I am particularly delighted to have this research opportunity at Ruthin Craft Centre. The initial idea was triggered by the 'The Lost Magic Kingdoms' exhibition at the Museum of Mankind in1986 and Eduardo Paolozzi's intrigiung juxtaposition of museum artefacts with his own work and more recently 'Tomb of the Lost Craftsman' by Grayson Perry at The British Museum.

The pilot project will run from 12th April – 13th July.

Here is the description on the door of my project space in studio 5 at Ruthin Craft Centre:

The history of museums and galleries has its beginnings in the display by private individuals of collections of objects and artefacts. These were sometimes known as Cabinets of Curiosity.

Blue                                                                                                           A Salamander for Cellini

photography: Dewi Tannatt Lloyd                                                        photography: Clarissa Bruce

                                                       

The artefacts in this cabinet are from collections held at Bodelwyddan Castle and Plas Newydd, Llangollen. They have been selected for their connections to themes in the work of Claire Curneen and Kevin Coates, exhibiting in the main galleries. Both artists have been inspired by the magnificent collections of curiosities at the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford and the National Museum of Ireland, Dublin, respectively. It is hoped that our engagement with some of Denbighshire’s treasures will arouse curiosity and a desire to visit our very own ‘Cabinets of Curiosity’, right there on our doorstep.

The focus of this collection is to use these objects and artefacts to inspire creativity in our community and act as starting points for making our own artwork.

This is a research project that has been devised and will be delivered by artist Mai Thomas as part of her PhD studies at Glyndwr University. It will run for 12 weeks as a pilot in conjunction with Ruthin Craft Centre and the Museum and Heritage Services at Denbighshire County Council.

During the participatory sessions ideas will be developed for new handling collections and learning resources in collaboration with different artists based on the research. These handling collections will be used for outreach work in Denbighshire.

After weeks of planning , the excitement built as I was able to peruse the shelves and boxes in the County’s Heritage Stores in search of treasures. My aim was to choose objects, which would spark curiosity and trigger dialogues. With Kevin Coates’s vast selection of references in mind, I peeped into boxes, peeled back layers of crisp white tissue paper to reveal hidden treasures. Here are some of the objects I chose. 

I had visited Plas Newydd , the Ladies of Llangollen’s home a month earlier and had encountered a carved wooden angel, hidden in the corner of the dark attic space. She was captivating and reminded me immediately of Claire’s work. Here she is, calmly performing her duties.

Wooden carving believed to have been created in Italy by Robert Morris circa 1880

This is the skull of a turtle, mandible is missing. Could this be the skull that General York exhibited in Plas Newydd as that of a sea serpent?

The mounted stag’s head above originally belonged to the estate game keeper on the Bodelwyddan Castle Estate. I handled it with great respect and wondered about its former life, the earth it pounded, the air it sniffed and stories it could tell.

The origin of this pale sand stone head is unknown. Where and which building it came from is a mystery but it reminded me of the Corleck heads found in Ireland. I will develop this idea and make links with the Green Man during the workshops.