Students enjoy a Global Gathering

A Global Gathering celebrates the museum’s rich world art collections. Young people from the Bexhill area have worked with professional artists to explore the collections and create innovative multi-media displays.

Asian temple bells, African drums, audio-visual displays and videos compete for attention with poetry and with art in innovative comic form.

Contributors such as local musician and composer Phil Thornton have loaned items which are displayed alongside seldom-seen treasures from the museum’s huge archive.

The exhibition, which runs until September 2, explores the themes of performance, dance and music, giving visitors a contemporary perspective on the world art collections.

Chairman John Betts told guests at last Friday’s launch ceremony that A Global Gathering is part of the London 2012 Cultural Olympiad and was the third project for which the museum had received MLA funding in two years.

Thanking project manager Rachel Heminway-Hurst, he said he had been determined on taking on the chairmanship to get young people involved in the life of the museum.

Rachel, who has been delighted with the response by local young people, said: “It has been a fantastic opportunity to explore the world art collections here.”

Phil Thornton has performed on 34 solo albums with more than two million world-wide sales.

His videos in the exhibition are drawn from more than 20 years’ work exploring music and instruments from across the globe.

The Town Mayor was accompanied by her husband and mayoral consort Cllr Brian Gadd as Rachel gave them a preview tour.

The mayor told guests later: “I have looked around the exhibition and it is absolutely superb!”

For Bexhill College students Lucie Eldridge and Rhys Bowles (pictured), launch night was their first opportunity to see on public show the short film they had created.

Both were delighted to see it on-screen in the museum’s Costume Gallery.

A free family day will be held at the independent, voluntarily-run accredited museum in Egerton Road on Saturday, August 11, featuring drop-in workshops at 11am to 1pm and 2pm to 4pm.