̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge - luke syson

Cambridge collections awarded Arts Council England funding

ta385 — Fri, 04 Nov 2022 08:00:00 +0000

ACE has awarded renewed National Portfolio Organisation (NPO) status to the consortium of seven museums (£617,534) and to Kettle’s Yard, the ̽��ֱ��'s contemporary art gallery (£296,107).

̽��ֱ�� ̽��ֱ�� cares for the country’s highest concentration of internationally important collections outside London, with more than five million works of art, artefacts and specimens.

Together, they form an international tourist attraction and the largest cultural provider in the East of England, one of the country’s most rapidly growing regions.

̽��ֱ�� ̽��ֱ�� museums work closely together with the ̽��ֱ��’s Botanic Garden, Library and other collections, and Cambridge’s independent museums and cultural organisations, providing vital sector support across Cambridgeshire and the region.

“ ̽��ֱ�� collections have a unique power to bring people together from across the world to explore today’s big questions, looking at the past and present to help determine our future," said Kamal Munir, Pro-Vice-Chancellor for ̽��ֱ�� Community & Engagement.

"This is a difficult funding landscape and we know that ACE were faced with hard decisions during an investment round that received more applications than ever before. In that context, we’re especially pleased to have received further investment in the ̽��ֱ�� collections.

"While this grant represents a reduction of 40% from current funding levels, it is heartening to see this continued recognition of the important role the collections play within our local communities," Munir said.

Driven by research and shaped by communities, the work of the museums is grounded in the ̽��ֱ��’s commitment to contribute to society through education, learning and research at the highest levels of excellence, and encompasses collaboration with world-renowned contemporary artists, game-changing research-led exhibitions and wide-ranging inclusion and learning programmes, promoting wellbeing, creativity and connectivity.

“While there is no doubt that this significant reduction to our current level of Arts Council England funding represents a major challenge, we’re grateful for the support announced today, especially given the difficult times that many people are facing," said Luke Syson, Director of the Fitzwilliam Museum, lead partner of the museums NPO.

"As we look ahead to our future, we remain committed to continuing to engage the widest possible audience, both in the enormously unequal region of Cambridgeshire and beyond, and look forward to working with ACE and other partners and funders to deliver our ambitious programmes.”

̽��ֱ��museums are undertaking a long-term investigation into the legacies of empire and enslavement, and are currently sharing findings and inviting challenge and conversation with audiences and communities through a major public programme, Power and Memory. An upcoming collaborative programme will also inspire action to mitigate the climate crisis through engaging audiences with innovative environmental research.

Andrew Nairne, Director of Kettle’s Yard said: “We are proud to continue to be an Arts Council National Portfolio Organisation. This core funding supports our work making outstanding exhibitions, conserving and animating the house and collection, engaging with diverse community groups and providing a learning programme - so contributing powerfully to the Let’s Create strategy.”

Jo McPhee, Head of Partnerships, added: “Cambridge is frequently ranked as the most unequal city in the country. Our communities and the sector are facing increasingly challenging times. Despite a reduction in our funding, we will continue to work with delivery partners, including the City and County Councils, and cultural sector colleagues to support our communities and create a flourishing cultural offer that’s open and accessible to everyone.”

̽��ֱ�� ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge Museums are

Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology
Museum of Classical Archaeology
Fitzwilliam Museum
Kettle’s Yard
Polar Museum
Sedgwick Museum of Earth Sciences
Whipple Museum of the History of Science
Museum of Zoology

Culture in Cambridge receives a boost with a £913,641 Arts Council England (ACE) award to the ̽��ֱ��’s museums and collections.

It is heartening to see this continued recognition of the important role the collections play within our local communities

Kamal Munir

Visitors in the Fitzwilliam Museum

̽��ֱ��text in this work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. Images, including our videos, are Copyright © ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge and licensors/contributors as identified. All rights reserved. We make our image and video content available in a number of ways – as here, on our main website under its Terms and conditions, and on a range of channels including social media that permit your use and sharing of our content under their respective Terms.

Yes

Fitzwilliam’s grandest gallery to re-open this evening following major restoration

Anonymous — Mon, 07 Oct 2019 10:29:17 +0000

Behind the closed doors of the main Gallery, the Grade I listed ceiling with its ornate plasterwork and casts of the Parthenon Frieze at lower lever have been cleaned, restored and repainted revealing the crisp decorative detail. In the gallery immense grandeur and an intimacy of scale come together remarkably. At eye-level, the transformation is no less impressive. Gallery walls, clad in red fabric since the 1970s, have been stripped and re-covered with a sumptuous new wall covering that echoes the colour adopted by Basevi’s successor, Edward M Barry (1830-1880), for the magnificent Founder’s Entrance. Seeing paintings by Anthony Van Dyck, Joshua Reynolds and Thomas Lawrence in this room makes great masterpieces truly unforgettable.

̽��ֱ��gallery has been rehung under the Directorship of Luke Syson, formerly of ̽��ֱ��National Gallery and ̽��ֱ��Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. “A highlight of the new hang will be a magnificent group of floor to ceiling portraits by Anthony Van Dyck (1599-1641), and Daniel Mytens (c. 1590- 1647/48) - the dominant painters at the English court in the first decades of the 17th century,” says Syson, adding “they have been generously lent by the Trustees of the Rt. Hon. Olive, Countess Fitzwilliam’s Chattels Settlement, by permission of Lady Juliet Tadgell. Seeing them at the Fitz is truly thrilling.”

This evening’s Late event will launch the Fitz’s new annual theme of Sensual/Virtual, introduced by Luke Syson. Many of the exhibits on show in the gallery will have new ‘behind the label’ stories where visitors will be able to scan a QR code or tap their smart phone on an NFC chip to access new and complementary information.

̽��ֱ��Fitzwilliam Museum is a glittering jewel in the crown of the ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge. Designed by the architect George Basevi (1794-1845), it is widely considered to be one of the finest museum interiors in Britain. One distinguished former director of the National Gallery of Art in Washington called the Fitz “the greatest small Museum in the world.”

Sensual/Virtual is further explored through Seeing Sound, opening on Tuesday 8th October. ̽��ֱ��show asks ‘can we listen to a painting?’ This collaborative exhibition features objects from three of the Museum’s five departments. Notable exhibits are the five autograph musical manuscripts by Brahms, Stravinsky, Handel and Handel enthusiast, Lord Fitzwilliam, the founder of the Fitzwilliam. ̽��ֱ��show also features works by Rossetti, Renoir and Picasso, which demonstrate the ways in which artists and composers have engaged in a dialogue between sight and sound.

LATE: Gallery Party runs from 19:30-21:00 on Monday, 7 October. Admission is free and entry is via the main entrance to the museum.

Adapted from a press release by ̽��ֱ��Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge.

The grandest gallery at the ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge's Fitzwilliam Museum will re-open this evening, restored to its majestic splendour after a refurbishment project lasting two years. Visitors to tonight’s after-hours Gallery Party will be the first to enjoy the museum’s extraordinary collection as never before.

A highlight of the new hang will be a magnificent group of floor to ceiling portraits by Anthony Van Dyck and Daniel Mytens - the dominant painters at the English court in the first decades of the 17th century.

Luke Syson, Director, Fitzwilliam Museum

Yes

Beggarstaffs: William Nicholson & James Pryde

ehs33 — Fri, 10 May 2019 11:59:35 +0000

New exhibition puts the ̽��ֱ��'s collections of two leading figures in Modern British Art into context for the first time.