June’s First Friday is getting very close now (which we’re very excited about!) and we’re particularly excited about the special event at Lancaster City Musuem.
As part of the Bring Me Sunshine exhibition there will be a chance to meet Eric (impersonator Bob More), see Eric’s Rolls Royce and meet his chaffueur, Mike Fountain.
Heather (Manager at Lancaster City Museum) has written us this wonderful blog about how to organise an exhibition!
Exhibitions are a really important part of our work at Lancaster City Museum. You can spot them from outside and they are the first thing you see when you walk through the door. We have 4-5 exhibitions a year and try to make sure there is something for everyone. They can be hired in from other Museums, exhibitions showing the work of local artists or shows that we create ourselves. In house curated exhibitions reflect our collections so are really wide-ranging using our art collection or focussing on historic anniversaries (Lancashire Witches) or local people– like the Bring Me Sunshine exhibition.
Our own exhibitions are generally sparked by items in the collection that connect with the theme. This was definitely the case with Bring Me Sunshine. In 2014 Lancashire Museum Service was fortunate enough to add a substantial Eric Morecambe archive to its permanent collection. This was brilliant as there were very few items in the collection related to this iconic comedian. Now we have real gems of items and we couldn’t wait to produce an exhibition to share them with the public.
Developing this exhibition has also been about developing relationships with people that had connections to Eric Morecambe and knew a lot about him. The Morecambe family themselves have been key to the research and development of the exhibition – loaning a substantial number of personal items including ‘Mr M’s Glamour Kit’. They have generously shared stories about Eric that we have built in to the exhibition.
We have been very fortunate in being able to borrow Eric and Ernie’s stage suits from the V&A in London. The suits were worn in a sketch with Tom Jones in 1971 and are said to be the last surviving show costumes for the comedy duo. Like the family’s collection, these suites have never been on public display before.
Of course you cannot have an exhibition about Eric Morecambe without seeing and hearing him. It was vital to include some video footage and to build in opportunities for visitors to have a bit of fun. We have a piano so people can try and play all the right notes, not necessarily in the right order. We have a stage where people can pose with Eric and Ernie and a TV so you can ‘be on the box’ yourselves. Most of all we hope our visitors share in the joy of Eric and have fun!
For more information on the exhibition click here.
