A press release from The Story Museum:
The Story Museum continues its celebration of the 150th anniversary of the first telling of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland with two intriguing new summer exhibitions running from 28 June to 16 September 2012. Rochester’s Extraordinary Storyloom and Tea with Alice both celebrate the astonishing imagination of Lewis Carroll, past and present. Together the exhibitions provide great summer holiday entertainment, with plenty to see and activities to take part in together.
Rochester’s Extraordinary Storyloom is a steampunk response to the workings of Carroll’s fertile imagination. Can a machine—however inventive—ever match his creative talent? This Taleweaver sets out to try. Visitors young and old are invited to pit their imagination against the mysterious workings of the Loom, said to be invented by Barnabas Rochester, a man who had no talent for writing himself but saw the potential for tapping into young and imaginative minds…
His invention was popular until rendered obsolete by the creative mind of Lewis Carroll and other Oxford storytellers. The original prototype of Rochester’s Extraordinary Storyloom, discovered in pieces in the basement cellar of The Story Museum, has been lovingly reassembled by artist-in-residence Ted Dewan. Victorian genius or pure humbug? See for yourself, explore the workings of the Loom, discover the pioneering activity of Felicity Blight—and become a Revolting Blighter, championing the power of the human imagination then, now and forever.
Tea with Alice celebrates the new golden age of Carroll illustration. Bringing together the work of more than 20 contemporary artists from around the world, this major exhibition reveals an extraordinary flowering of creativity, to challenge that of Tenniel and his Victorian contemporaries.
Alice’s adventures are marked by a chain of characters and episodes: down the rabbit hole, the Caterpillar, the Cheshire Cat, the Queen of Hearts and the Mad Tea Party. Tea with Alice captures these moments and provides a unique opportunity to compare styles, schools and techniques, with original illustrations from contemporary editions, as well as some unpublished versions. Illustrators include the former Children’s Laureate, Anthony Browne, as well as Dusan Kallay from Slovakia and Chiara Carrer from Italy.
Supported by The Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation and curated in Portugal, Tea with Alice also explores the way that the Alice stories translate across the world. Visitors young and old can explore different editions in the specially created “Read Me” Room, vote for their favourite illustration in the “Pick Me” space and have fun with hats and word games at the Mad Tea Party in the “Riddle Me” Room.
Tea with Alice and Rochester’s Extraordinary Storyloom is a two-treat exhibition running from Thursday June 28 – September 16 2012. They are part of the Story Museum’s development programme supported by Arts Council England (the Museum is still at pumpkin stage, occupying a set of large, dilapidated buildings in the centre of Oxford, which await more fairy dust and transformation in 2014).
Rochester’s Extraordinary Storyloom features in the London 2012 Festival, part of the Cultural Olympiad, where it is associated with the Reading Agency’s Storylab Summer Reading Challenge.
Exhibition opening times:
June, July, September: Thursday-Sunday (four days a week). Thurs, Fri, Sat: 10AM-5PM; Sun: 11AM-4PM
August: Wednesday-Sunday (five days a week). Wed, Thurs, Fri, Sat: 10AM-5PM; Sun: 11AM-4PM(closed August Bank Holiday Monday).
Tickets: Adults £5 (concession £3); under 2s free. Family/group ticket: buy five, get one free.