The Making Mischief Exhibition at Compton Verny is a collection of traditional folk costume, photographs, literature and video footage documenting the rich history of English folk tradition and its link to working class history and protest. It was visually amazing, well put together and totally fascinating for anyone with an interest in folk history. I got so much visual and contextual inspiration from this exhibition and was slightly overwhelmed .
the exhibition was curated by the British folk lore museum. who put on many events and exhibition at host sites as they do not have a fixed location f their own.
Below; May Queen photographs
Below; This was a great collaborative effort for the exhibition, the below signage explaining the process of making the collection of Morris Dolls.
Jack in the Green
 |
| The Jack in the green. Many associations with the green man. A guardian of the forest. |
 |
| The greatest Oozer. What a fabulous costume, and quite ominous. This character was an upholder of morals and said to parade adulterers through the streets in shame, |
 |
| this was a beautiful costume, carnival is still a popular form of celebration hailing from folk tradition |
 |
| The Sailors Hobby Horse. I love this characters face. Its a real show stopper as the costume is huge. Part of the exhibition showed this character in action, during early may celebrations on a crowded street with music and dancing. |
 |
| Pearlies are quite a well know folk tradition hailing from the working class of Victorian London |
 |
| I like the gothic element here with the use of horse skulls as part of the costume. |
 |
| Costume of the "Boss Moriss" an all female morris side who are part of the current folk revival |
 |
| Photograph of man in traditional costume |
 |
| Beltane costumes, welcoming the summer, fertility and celebration |
 |
| The Darkest oozer is a character/ costume from the west country |
 |
My dear friend and published fiction author Darren Simpson came with me on this trip as he is researching folk tales for his next book. Its really good to have a reseach buddy to bounce ideas off especially as we are working in different disciplines, it helps me to see a bigger picture.
Here he is pictured with his favourite exhibit and possible spirit animal "The Darkest Oooser"! |
Comments
Post a Comment