How are we over half-way through February already? There have been some great things on at the Brighton Museum this month, but next month gets even better. Here are just a few of the things that are going on next month.
Brighton has Britain’s largest gay community, yet there is little information about why or how it came to be. To answer those questions would take a lot of time, money and research but Kelly Boddington and Robert White hope to explain some of the plausible factors in their LGBTQ Trail at the Brighton Museum. The pair undertook the tour in 2013 as part of their Workforce development programme (neither Robert or Kelly are curators, Kelly works as a buyer in the Retail division and Robert works in the Events & Functions team) and were driven by their own passion and knowledge of the major contribution gay life has made to Brighton’s cultural profile.
The trail picks out ten items which represent the gay experience of Brighton, ranging from contemporary household names like transvestite potter Grayson Perry and the late, great, fashion designer Alexander McQueen, to more historical artists such as Cluck and Duncan Grant of the Bloomsbury Group. The items are marked with a pink label and are detailed in a bright yellow folded pamphlet available at the front desk. You can take the tour by yourself or with an expert tour guide who will give background on the artists and their long, slow march towards equality. Of course, tragedy does feature in the tour, but there is also room for celebration, particularly when you come to the section devoted to the origins of Brighton Pride.
On the 18th of March why not celebrate the beginning of spring with The Earth Laughs in Flowers? Enjoy an evening of words and music with mezzo-soprano Pippa Dames-Longworth and Nicholas Bosworth at the piano. Listen to pieces by Handel, Faure, Bizet, Gilbert and Sullivan, Ivor Novello, Joyce Grenfell and Rudyard Kipling all in the beautiful music room at the Pavilion. Pippa has sung for The Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, English National Opera, Paris Opera, for SkyArts, the BBC Proms and for the Edinburgh International Festival. The Times have said ‘Irresistible gripping theatre, with a vigorously projected performance from Pippa Dames-Longworth’. You can book tickets, which include a glass of wine or a soft drink at the interval, here.
There is a new exhibition coming to the Gallery next month that focuses on Disability and Identity. During the First World War, over 6,000 amputee soldiers received treatment, rehabilitation and training at the Royal Pavilion. In this exhibition you will get the chance to find out more about this previously untold story of challenge, adversity and opportunity. This display is the first part of a broader programme looking at disability history and experience, so keep an eye out for future events. The exhibit is free with museum admission.
Holly Martin
feature image: Steve Slater
