Buses back Ashmolean
12 Nov 08
Portraits from the photography campaign My Ashmolean, My Museum will be on view on the roads between Oxford and London after being installed on the back of two London Espress coaches.
Europe’s first public museum, the Ashmolean, is producing a dramatic series of photographs illustrating its world-renowned collections in the lead-up to the opening of the new Ashmolean building in November 2009. Philip Pullman, the Oxford Bus Company and the Ashmolean Museum celebrated the installation of the new pictures yesterday.
In collaboration with high-profile individuals and members of the local community, the fine-art photographer, Theo Chalmers, has developed a powerful set of images for My Ashmolean, My Museum. With their generous support, the portraits of Philip Pullman, author, and Bettany Hughes, historian and television presenter, are depicted on the coach backs alongside an oil painting and an ancient Greek vase from the Ashmolean’s collections.
‘The Oxford Bus Company may not have been around for quite as long as the Ashmolean but we’ve been at the heart of our community for 127 years now,’ said Philip Kirk, Managing Director Oxford Bus Company. ‘Our coaches travel thousands of miles every week and are seen by thousands of people, so we can play our part in spreading the news about the Ashmolean throughout the region.’
Philip PullmanIn the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford there is a painting by Canaletto showing one of his incomparable depictions of everyday life.
Mr Pullman’s portrait features 'View of Dolo on the Brenta Canal' by Canaletto. ‘In the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford there is a painting by Canaletto showing one of his incomparable depictions of everyday life,’ he wrote in the opening paragraph of his article for the Guardian, 'Dark Deeds along the Tow Path'. His reference to the painting relates directly to Oxford’s Castle Mill Boatyard, an inspiration for his trilogy His Dark Materials, and the focus of a campaign to save the boatyard from development. Six freshwater pike were used in the photograph to emphasise the everyday life of the river. Mr Pullman described his portrait as ‘Sinister and surprising at the same time. Very fishy’.
Dr Christopher Brown, Director of the Ashmolean, said: ‘We are delighted to continue our partnership with the Oxford Bus Company in reaching out to the local and wider community during the final phase of the Museum’s exciting development. The Ashmolean is extremely grateful to Philip Pullman, Bettany Hughes and the individuals who have generously given their time and support to this campaign.’
A historian of ancient Greece and Rome, Bettany
Hughes is pictured holding a lekythos (oil or silver container) dating
back to the 5th century BC. It is decorated with a winged Nike (Goddess
of Victory). As a scholarship student at Oxford – inspired by the
Ashmolean to spend her life transmitting the pertinence, power and
beauty of the ancient world - Bettany remembers passing the vase and
sending up a prayer to the goddess of victory. Bettany’s book on Helen
of Troy has now been translated in to ten languages and it is estimated
that her films on ancient Greece have been watched by over 100 million
worldwide. W.B. Yeats enthused about the Nike vase, ‘I recall a Nike at
the Ashmolean Museum with a natural unsystematic beauty’.
An online exhibition of the photographs of My Ashmolean, My Museum will be developed alongside an interactive area for the public to upload their favourite stories from the Ashmolean collections or to share experiences which they have enjoyed at the Museum.
The Ashmolean Museum and Café will temporarily close to the public from 23 December 2008 to prepare for the opening of the new museum building in November 2009.
Since construction started in 2006, the development work has had a minimal impact on the existing building to ensure visitors had access to the collections on display. However, in 2009 builders will need increased access to the existing building to undertake the major work of constructing a new front entrance and creating breakthrough points between the new and old building. The Museum’s closure is necessary for the safety of visitors, the collections, and staff, while the final phase of development is being completed.
There will be no public access to the Museum and the Café from 23 December 2008 until the launch of the new Ashmolean in the late autumn of 2009. The Western Art Print Room will be unavailable to the general public but will remain open by appointment for specialist visitors needing to see particular works, and also to support university and post-A-level teaching. The Shop will remain open for business as usual.