Bristol Museum and Art Gallery

Bristol Archives holds an extraordinary collection of photographs and films showing both public and private aspects of life in the British Empire and Commonwealth.

From about 500,000 images, we asked 27 people to each choose one piece. The selectors include development workers, artists, photographers, historians and relatives of the photographers.

They each bring a different perspective to the collection, and represent a broad range of personal knowledge, aesthetic appreciation and academic thought on the people and countries shown in the images, the legacy of Empire and the post-colonial experience.

Most of the collection dates from the 1880s to the 1960s and is just a snippet of the many thousands of images that are being catalogued and digitised.

Please note that the exhibition may contain some challenging images.

This exhibition is a display of the collection held by Bristol Archives and will take place at Bristol Museum & Art Gallery.

The ‘Exploring Empire’ cataloguing project was funded by the National Cataloguing Grants Programme for Archives.

Suitable for

• 18+

Admission

No admission fee – donations welcome.

Website

https://www.bristolmuseums.org.uk/bristol-museum-and-art-gallery/whats-on/empire-through-lens/

Featuring original woodblock prints from Bristol’s collection, this exhibition will explore the radical developments in landscape prints made by two of Japan’s best-loved artists, Hokusai and Hiroshige.

From the 1830s to the 1850s, Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849) and Utagawa Hiroshige (1797-1858) developed a dynamic new genre of landscape prints that became hugely popular with their customers in Japan and later with western artists and collectors.

The exhibition will explore how Hokusai exploited a growing interest in Japanese landscape through his ground-breaking series Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji and how he experimented with newly available Prussian Blue dye to develop a striking new colour palette. The selection will include his iconic design The Great Wave off Kanagawa.

Encouraged by Hokusai’s success, Hiroshige developed his own landscape series including The Fifty-three Stations of the Tokaido Road which portrayed views along the route between the cities of Kyoto and Edo (today’s Tokyo). Engaging scenes from this and other series will be included in the display.

The exhibit will highlight the ways in which both artists use innovative perspectives, changes in light and weather as well as human figures to involve viewers in the scenes.

Included in the display will be a set of prints showing the process of colour printing one of Hiroshige’s prints Shono – Sudden Rain from The Fifty-three stations on the Tokaido, newly commissioned from a traditional woodblock print workshop in Tokyo with funding from the Friends of Bristol Art Gallery.

This is the first of three exhibitions showcasing our Japanese print collection.

Bristol Museum & Art Gallery would like to thank exhibition sponsors Inside Japan.

Suitable for

• Any age

Admission

No admission fee – donations welcome

Roll up, roll up, ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls!

Tumble into the wonderful world of clowning, explore what makes a great clown and step into their gigantic shoes.

Discover the origins of clowning and unveil the personal, hilarious and often bizarre stories of the people beneath the colourful exterior.

To celebrate 250 years of circus, we’ve created an exhibition of stunning costume, fascinating archives and intriguing clown eggs, thanks to Clowns International and the London Clown Gallery-Museum.

Clowns International has been painting the faces of its members on eggs for over 70 years. Each one is a record of a clown’s unique identity, preserving the unwritten rule that no clown should copy another’s look.

Enter a surreal and interactive realm of light, colour, mirrors and clown cars – a place to try out circus skills and clown-around in costume.

This exhibition is part of Circus 250 – a national celebration of 250 years of circus in 2018.

Suitable for

• Any age

Admission

Pay what you think

Website

https://www.bristolmuseums.org.uk/bristol-museum-and-art-gallery/whats-on/clowns-egg-hibition/

Prepare to be amazed by acrobatics and circus performers as they take over the museum’s grand halls.

Dress up and entertain your family and friends in our themed photo booth. Run away with the circus by having a go at juggling, tightrope walking, hoops and more.

Marvel at ‘Clowns: The Eggs-hibition’, which features stunning costume, film and photos of clowning over the years, and of course, hundreds of clown eggs! Each one is a record of a clown’s unique identity, preserving the unwritten rule that no clown should copy another’s look.

Café and shop open throughout the night. Perfect for the whole family.

Developed in association with Circomedia, renowned centre for contemporary circus and physical theatre training in the UK.

Suitable for

• Family friendly

Admission

Admission free but donations welcome