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Have you got or found an object that you would like identified?   ...then come to our Fabulous Finds Day on Friday 10th September 2010. 

Geoff Egan who is the National Finds Advisor at the British Museum and Danielle Wootton, Devon Finds Liaison Officer, will be at the Museum of Barnstaple & North Devon from 10.30am to 3pm.  So bring along your mystery objects and hopefully find out what they are and a bit about their history!

A FREE drop in session. Part of Barnstaple's Heritage Open Days Celebrations.

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We are now inviting entries for our popular annual photographic competition open to everyone who enjoys taking photographs.  The idea is to encourage both budding and professional photographers of all ages to capture scenes and life in North Devon.

This year's six categories are:
Towns & Villages                      Landscape
The Coast & The Sea                Wildlife
Anything Goes!                        Characters

Our judge for 2010 is well known Bideford based photographer Graham Hobbs. (www.grahamhobbsphotography.co.uk)
Renowned for his large photograhs of the"Little White Town", which can be up to 20ft in length, auctions of his work have helped to raise thousands of pounds for charity.  Many of his images have appeared in newspapers and magazines, and have also featured on GMTV. His work has gained worldwide recognition via the Royal Horticultural Society as a Medici Award Winner in 2008.

Once again the Museum of Barnstaple & North Devon is delighted to be working in partnership with the North Devon Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty, celebrating the International Year of Biodiversity!

Any photograph entered in the Wildlife category, identified as having been taken within the specially protected NDAONB area, will be eligible for entry into an additional category sponsored by the AONB.  We will be looking for flora and fauna images that particularly showcase the wonderful diversity and rich nature that North Devon has.  For example Braunton Burrows, is one of only two sites in the UK for the Amber Sandbowl Snail, Catinella arenaria, which is found in the wet dune slacks.

Naturalist and AONB Champion, since 2005, Trevor Beer MBE will be judging this special category of the competition.  (www.trevorbeer-countrysidematters.co.uk) 
Trevor currently writes on Natural History as a wildlife witer for several publications including the Western Morning News, North Devon Journal and Exmoor Magazine. A keen and renowned photographer himself, his specialist knowledge of the local flora and fauna of Devon makes his involvement with the competition particularly noteworthy.

Closing date for entries is the 18th October. 

The awards presentation and critique will take place on Saturday 13th November from 2pm.

The resulting North Devon in photographs exhibition runs from 13th November 2010 to 8th January 2011.

For further details and an entry form pop into the Museum , we are open 10am - 5pm, Monday - Saturday.
Tel: 01271 346747 or
Email: museum@northdevon.gov.uk

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It may be summertime now in north Devon but this exhibiton is a reminder to the festive fun in the darkest part of the year.
So come on! Feast your eyes on our marvellous posters from Pantos of the past, try to dress up as a pantomine character and have a go at designing your own pantomine poster.  Oh and if you want to read more about the history of panto have a look at the digital display screen.

Every year the Queens Theatre in Barnstaple & The Landmark Theatre in Ilfracombe produce pantomines. There are also smaller scale productions put on in village halls and other venues up and down north Devon.

But where does the history of panto begin?

The origins of British Pantomime or "Panto" as it is known in the UK, probably date back to the middle ages, and blend the traditions of the Italian "Commedia dell' Arte, and the British Music hall to produce the art form that is Pantomime

Today the pantomime is traditionally performed at Christmas. It is a show for children, but grownups like it as well. Usually a well-known story is told, e.g. Cinderella, Jack and the Beanstalk, Snow White etc. There is a lot of spoken dialogue but there are also songs, and sometimes the audience join in. There are many traditions in pantomime. These are some of the main ones:

• The main young man in the play (the principal boy) may be played by a young woman, and usually in tight-fitting male clothes (such as tights).
• An older woman (the pantomime dame - often the hero's mother) is usually played by a man dressed as a woman.
• Risqué (double entendre) jokes, meaning that perfectly ordinary words make people think of a naughty (sexy) meaning. Often the children do not understand these jokes, they are just for the grownups.
• The audience take part (audience participation). For example, they call "look behind you!" (or "he's behind you!"), and "Oh, yes it is!" or "Oh, no it is not!" The audience is always encouraged to "Boo" the villain, and "Awwwww" the poor victims, such as the rejected dame, who usually fancies the prince.
• A song combining a well-known tune with different words.
• The animal, played by an actor in "animal skin" or animal costume. It is often a pantomime horse or cow, played by two actors in a single costume, one as the head and front legs, the other as the body and back legs.
• The good fairy always enters from stage right and the evil villain enters from stage left. In Commedia Dell 'Arte the right side of the stage symbolized Heaven and the left side symbolized Hell.
• The members of the cast throw out sweets to the children in the audience, or choose a few to come on stage and ask them questions.

