the publication of her Dorset dialect poem Orlam, has gone on display.
The items will be exhibited between 29 March and 9 July 2023 outside the Museum’s Collection Discovery Centre.
Alternative rock musician PJ Harvey spent an afternoon at Dorset Museum in April 2022 pursuing her interest in 19th-century Dorset dialect poet William Barnes, and donating a signed copy of Orlam ahead of the work’s publication. She also gifted the Museum proofs of the book’s text and cover marked with her hand-written edits, and an exclusive signed photograph of her wearing a brooch of traditional Dorset buttons. The photograph’s inscription reads, To Dorset Museum, with good wishes always, Polly Jean Harvey. All of these are now on display.
The poem’s language is similar to that used by William Barnes in his 19th-century Dorset dialect poems – Barnes’s Glossary of the Dorset Dialect was Harvey’s principal dialect reference source – but its content and tone are strikingly different. The peaceful rural life celebrated in Barnes’s poems becomes a veneer that Harvey peels away to reveal corrupt lifestyles. Harvey’s musical background can be felt in the poem’s strong rhythmical pulse and lyricism. Orlam has standard English translations on facing pages that were written by Harvey’s friend, mentor, and editor, Scottish poet Don Paterson.
Harvey’s award-winning creative career spans three decades. The trio band ‘PJ Harvey’ released its first album, Dry, in 1992, to great critical acclaim. Harvey is the only musician to have won the Mercury Prize twice, for her albums Stories from the City, Stories from the Sea (written partly in Dorset) in 2001, and Let England Shake in 2011. The latter was recorded in Eype, west Dorset. Film, television, and theatre music have been scored by her. She was awarded an MBE for services to music in 2013. In 2015, Harvey published her debut poetry collection with photographs by Seamus Murphy, The Hollow of the Hand.
Harvey views her life’s creative oeuvre as one body of work and doesn’t differentiate between writing poetry, drawing, and songwriting. She follows a long tradition of writers, including William Barnes, Thomas Hardy, and Sylvia Townsend Warner, whose literature was inspired and shaped by Dorset, and whose works are cared for and displayed in Dorset Museum.
Orlam was published on 28 April 2022 by Picador Poetry. Copies are on sale in the Museum’s shop.
The Museum’s Interim Director, Elizabeth Selby says: ‘We were thrilled to receive these items from PJ Harvey in April 2022. Harvey’s award-winning career, which spans over 30 years, has been extraordinary and wide-ranging – her achievements and creative output are something of which Dorset can be proud. We are delighted that we now have an opportunity to display them for visitors, and fans of PJ Harvey, to see.’
[Photo: PJ Harvey holding her copy of Orlam © Zachary Culpin | BNPS]
Important Announcement
On Friday 2nd June 2023 the cafe TASTE at Dorset Museum cafe will be closed from 2pm
for a private function.
What's on
18 February - 22 June 2023
The Art of Seeing: An exhibition of photographs by Dorchester Camera Club
The Club is delighted to have this opportunity to exhibit some of their members’ prints in the Dorset Museum together with an audio-visual presentation.
Find out more22 March - 25 June 2023
ARTIST ROOMS Louise Bourgeois
Explore the work of Louise Bourgeois (1911–2010), one of the most important figures of modern and contemporary art. This spring Dorset Museum will show a major presentation of her work in this ARTIST ROOMS touring exhibition featuring works jointly owned by Tate and the National Galleries of Scotland.
Find out more29 March - 9 July 2023
PJ Harvey – Orlam
Dorset Museum is now displaying an archive of material relating to PJ Harvey’s verse novel Orlam.
Find out more3 June 2023, 10:00am - 1:00pm
Louise Bourgeois | Drawing and Printmaking Workshop
Explore some of the themes and techniques in the Artist Rooms: Louise Bourgeois exhibition with fine art practitioners from Dorset Museum
Find out more3 June 2023, 10:00am - 12:00noon
Roman Town House Tours
A guided tour of one of the best examples of a Roman Town House in England.
Find out more4 June 2023, 10:00am-12:00noon
Louise Bourgeois’ Weaving | ArtyFacts
Help us to create a wonderful woven installation in our Sculpture Courtyard inspired by spider's webs and the artworks of Louise Bourgeois.
Find out more4 June 2023, 2:00pm - 3:00pm
Dorchester Through the Lens of Thomas Hardy | Mark Chutter
Join Mark Chutter, Chairman and Academic Director of the Thomas Hardy Society, to explore how Hardy presents the town of Dorchester in his writing.
Find out more10 June 2023, 10:00am - 12:00noon
Roman Town House Tours
A guided tour of one of the best examples of a Roman Town House in England.
Find out more17 June 2023, 10:00am - 12:00noon
Roman Town House Tours
A guided tour of one of the best examples of a Roman Town House in England.
Find out more