Museum explores 'length and breadth' of collections in new exhibition
A MAJOR new exhibition now open at Clifton Park Museum has been hailed as “a rare opportunity to pull back the curtain on 130 years of collecting.”
Collecting Rotherham showcases everything from the museum’s very oldest acquisitions to its most recent additions – including items that have never been displayed before.
Rotherham Museums, Arts and Heritage is behind the exhibition which will run to Spring 2027.
A spokesperson said: “Clifton Park Museum has been collecting since 1893 and now cares for over 75,000 objects.
“The size of its collections means we can’t display everything at once - Collecting Rotherham has been specifically designed to spotlight these lesser-seen treasures.
“Spanning six galleries, the exhibition features items from all of the museum’s diverse collections, including Natural Sciences, Fine and Applied Arts, Archaeology, Social and Industrial History, and the York and Lancaster Regimental collection.
“Far from a traditional display, the exhibition highlights the odd and eccentric, provoking ideas about the key role museum collections play in producing knowledge and histories, and how the act of collecting reflects our attempt to make sense of our world.
“To bring these concepts to life, the exhibition features a thought-provoking, immersive experience created by Urban Projections, aka Rebecca Smith.”
Georgia Lingwood, collections and exhibitions manager said: “With over 75,000 objects in our care, this exhibition is a rare opportunity to pull back the curtain on 130 years of collecting, and to interrogate why we’ve collected what we have, and to think about what stories may be missing.
“From the very first donations to our exhibitions to our newest ones, we are asking people to come along and tell us what their favourite exhibits are – and to help us to write our next chapter and decide what we should collect next, for the future.”