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Artist, teacher and printmaker, Ken Doughty lived in North Devon for fifty years and much of his work displays the inspiration the area gave him.

An inspirational teacher and and one of the very best watercolour artists in the area Ken Doughty touched the lives of hundreds of children in almost four decades as an art teacher at Park Community School in Barnstaple

His work has been exhibited worldwide, including the Royal West of England Academy, the South West Academy of Fine and Applied Arts and the Royal Society for Marine Artists.

Ken loved the landscape of North Devon especially the coastline and he was passionate about Exmoor.

He once said: "Nothing fascinates me more than the ever-changing light on land or sea, and the discovery of the underlying structure and forms of the natural world. I suppose I have a romantic approach to my work which best enables me to celebrate this wonderful landscape of North Devon."

It is "wonderful" that he has left such a legacy, not only with his drawings and paintings, but in a wealth of sketchbooks.

Mary Chugg always signs her work in her maiden name Mary Cooper. She has lived in North Devon since early childhood. She qualified at Bath Academy of Art and then taught art for 18 years.

In 1973 she became the proprietress of an antique shop from which she 'retired' in 1995. She has exhibited annually with the Westward Ho! Art Society since 1956.

Her work is included in many private collections in this country, on the continent and in the USA. She uses oils, water colours and mixed media. Subjects for her work are taken from landscape, friends and their children and her own imagination.

This exhibition shows the development of this local artist over half a century of work.

North Devon in Photographs is an annual exhibition of selected entries from our popular annual photographic competition which is open to both professional and amature photographers of all ages. The idea is to encourage photography of North Devon life and scenery.

Our 2009 1st Place category winners were;

Towns & Villages: Robin Mellor
Under 16s: Alice Leaman

The Coast & The Sea: Lindsey Talbert
Under 16s: Adam Wooldridge

Landscape: Michael Woodhead
Under 16s: Adam Wooldridge

Wildlife: Lindsey Talbert - overall Cup Winner
Under 16s: Alex Stapleton - overall Cup Winner

Characters: Barbara Fryer
Under 16s: Mary Sanders

Anything Goes!: Margaret Gilbert
Under 16s: Robin Tanner

Each year we have a different judge who has a photographic background. For 2009 the Museum invited two judges, Liza Owen and Ben Liddell, both of whom have been teaching photography as well as art and design at FE & HE level for many years at Petroc (North Devon College).

The Museum of Barnstaple & North Devon joins in the
celebration of the North Devon Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty Golden Anniversary

Celebrating their 50^th anniversary in 2009, the North Devon Coast Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty Partnership was delighted to be involved with the Museum of Barnstaple & North Devon's annual Heritage Photographic Competition. Any photographs entered in the competition, identified as having been taken within this specially protected area, were eligible for entry into an additional category.

AONB winners;

1st Place - Andrew Wheatley
2nd Place - Peter Fry
3rd Place - Robin Mellor
Highly Commended - Agneta Winston
Highly Commended - Mary Stokes
Commended - Keith Lowther
Commended - Adam Wooldridge
Commended - Mr Rob Thorne
Commended - Lindsey Talbert

Devon shepherd and English national sheepdog handler David Kennard, who farms at Mortehoe on our beautiful rugged North Devon coast, was the judge for this special category of the competition.

For a map of the area that the AONB covers in North Devon and their Golden Anniversary events visit www.northdevon-aonb.org.uk

Congratulations to all our award winners and a huge THANK YOU to everyone who entered the competition.

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The aim of the show is to provide a showcase for some of the freshest art from and inspired by northern Devon.

Selected work was shown at the Museum of Barnstaple & North Devon and at the Gallery Cafe, Queen's Theatre, Boutport Street, Barnstaple at the beginning of 2010.

The selection panel for the 8th Open Art Show included representatives of North Devon Arts, North Devon School of Art, Museum of Barnstaple & North Devon and North Devon Theatres Trust.

Showing at the Gallery Cafe at the Queens Theatre, Boutport Street, Barnstaple were:

Nigel Banks - collage

Janis Glover - acrylic & oils

Showing at the Museum were:

Mary Cunliffe - ceramics

Angela Read - sculpture

Jill Denton - mixed media & felt hangings

Simeon Chami - acrylic, oils and mixed media

Angela Bridgman - photography

Albert Duplock - watercolour, pen & ink

Our thanks go to the artists for allowing us the privaledge to exhibit their work.


Look out for details for the 9th North Devon Open Art Show later in the year.

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