2 November-13 February 2011
The Fitzwilliam Museum owns almost all the detailed portrait prints that baroque artist Ottavio Leoni made of his contemporaries in 17th-century Rome. Leoni used stippled dots to convey every detail, bringing to life the features of artists, poets, mathematicians and dignitaries.
His naturalistic print of Galileo was recently used to investigate the astronomer’s deteriorating eyesight. The show is part of the Fitzwilliam’s Hidden Depths series, exploring new aspects of the permanent collection.
Cost n/a (display drawn from internal collection)
Curator Craig Hartley
Exhibition design Craig Hartley
Graphics in-house, Ayshea Carter
5 November-12 February 2011
It’s the Chinese Year of the Tiger, and as part of a global drive to save the endangered species, Asia House is hosting an exhibition of fine and contemporary Asian art spanning 3,000 years. Key pieces include Tiger in a Snowstorm by Japanese artist Hokusai and a 16th-century Ming military banner featuring a winged tiger.
Cost undisclosed
Main funders Eranda Foundation, Warburg Pincus, Deutsche Bank
Stakeholders Prudential, HSBC and Standard Chartered
Curators Katriana Hazell, Zara Fleming, Beth McKillop
Exhibition design Betty Yao
Graphics The Clinton Partnership
6 November-27 February 2011
To celebrate its £12m refurbishment, the Bowes Museum is showcasing more than 50 Damien Hirst prints. Many of the works, which are on loan from private collectors in the north, have never been seen in public. Highlights include The Last Supper, a set of 13 prints designed to mimic drug packaging, and a print of For the Love of God, the artist’s diamond skull sculpture.
Cost undisclosed
Main funders Northern Rock Foundation, North East Regional Museums Hub
Curator Greville Worthington
12 November-3 April 2011
From Anglo-Saxon runes to underworld slang, this exhibition looks at how developments in religion, politics, technology and economics have transformed English into a tongue spoken by a third of the world’s population. Through comics, adverts, posters, newspapers and recordings of dialects, it catalogues the ever-changing varieties of written and spoken English, right up to rap and internet vernacular. It will include the earliest surviving copy of Beowulf and a Victorian novel featuring “txt-spk”.
Cost £165,000
Main funders American Trust for the British Library
Curators Roger Walshe, head of learning; Jonnie Robinson, socio-linguistics curator; Adrian Edwards, curator of printed historical sources (all British Library)
Exhibition design and graphics Opera Amsterdam
Multimedia Delta Interactive
13 November-12 December
An exhibition of photographer Kurt Tong’s poetic depictions of the Chinese tradition of burning Joss paper offerings for relatives who have died. The practice of providing the dead with possessions for the afterlife dates from neolithic times, though today’s offerings can feature such mundane items as microwaves and hairdryers, and even paper prostitutes, Viagra and ecstasy. The exhibition also features pieces from Compton Verney’s historic Chinese bronze collection.
Cost undisclosed
Funding in-house
Curator Antonia Harrison
Exhibition design in-house
Graphics Renaissance
13 November-16 January 2011
For much of this year, 14 visitors to the museum between the ages of 55 and 75 have been working on a project to curate a national art exhibition. The volunteers, ranging from retired teachers to district nurses, have travelled across the UK to select pieces from Arts Council England’s collection of 1,500 British artworks. Their choices span works by Grayson Perry and LS Lowry to some by lesser-known artists. The collection is interpreted from the curators’ own perspectives and will be unveiled by broadcaster Joan Bakewell.
Cost about £10,000
Main funders Arts Council England, Quad
Curators 14 members of the Derby community overseen by lead curator Jane Bevan
Exhibition design and graphics Quad Technical Team in consultation with Arts Council England
24 November-13 February 2011
A look at how inebriation has long been an inspiration and a source of moral outrage for cartoonists. Exhibition highlights include popular Victorian prints depicting the dangers of gin – The Bottle (1847) and The Drunkard’s Daughter (1848) – by caricaturist George Cruikshank, whose father died after a boozing session.
Cost about £3,000
Main funder in-house
Curator Anita O’Brien
Exhibition design and graphics Boing Graphics
