Museum Re-opening celebrated with Lord Lieutenant of Surrey
On Monday 17th May, Haslemere Museum was honoured to receive a visit from Mr Michael More-Molyneux, Her Majesty’s Lord-Lieutenant of Surrey, as he joined them to celebrate the re-opening of the Museum after the third national lockdown.
The Lord-Lieutenant was provided with a tour of the newly reopened Museum including the exhibitions on display during May. The ‘Murder of the Sailor at Hindhead’ is inspired by an infamous local 18th century event and showcases five emotive paintings from the Museum collections that illustrate the tale. An exhibition entitled ‘Window on Weaving’ by The British Tapestry Group South East and London Regions is showcasing new woven tapestry works from more than thirty skilled artists.
In reception, Mr More-Molyneux’s attention was given to the GladRags exhibition, the result of a collaborative community art project lead by Museum Education Officer, Kay Topping and professional artist, Diana Burch. The project was set up to reach out to the local community, continue connecting with them and give them a creative outlet to express their experiences of the pandemic and what had made them glad, despite the unprecedented circumstances. The plan was to invite people to make and contribute a patchwork square that would form part of a larger piece. The project obviously resonated with many and the result is hundreds of patchwork squares, enough for a sizeable quilt! Panels of 18 patchwork squares are currently being displayed in the reception of the Museum, rotating every few weeks, so that visitors can appreciate the work that has gone into the squares and understand some of the recurring themes the illustrate the last 14 months in our community. The final patchwork piece will be an historic record of this extraordinary period of time that we have lived through.
Mr More-Molyneux was also treated to the Museum’s Ancient Egyptian education experience and got to remove the brains and organs of the interactive mummy doll named Suty-em-wia. The Lord Lieutenant proved a capable surgeon and remained polite and courteous to Suty em Wia at all times whilst removing his stomach and intestines!
The Museum was delighted to host the Lord-Lieutenant on this visit to mark their reopening and promote this key cultural venue which has served the town for over a hundred years.
The Museum is also currently hosting the Haslemere Festival lectures.
For more information about the Museum’s events and exhibitions please visit https://www.haslemeremuseum.co.uk/whatson/whatson.html
*ENDS*