Common grounds lace drawn from the everyday:lace drawn from the everyday

CommonGrounds: Lace Drawn from the Everyday is the outcome of collaborative research between Sarah Casey,The Bowes Museum and lace specialist Annabel Talbot. The research was funded byThe Bowes Museum, Lancaster University with Talbot’s contribution covered by agrant from the Esme Fairburn Foundation. It is an exhibition of 54 drawings,newly conserved museum artefacts , artefacts never previously examined ordisplayed as deemed unexhibitable due to low status. It is supported by anexhibition catalogue with essays by Annabel Talbot and a foreword by JoannaHashagen. The exhibition (2 May – 21 June 2015) in the museums fashion andtextiles galleries. Research aims : 1) developnew method of drawing that materially embodies curatorial concerns andcommunicates these to a public 2) explore how practices of dress conservationand curation can be enhanced bydrawing 3) raise awareness of the collection; 4) open up dialogue about collecting,value and the relationship betweenpersonal and museologial textiles. The research identified previously unstudieditems in the Blackborne Lace collection (shared between the Bowes Museum and theMetropolitan Museum New York). The collection contains lower value items. Thisincluded a trunk full of lace unopened for over 70 years containing lace to besold to ordinary people. This included 54 unique lace caps. Casey catalogued eachthrough 54 ‘hidden’ drawings developing a technique of drawing with oil to makeimages appear like x-rays or scans, revealed only when held up to the lightThese formed an installation which appears to light up as viewers walked aroundthem. The exhibition developed new material techniques The exhibition itself had 11005 public visitors in an 8 week exhibition run plus online engagement via the Museum website and sold out 2 public talks. The exhibition resulted in in appearance of the collection on ‘BBC Flog it’ (Oct 2015)of drawing, foundparallels between activities of conservation and art practice and trialled method of museum display. Common Grounds #3 was shortlisted forthe Jerwood Drawing prize in 2014 and toured as part of the exhibition’snational tour. The work was also represented in a talk at panel at the Jerwoodproject Space, London. The research has also been disseminated in conferencepapers in the UK and Canada. Bowes Museum Press release: “Casey’s drawing allows us toreflect and consider both notions of categorisation and the interpretation ofhistory through object based research. Theexhibition presents this b collection lace alongside a selection of the finestbonnets in the collection which have been recently conserved by the newlyestablished conservation team at The Bowes Museum. This innovative approach toexhibiting aspects of the collection seeks to revalue this overlooked lace,bridging a gap between high art and everyday textiles of the general public”