A fantastic new exhibition celebrating our local ‘peasant poet’ John Clare is set to go on display at Peterborough Museum and Art Gallery from Friday July 9.
If you’ve not visited the gallery before, now’s the time – it’s a hidden gem inside the museum on Priestgate and has some great art on show. Plus there’s a great café there so you can grab a cuppa and some cake after you’ve had a look!
In this new exhibition printmaker, painter and illustrator Carry Akroyd will bring John Clare’s poetry into the present day with her Found in the Fields tour, which includes a 16-lithograph hand-drawn print series that incorporates text from the Helpston-born poet’s work.
The poems will be displayed alongside vibrant print-based artworks to help illustrate John Clare’s material and its relevance today.
All of the artwork on show holds some connection to John Clare’s work, either directly or indirectly.
Carry Akroyd has selected extracts of varying lengths from poems of her choice to put together a set of works reflecting the joys and the damage seen in nature, as seen both by John Clare 200 years ago and the artist’s eye today.
John Clare was recognised in his day as ‘The Peasant Poet’ and was considered a curiosity to be so gifted from an impoverished and illiterate background.
The exhibition highlights some of his best work and a free guided tour by Carry Akroyd can be booked by telephoning the museum.
A series of John Clare poetry recitals by Peterborough residents will also be posted on the museum’s YouTube channel.
Running alongside the exhibition is Hugh Lupton’s On Common Ground; an evening of stories, songs and music exploring the life and times of John Clare, which will take place at the Key Theatre in Peterborough on August 15. Tickets can be purchased from the Key Theatre.
Found in the Fields will take place in the art gallery at the museum from July 9 through to September 5, with no booking required.
The art gallery has the same opening hours as the museum – Tuesday to Sunday from 10am until 4pm.