Artist brings animal stories to life in new exhibition

Berwick Museum and Art Gallery is marking its reopening with a new exhibition by visual artist Bethan Maddocks.
Bethan Maddocks' exhibition at Berwick Museum and Art Gallery includes a giant paper cut Twelfth Night Pie.Bethan Maddocks' exhibition at Berwick Museum and Art Gallery includes a giant paper cut Twelfth Night Pie.
Bethan Maddocks' exhibition at Berwick Museum and Art Gallery includes a giant paper cut Twelfth Night Pie.

‘A Northumberland Menagerie’, which opens tomorrow (Saturday), is a new series of exhibitions across the county using Northumberland’s animals to tell stories of community, climate change, migration and identity.

They will be running at all four of Museum Northumberland’s venues – the others are Woodhorn Museum, Hexham Old Gaol and Morpeth Chantry Bagpipe Museum.

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The exhibition at Berwick Museum and Art Gallery explores themes of borders and identity, trade and export, and how greed has led to the loss of species.

Titled ‘Of the Sea and Of the Sky’, it features a giant paper cut Twelfth Night Pie, symbolising the original 12 stone pie baked for Sir Henry Grey by Howick housekeeper Mrs Dorothy Patterson in 1770.

It was filled with ‘four geese, four turkeys, two rabbits, four wild ducks, two woodcocks, six snipes, four partridges, two neats’ tongues, two curlews, seven blackbirds and six pigeons.’

A flock of paper cut birds escape from the pie to seek their freedom.

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A chandelier of spinning paper birds and sea creatures including salmon, herring and pilot, cast shadows against the walls as they circle a single light, representing the many lighthouses dotted along the Northumberland coast.

A series of red, white and blue flags representing Berwick’s military history, the Union Jack and the colours of migrating swallows to the area, explores the juxtaposition between birds that have no national identify and can travel anywhere with the conflict that can surround borders and the movement of people.

Bethan said: “A lot of Berwick’s history has been shaped by its location on the border of England and Scotland, and it’s this notion of borders and identity that has shaped this exhibition.

“I’ve used animals native to the Berwickshire coast, as well as migratory species of birds, fish and mammals, to explore Berwick’s history and highlight broader themes around the environment, the movement of people, and the mass consumption of our natural resources.

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“I’ve used different animals found across the county to help tell the story of each individual exhibition.”

A Northumberland Menagerie runs until Sunday, October 30. For more information about the exhibitions, including the days that they will be available to view, go to www.museumsnorthumberland.org.uk