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30 August 2024

The Odder the Better

This year's Curator's exhibition at Wisbech and Fenland Museum from October 2 to November 2 is all set to be every bit as quirky as its title.

Curator Robert Bell has been fascinated by collectors and their collections of curiosities since he first fell in love with the town's Museum before he came to work there – because like many provincial museums in Victorian times, it was, and unusually still is, an assembly of collections.

He said: “The odder the better – there's a collector in just about everyone and we're still being offered and have the privilege of putting on display the items people have brought together and treasured. The variety is staggering – you could say all human life is here.

“The gentlemen of Wisbech, led by the vicar Henry Fardell, set up Wisbech Museum Society in 1835 to find out more about and discuss the things they collected because they were curious about science and history and discoveries being made all the time.

“After a few years of meeting they built an early museum – our museum – to house their collections and in 1847 when it was finished they opened it so local people could see and enjoy and learn from the displays.”

Robert is finding a different curiosity from each of the 189 years the Museum has run since its opening to display and show how what fascinates people has changed over time – and also how public attitudes to items have changed.

“We're more sensitive today and rightly so,” he said. “What used to be called the mummy's hand to send a shiver down the spine we now label as a mummified hand. It's a more accurate description and helps us remember it belonged to a person like us.

“We're revising our ideas about history and politics all the time, but I don't believe in putting long explanations on labels. Everyone is free to make up their own mind about what we have on display.”