Why do objects matter?

Curating a contemporary exhibition exploring the meaning of personal and cultural ‘significance’ through historic objects and community voices.

Project Overview

CLIENT: Stourhead, Wiltshire / National Trust

ROLE: Curator / Creative Producer

TIMELINE: 2019 - 2020

PROJECT TYPE: exhibition / interpretation / art commission

A giant abacus with brightly coloured balls.

Outcomes and achievements

Collection-inspired art commissions

I commissioned three artists to create six paper sculptures inspired by exhibition items, conveying fragility and celebrating conservation.
Platforming community voices

I invited local people to loan personal treasures, exhibited alongside historic collection to explore the meaning of significance.
49,000 visitors

Why do objects matter? welcomed [??????] visitors during the year-long exhibition in Stourhead house.
Multi-layered interpretation

I designed a multi-layered interpretation suite, offering multiple ways to engage for different learning styles.
Inspired in-depth personal discussion

The exhibition prompted much discussion among visitors about their own objects of significance and what lends them their meaning.

THE BRIEF

How do you make historic collections feel personally relevant to contemporary audiences? Why do objects matter? displayed historic collection items alongside personal belongings lent by local people. Platforming contemporary and historic voices in this way, the exhibition explored the different reasons people ascribe meaning, value, and cultural significance to objects both then and now.

Why do objects matter? sought a creative approach to bring objects to life and spark conversations about modern life. It had to offer multiple ways to engage for different learning styles, allowing a diverse audience to understand what it means to ‘curate’ objects in our own lives.

A jewelled salt cellar in the shape of a double-headed eagle with a picture of a Palladian mansion.

experience Deliverables:

→ Five collection-inspired art commissions
→ Community co-curation
→ Exhibition design/delivery

CAMILLA’S APPROACH

I curated the exhibition showcasing six items from the Stourhead collection, each chosen for their cultural and/or personal significance to the Hoare family. I exhibited these side-by-side with items of personal significance lent by local people. This juxtaposition of the modern and contemporary inspired discussion about what items held personal significance for visitors and why.

I managed the budget, coordinated schedules and on-site installation, collaborated with Stourhead's Cultural Heritage Curator and conservation staff, and led all interpretation and visitor-facing copy.

To celebrate the importance of conservation, I commissioned three paper artists to create works inspired by the Stourhead collection items. These delicate works of hand-cut paper not only illustrated the fragility of subject to deterioration and damage, each piece highlighted the unique significance of the historic object in question.

I produced this series, drafting the brief, and working with the artists to develop concepts and final presentation requirements in the exhibition spaces.