Bears! Nature, culture and beyond: an exhibition at The Museum
If you would like to attend the private view, please email the organisers for an invitation.
What is it about bears that continues to haunt our imaginations, even when they no longer live in the countryside around us? This exhibition explores the surprising relationships between humans and bears in Britain. From ancient bear bones and Roman artefacts to Nottingham bear jugs and Paddington bears, we follow in
the footsteps of bears as they roam the land and appear in the most unusual of places.
Curated by Professor Hannah O’Regan and Dr Liam Lewis from the AHRC-funded Box Office Bears project and Department of Classics and Archaeology at the University of Nottingham.
About this exhibition
The exhibition looks at bears as wild animals, and will get you thinking about their roles in human society and culture from the Roman to modern eras. Follow in the footprints of bears to see real bear bones and find out about bears in advertising and in children’s entertainment. The exhibition also introduces the archival and scientific techniques that underpin the work of the Box Office Bears research project at the University of Nottingham.
There will be events throughout the duration of the exhibition, including talks by curators Hannah O’Regan and Liam Lewis, workshops on pottery, art, and creative writing, and bear-related pop-ups in the Park.
The exhibition has only been possible with the very generous collaboration of a number of regional partners, including Nottingham Museums and Galleries, The Herbert Art Gallery (Coventry), The Potteries Museum (Stoke-on-Trent), Sheffield Museums and Galleries, and Buxton Museum and Art Gallery.