Catalogue: The Wonder of Birds: Nature, Art, Culture

There are many books about birds: from guides, to those on the place of birds in human culture and folklore. Birds inspire us and leave us in awe of their beauty and character.

The Wonder of Birds: Nature, Art, Culture is about the results of that awe and inspiration; it is a record of some of the objects and artwork that humankind has created as a direct result of our relationship with this enigmatic group of animals.
 
Without birds, nature, art and culture would all be infinitely poorer. This 84-page paperback focuses on a few of the major themes relating to birds in art and culture, while also acting as a companion to The Wonder of Birds: Nature, Art, Culture exhibition at the Norwich Castle Museum & Art Gallery (until 14 September).

Traditional catalogues have shelf-lives limited to the dates of the exhibition that they accompany. A minimum order of 1,000 copies is often required, and catalogues can prove a struggle to sell – frequently making a loss.

The Wonder of Birds was always intended to be more than purely an exhibition catalogue. Instead of simply replicating label texts for all 240 objects within the exhibition, “star objects” were selected for this publication, thereby giving the reader a greater insight into these key works.

While this publication needs to act as a guide to the main exhibition, from the start of the project the book was purposefully written to be sold elsewhere and for long after the exhibition had closed.

With this in mind, it was essential that it should not only look attractive, but it also needed to be engaging for those who hadn’t seen the exhibition as well as for those who had.

An important part of The Wonder of Birds project is to increase awareness and support for nature conservation. Over the years, Norfolk Museums Service has built relationships with groups such as the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, the Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust and Norfolk Wildlife Trust.

One of the major partners in the project is the Hawk and Owl Trust, and BBC Springwatch presenter Chris Packham is the charity’s president.

It was as a direct result of this relationship that Packham agreed to write a short foreword for the book – thus (hopefully) increasing the chances of outside interest and sales of the book.

Museum professionals are under pressure to think more commercially, and it is hoped that producing this exhibition publication will be financially beneficial for Norfolk Museums Service. Sales of the book are already looking favourable.

David Waterhouse is the curator of natural history at Norfolk Museums Service