Dusting off past glories

DUST Off The Dodo is the first exhibition to parade the combined collections of the York Museums Trust. Under the direction of the trust's director of collections, Mary Kershaw, the curators of the Yorkshire Museum and Gardens, York Castle Museum and York Art Gallery have put together a show that highlights "Fabulous finds that time forgot".

Time may have forgotten these finds but the museum staff have not, and so "star objects" from the collections are on show at the Yorkshire Museum from this week until next January.

"All these objects have a story to tell," says Mary. "We hope visitors will make their own journey around the different artefacts on display and that everyone will find something to fascinate."

In Stephen Lewis's feature on February 23 this year, the Evening Press already has highlighted the tale of the dodo that has given the exhibition its name. Suffice to remind you that in the 1860s Harry Pasley Higginson, a civil engineer from Thormanby in North Yorkshire, travelled to Mauritius to work on the island's first railway. While there he discovered dodo bones that he duly sent back to the Yorkshire Museum, and his great grandson's recent research suggests his discovery prompted the most significant find of dodo bones in history.

Dust Off The Dodo is dusting off not only the Higginson dodo but also plenty more objects on the theme of Travel and The Art of Travelling, such as suitcase that Cynthia Lewcock used when she evacuated from York to Canada in the Second World War; York surgeon Tempest Anderson's Victorian photographs of mountainous and volcanic regions; Dick Turpin's travels en route to the Debtors' Prison in York and his eventual hanging in 1739; and the shrine of St William, the subject of pilgrimages to York Minster until the shrine - the largest in medieval Europe - was pulled down on the orders of Henry VIII in the Reformation.

"The main thing that sets this exhibition apart from others at the Yorkshire Museum - and gave the show its impetus - is that our collections are starring stage centre," says Mary.

"We're re-engaging the public with our own exhibits and giving them the chance to encounter the marvellous, original exhibits. With this show, the objects are telling the story rather than the story leading the way and dictating the choice of objects."

Mary, who worked previously for the museum service in Harrogate, joined the York Museums Trust a year ago with the remit of looking after all the museum collections and co-ordinating the teams of curators.

"I already knew the collections were outstanding and were all designated as being of national importance, which is the equivalent to the status of a national museum," she says. "That is very rare; there are very few museums that have all their collections recognised in such a way.

"When I started I met all the curators and said 'Tell me about your work and the collections', and around every corner I would find something wonderful and I thought 'Wow, we have to show this'. With any other museum, I could say such and such a piece would be their Middleham Jewel; here so many wonderful pieces are in store, so this exhibition is a chance to appreciate the depth and wealth of our collections."

To tie in with the exhibition theme of travel, the first room features items in glass cases and wooden boxes with Handle With Care stickers, to convey the transportation and unpacking of the artefacts, and the exhibits are accompanied by a new three-tier system of information. "We're trying out new types of interpretation and presentation and we'll be using information on how they're received to decide how we shall present future exhibitions, including works of art," says Mary.

"The presentation style responds to three types of visitor: the streaker, who rushes through; the stroller, who ambles, and the studious, who will read every bit of text.

"So we start off with three key points, and then an information sheet with more details, and further information beyond that is available on book tables. We'll also be providing leaflets to take away if you want to find out more about the exhibits, with book lists and Internet connections."

Mary admits that even a prehistoric pot will set her pulse racing. "For me, it is exciting because it is 4,000 years old... a pot that you or I could use in a kitchen. I want to share that excitement."

If prehistoric pots do not stir you, then be assured that Dust Off The Dodo has much to treasure or delight, be it the Observatory Clock that has always been set to York local time, four minutes and 20 seconds behind Greenwich Mean Time; the geological map that changed the world, created by William Smith, the founding father of geology who lived in Hackness and Scarborough; or the oldest known printed and dated Valentine card in the world, published in 1797 (and part of the trust's collection of more than 3,000 greeting cards).

Look out, too, for the cuddly and the not-so-cuddly. On the soft side is a teddy bear, a wartime gift from a departing father to his daughter in 1914, found in the house of the late Alice Doherty, in Acomb, York, with a note pinned to him. "To the person who clears this house out," it read. "Will you please see my teddy bear goes to the children's part of the Castle Museum."

The teddy is now on display for the first time, and is sure to charm all arctophiles (teddy bear collectors, from the Greek words 'arctus').

This exhibit has been placed next to an armadillo shell, snout and tail and paws and all, that has been made into a work bag.

"You have to admit it's memorable," says Mary. "I don't think it was ever used but it does speak powerfully to us about the different approaches people have to animals.

"It's difficult to get inside the head of someone who thought the carapace of an armadillo was a fashionable item, but to me that's what is fascinating about looking at human nature. Putting different items together in the show takes your thoughts in all sorts of directions.

"The armadillo bag found its way to the museum because... well, what else would you do with it, whereas the teddy bear was so special to someone that it was donated to the museum with a story to tell."

Looking ahead to next year, York Museums Trust is planning an exhibition to illuminate its Ice Age collection. "We have a wealth of material," says Mary. How lucky York is.

Dust Off The Dodo, Fabulous Finds That Time Forgot, Yorkshire Museum, Museum Gardens, York, open daily, until January 2005. Admission: free to York Card holders; adults £4, concessions £3, children £2.50, family £9, for non-residents. A programme of daily lunchtime talks will run on weekdays until July 30.

Updated: 10:58 Tuesday, May 18, 2004