Poetry in Motion - Fan Museum (cancelled)
Preview by Lizzie Guilfoyle
OWING to totally unforeseen circumstances the exhibition Poetry in Motion has been cancelled.
Previously Posted: Poetry in Motion, an exhibition of fans from two private collections, will be on display at the Fan Museum together with complementary poems. The first of its kind, the exhibition runs until October 4, 2009.
The theme for the exhibition was inspired by the Chinese custom of combining poetry with painting, and fan paintings in particular, from as early as the 4th century. The unique art of the poets, painters and craftsmen included in this exhibition beautifully complement and enhance each other: an illustration on a fan is poetically translated whilst the poetry illustrates the fan. Poems inscribed by 12th century Chinese Emperors onto silk fans will be included in the exhibition.
There are also more recent fans such as the one inscribed with a satirical poem by the existentialist Jean Cocteau, the fan painted by Pierre-Auguste Renoir, and others by Miró and Pissarro. Other rare exhibits are the fan which once belonged to a Polynesian Chief and the brass fan of a priestess. Stunning fans made in the Fabergé workshop, intricately carved mother-of-pearl, ivory and tortoiseshell, as well as jewelled fans, will add to the splendour of the exhibition.
Several of the fans have a royal provenance, such as the wedding fan worn by a Queen of Spain who married for love aged 17, became pregnant and died within a year of her marriage. Others, like the fan depicting the surrender of Highlanders to the Duke of Cumberland after the Battle of Culloden in 1746, commemorate historical events.
The poems chosen for this remarkable exhibition range from the humorous to the poignant and reflect either the life of the original owner, the historical event or picture depicted on the fan, or indeed wider and sometimes concealed messages or meanings.
During the exhibition, the Fan Museum will be supporting The Alzheimers’ Research Trust and accordingly, is holding a competition with two cash prizes of £500. Visitors who wish to participate will be asked to donate £2.50 to The Alzheimers’ Research Trust. They will then will be provided with 11 poems to match to fans in the exhibition.
Visitors to the exhibition will also be able to escape the heat and bustle of the city in the museum’s cool, Japanese-style garden and admire the hand-painted murals in the Orangery.
An exhibition of biblical fans from the 17th century to the present day, Adam and Eve and pinch me, is on display at the Fan Museum until May 31, 2009.
Read more
Admission: £4 (adults), £3 (concessions). Free for OAPs and Disabled on Tuesdays from 2pm to 5pm (except groups). Free for children under 7.
Times: Tuesday to Saturday from 11am to 5pm, Sunday from 12noon to 5pm.
The Fan Museum, 12 Crooms Hill, Greenwich, London, SE10 8ER.