When you think of the Parliamentary Art Collection, you might assume it’s all formal, stuffy portraits. But with the serious and celebratory, you can also find the silly and critical.
Explore highlights from our Political Commemoratives collection: heritagecollections.parliament.uk/exhibits/pol...
Lovely to work with you again on this, Emma. Looking forward to seeing what other stories we can collaborate on! 📻
A brilliant few days attending the 'Visual Representations of Parliamentarism' conference at the German Historical Institute in Paris.
Great to co-present a paper with @sclapperton.bsky.social on 1929 election posters appealing to women voters and be on a panel with @satisfactory20.bsky.social
Looking forward to getting stuck back into this topic with you in the near future!
Following my brilliant colleagues @sclapperton.bsky.social and Melissa Hamnett I’ve been on Matt Chorley 5 Live ‘Made in Stone’ feature the last few Thursdays talking about the busts of Prime Ministers in Members’ Lobby. Last week Neville Chamberlain (starting 1hr 42)
Luckily, you can’t capture slightly panicked facial expressions on the radio 😂. Hoping we can have more sculpture conversations together soon!
Sometimes you need to explore another institution’s collections to better understand your own.
A day well spent @phm.org.uk and the Labour Party Archives, digging into 1929 General Election posters, the artists who contributed and the multiple sub-committees who oversaw their production.
Image credit: ‘Clement Richard, 1st Earl Attlee, Viscount Prestwood 1883-1967 Prime Minister 1945-51’, Sculpture by Ivor Roberts-Jones © The Artist or their estate. Photo courtesy of UK Parliament, Heritage Collections, WOA S69
And to round off my short and sweet stint on Radio5 with @emmapeplow.bsky.social, this week we discussed the 1978 statue of Clement Attlee by Ivor Roberts-Jones alongside questions regarding ‘the empty plinth’ in Members Lobby @ukparliament.parliament.uk
🎧 1:46 in www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...
Getting back into the conference paper writing swing of things at the British Library 📚🖼️
Looking for some ‘high quality statue content’?
Listen back to Matt Chorley’s Radio 5 show to hear myself and @emmapeplow.bsky.social discuss the statue of Herbert Henry Asquith as it stands in Members’ Lobby @ukparliament.parliament.uk
Tune it from 1:48 onwards: www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...
Memorabilia? Collectables? Or Nick-nacks?
Whatever your views on commemoratives, they provide a unique survey of political history. Medals, toby jugs, a jack-in-the-box. More than 150 objects spanning 250 years of British Prime Ministers are now on permanent display @ukparliament.parliament.uk
After two contracts and two extensions, my two years as Curator of the Parliamentary Art Collection has come to an end.
It was certainly challenging but undeniably rewarding. Now to reflect on all the positives whilst I settle back into my previous role, supporting the team with what lies ahead.
We are delighted to share the Call for Papers for our Spring Seminar Series 2026:
‘Parliament’s War Effort’ display is now in Westminster Hall at UK Parliament.
Its tells the story of 12 individuals – Members of both Houses, staff, and their families – who all contributed to Parliament’s War Effort during #WW2.
More here: heritagecollections.parliament.uk/exhibits/war...
#VE80
Back in September, I spent 3 days at Historic England’s new Emergency Planning Training Centre in Portsmouth.
The video speaks for itself about how fundamentally important the training that they offer is for anyone who works in heritage sites and with heritage collections
youtu.be/wPJExNfPnbM?...
‘You have to activate the artworks in your collection’
‘The curatorial voice is just one among many’
‘Museums are in a moment of reckoning’
‘Museums are consistently failing, because they have to fail’
A few of many highlights from YCBA’s ‘Art, Museum, Nation’
britishart.yale.edu/exhibitions-...
Happy #WorldArtDay from NCMME 🎨
'Keep the Pits Open', Protest by Marjorie Arnfield (1930–2001) is on display in our latest exhibition, 'From the Earth Comes Light'.
A Thread on Marjorie 🧵 (1/4)
Marjorie was born in Newcastle upon Tyne, she studied at Sunderland College of Art and Kings College.
The varied portraits of power…
A brilliant and creative day of display planning was had yesterday with our Collections Care Conservator and our Art Handling and Logistics Manager.
Feeling excited about this one!
Having The Ashington Group and the Pitman Painters represented, with the work of Jimmy Floyd on display in the big smoke will always make me happy.
‘Lives Less Ordinary: Working Class Britain Re-Seen’ at Two Temple Place
A work day that went completely sideways, but I managed to spend some unscheduled time with a selection of @ukparliament.parliament.uk’s #WW2 paintings.
Slowly returning to my PhD roots, I’m very much looking forward to spending some overdue scheduled time with these in the coming months🤞🏻
With #WomensHistoryMonth underway, it was brilliant to celebrate the work of colleagues at the Speaker’s House event @ukparliament.parliament.uk
Well done @lisaberrywaite.bsky.social and Penny McMahon for their display on the formidable women who contributed to Parliament’s War Effort during WW2 👏🏻
Politics and parliament intermingling with pop, punk and fashion photography at National Portrait Gallery’s new exhibition ‘The Face Magazine: Culture Shift’ 📸
A brilliantly compact (and free) exhibition with an international scope, putting the cartoonists front and centre 👏🏻
#WW2 #WarArt #ImperialWarMuseum
When the scrappiest, stained and smallest press cutting absolutely makes your archival dreams come true 🙌🏻
#WW2 #WarArtists
After hours at Parliament…
With 22 separate spotlight talks delivered by 8 of my brilliant colleagues (including @lisaberrywaite.bsky.social and @spoonsontrays.bsky.social)
sharing highlights of the Parliamentary Art Collection with more than 600 visitors, it’s been quite an evening 🖼️ 🙌🏻
An interesting first visit to Imperial War Museum’s Churchill War Rooms today… with a #WW2 Parliamentary research angle in mind
Oh these are brilliant examples, thank you for flagging!
Oh thank you for this Mari, not sure how I missed this at the time 🤔
I look forward to hearing more about it, thank you!
