British Museum takes its first show to Thurso
HIGH Life Highland is delighted to be working in partnership with the British Museum to bring an exhibition of Nordic art to the Thurso Gallery.
The touring exhibition, which opens on Saturday (November 16), is called "Nordic by Nature: modern design and prints" and is the first time that London's British Museum has bought an exhibition to Thurso – running until February 2020.
Artists and designers have long been inspired by the varied and dramatic landscapes of the Nordic countries and the exhibition explores how nature and landscape is at the heart of Finnish, Swedish, Danish and Norwegian art and design.
Natural spectacles, from the bewitching aurora borealis to the white nights of the frozen north, as well as local materials like birch wood, have contributed to a distinctly Nordic aesthetic.
Highlights of the 44 exhibits include pioneering pieces by one of the leading figures in Finnish design, glass-maker Tapio Wirkkala (1915-1985), which resemble melting, cracked or carved ice and are shown against prints of stark icy landscapes.
Cathy Shankland exhibitions officer for High Life Highland said: “I am absolutely delighted that our partnership with the British Museum is bringing this wonderful collection to Thurso Gallery for the first time.
"Caithness is no stranger to the aurora borealis in real time and I am sure the exhibition will strike a chord with locals and visitors alike.”
Visitors will also see examples of work by Finnish basket maker, Markku Kosonen (1945 - 2010). These works in birch bark adapt traditional forms to create modern works of art and are displayed alongside traditional plaited birch bark bags, still made today as expressions of cultural and national identity.
Additionally, the exhibition brings together a range of Swedish prints, ceramics, and glass works from Småland, which is known as the Kingdom of Crystal. On display will be experimental and minimalist works from Denmark, including Erik Magnussen’s (1940-2014) revolutionary tableware of the 1960s and Per Kirkeby’s (1938-2018) light-hearted print, Telephone rings (1964).
The Thurso Gallery is one of only four UK venues where the exhibition will travel to.
The exhibition will be on display at the Thurso Gallery in Thurso Library on Davidson's Lane until Saturday, February 1, 2020.
For more information call Thurso Gallery on 01847 896357.
