Welcoming Back the Gharial on 23 May 2025

 News on the blog is retrospective at the moment. So much happened in 2025 at Museum and Art, much of it not recorded here, so with the long nights continuing for a bit longer yet, I thought I'd try and include some of what was missed.

The long anticipated return of the gharial was welcomed by all of us. Those of you who remember following the large footprints painted on the carpet at Apsley House, will be pleased that the much loved gharial is back on the first floor of the Civic Offices, in the Origins Gallery where the shop and reception are located. In its absence, it has been fully restored, with new teeth, eyes and a case to prevent further degradation. Articles appeared in the Swindon Advertiser and The Swindonian celebrating the return.

It was of course a brilliant photo opportunity with Cllr Jim Robbins Leader of the Council, Heidi Alexander, MP for South Swindon and Deputy Mayor, Cllr Neil Hopkins attending.

Not only attending, but unveiling

And above, the first glimpse of the restored gharial

Heidi Alexander chatting to Frances Yeo above

Left to right: MP Heidi Alexander, Andrew Cross Chair of FMAS, Frances Yeo Head of Museums, Cllr Jim Robbins Council Leader and Cllr Neil Hopkins Deputy Mayor

These two excellent photos were taken by committee member Claire Parsons who takes fantastic photos and judges how and where to take them so well

If you haven't visited the museum and art gallery in the Civic Offices, it's well worth doing so. They are open Tuesday - Saturday 10.30am-4.30pm 

 

 

PV of Leslie Cole Exhibition 3 August 2025- 3 January 2026 Recording Conflict

 With the weather in August baking hot, we started at the Civic Offices in one of the courtyards for drinks, nibbles and speeches followed by a look round the exhibition. Photos again courtesy of Claire Parsons.

Note this exhibition ends tomorrow.

Katie Ackrill and Frances Yeo in the courtyard, also joined by our Mayor, Cllr Fay Howard

Below Martin Savage and Carl Gomez chatting

and Hannah Thielen below

Selected photos from inside the Civic Offices include these:

 

And upstairs in the exhibition, Philip Garrahan and below Miles Franklin with Caroline Thomas

Ken White attended all of the events that he was able to, and will be sadly missed

 

Celebrating One Year On

 We celebrated one year on from the opening of Museum and Art Swindon on the 9th of July, it was remembered in the Link magazine:

Classical Study of Modern Tattooing by Gavin Jones

 In July 2025, Gavin Jones gave his second talk to the Friends, this time on a classical study of tattoo art. We were very pleased to have him back to explain more about the art of tattooing.

It's probably too difficult to read what the slides say. The one above identifies Sutherland Macdonald as the first person in the country to open premises where tattooing took place in 1894. His work was clearly inspired by classical art. He served in the British Army in Royal Engineers and fought in the Anglo-Zulu war. In addition to artistic designs, he also blended coloured ink on skin graft recipients. He tattooed royalty to the working class and he is remembered for his professional attitude to all.

Below a photo of Gavin

Above work inspired by Alfred Cheney Johnston

The final thought here is: 'Preservation of beauty is to safeguard the recognition of the soul and the divine for future generations.

Tarot Art by Michael Gray

 Our June talk was by a well known speaker, Michael Gray who has delighted us with his knowledge of heritage architecture in the past, and even reimagining where the Tabernacle Stones could be relocated one year. Michael has immersed himself in tarot and become extremely knowledgeable about how it is thought to work, its benefits and the changing art of the cards. After the talk, Michael gave readings in Rudi's Bar.

'Tarot Art' by Michael Gray

 7.30pm Thursday 26 June 2025

The design of tarot cards has evolved over five centuries, mirroring the artistic and cultural trends of each period. First used as playing cards, their widespread popularity across Europe led to their use for divination and fortune telling. In this talk Tarot Reader Michael Gray will discuss popular tarot decks, review their artwork and iconography, and explain how they provide profound insight and knowledge during a Tarot reading.

Photographs taken on the night include these:

Above are photographs of two people closely associated with Tarot

A photograph taken during a reading when the cards were laid out and interpretations made of their significance.

May Talk by Mark Golder on Stephen Russ

 We were very pleased to welcome back Mark Golder who has given many excellent talks to the Friends in the past and supported us in many ways. This was a fascinating talk shining a light on Stephen Russ and the importance of book cover art. Here's the illustration used for the talk:

'The Illustrator, Stephen Russ'

by Mark Golder

Stephen Russ lived at Shaw Hill near Melksham and taught fabric design and then printmaking for thirty years at Bath Academy of Art (Corsham); but he is better known in the world of illustration as the designer of dust jackets for over eighty books between 1945 and 1975, and as the designer of covers for the Penguin Poetry series in the 1950s and 1960s. He also produced a generic cover for Penguin's D. H. Lawrence novels, and it was his design of a phoenix rising from the flames on the front cover of 'Lady Chatterley's Lover' when Penguin was taken to court for obscenity. This illustrated talk will concentrate on the dust jackets and cover illustrations, considering how they reveal the artist and the major concerns of the times in which he lived.

Here are some photos taken at the talk:

It's difficult to take good photos in the Council Chamber at the Civic Offices but I think you get a good feeling of the atmosphere by not cropping the photos.