Visual Arts May 2021.qxp_Layout 1 13/05/2021 16:42 Page 2
Visual Arts
Titanic: Honour & Glory Worcester Art Gallery & Museum, until Saturday 11 September
Visitors to this national touring exhibition will find themselves coming face-to-face with one of the most famous and tragic events in 20th-century British history. The Titanic was a passenger liner that sank in the North Atlantic Ocean on 15 April 1912 during its maiden voyage. Honour & Glory features a diverse range of very rare artefacts from the vessel, as well as examples of the liner’s luxurious interior fittings, and props and costumes from the 1997 James Cameron film, Titanic.
2 Tone: Lives & Legacies Herbert Art Gallery & Museum, Coventry, until Sun 12 September
This sure-to-be-popular show marks the very first time the Midlands-born 2 Tone music movement has been the subject of a dedicated UK exhibition. Originating in Coventry in the 1970s, 2 Tone derived from the same-named record label - founded by The Specials’ Jerry Dammers - which referenced a desire to transcend and defuse Britain’s much-inevidence racial tensions of the time. The exhibition examines the label’s
philosophy, political and social message, its impact on the music charts of the day, and also highlights the bands that were part of the label - most specifically The Specials, The Selecter and other skainfluenced ensembles such as Madness, The Beat and The Bodysnatchers. Items and memorabilia featured in the show include the iconic 2 Tone suit, Roddy Radiation’s pork pie hat, a Fred Perry polo shirt and the Harrington jacket.
British Wildlife Photography Awards Retrospective Exhibition The Commandery, Worcester, Tues 18 May - Thurs 17 June Presented in celebration of the British Wildlife Photography Awards’ 10th anniversary, this touring exhibition brings together all the overall winners, along with a selection of category winners and highly commended images. Although ostensibly created to celebrate photographic talent, the awards have also
Grey seal photo by Kirsty Andrews for the British Wildlife Photography Awards
served to highlight the great wealth and diversity of British natural history, in the process raising awareness about biodiversity, species and habitats. The main exhibition will be located outside in The Commandery’s gardens, with a digital exhibition available to view inside the museum.
Red fox photo by Samuel Morris for the British Wildlife Photography Awards
China: Through The Lens Of John Thomson 1868 - 1872 The Potteries Museum & Art Gallery, Stoke-onTrent, until Sun 22 August
Inspired by his fascination with Asia and its people, Edinburgh-born John Thomson produced a set of photographs that constitutes one of the 19th century’s most extensive records of any region of the world. The achievements of Thomson - who went on to be appointed photographer to the British royal family by Queen Victoria - are all the more staggering given the method via which photographs were being taken at the time of his travels to far-flung territories. Referred to as the wet-collodion process, the method entailed an exposure being made onto a glass negative. This had to be done in complete darkness, on location, and in a portable darkroom tent - a requirement which saw Thomson having to travel with large numbers of crates, glass negatives, and bottles of highly flammable and poisonous chemicals... This touring display of Thomson’s photographic prints is complemented by an exhibition of Chinese artefacts selected from the museum’s own collections. whatsonlive.co.uk 43
