Picture © P&Co Ltd/FF Ltd 2009
Exhibition: Toy Tales, The Bowes Museum, County Durham, May 9 - November 1 2009
Toy Tales promises to induce feelings of nostalgia this summer in those who mourn the days before CGI and fast-paced children’s television. Celebrating 60 years of BBC children’s programmes, the exhibition fondly remembers the likes of Andy Pandy, Paddington Bear and The Magic Roundabout.
Situated among the treasures of Barnard Castle, The Bowes Museum displays a large collection of decorative and fine arts. Toy Tales will showcase representations of well-loved children’s television through the ages - from Muffin the Mule to Teletubbies - in the form of puppets, videos, original scripts, storyboards, props and drawings.
Picture © 2009 Oliver Postgate & Peter Firmin
The exhibition will also pay tribute to the animator, puppeteer and author Oliver Postgate, who died in December 2008. The creator of classic children’s programmes such as The Clangers, Noggin the Nog and Bagpuss, Postgate’s world will be represented here by the collection of his collaborator, Peter Firmin. Artist Linda Birch will provide original storyboards relating to her time as a Bagpuss illustrator.
Toy Tales has been put together to appeal to all ages, from children encountering their parents’ favourites for the first time to older generations reminiscing about the shaky sets and visible puppet strings of their early television experiences.
Picture © 2009 Oliver Postgate & Peter Firmin
Lisa Jeffries, the Museum’s Head of Education and Workforce Development, said: “Staff at the museum each have a particular favourite pertinent to their age group which has triggered off a host of fond memories, and we are assuming that Toy Tales will elicit the same response from all our visitors, whatever their age.”
For more information visit The Bowes Museum online.
