DORSET MUSEUM TAKEOVER
14TH MARCH 2025
The Friendly Society of Artistic Labourers presents a record of its sixth iteration, The Hidden Side of the Museum, in partnership with Dorset Museum, Dorchester.
Focusing on hidden stories, overlooked narratives, and the often-shadowed legacy of colonial and extractive practices in museum curation. The creative practitioners and students from Weymouth College reinterpreted the museum’s collections through a highly imaginative and experimental lens.
This project culminated in a multi-disciplinary exhibition and performance event at the museum in March 2025, transforming the museum into a space alive with contemporary creativity.
This experience forms a vital part of being a creative at Weymouth College, offering students an exceptional opportunity to directly engage with industry practices and gain invaluable, first-hand experience of every stage of creating and hosting an arts event.
Working alongside industry professionals such as Simon Lee Dicker and his team of artists, students will collaborate across disciplines, develop skills in project management, and contribute to an ambitious, high-profile event in a prestigious museum setting.
WORKSHOP DETAILS & COLLABORATIVE ARTISTS
(Lens-based media)
By researching the stories of enslaved people; this group used studio photography, cyanotype, digital negatives and videography to present museum materials & portraiture that examines local connections to colonised peoples.
(fine art sculpture)
Connecting with the experiences of colonised people, its brutality's and injustices; this group created giant sculptures in card and papier mache, designed to be walked in under and around.
(printmaking)
Focused on the theme of ‘Theft,’ inspired by the birds that Alfred Wallace captured, sold & traded, ; this group created a giant wall of imaginary birds that could be "plundered" by individuals or left for the good of the exhibition.
(sculpture/installation)
Taking inspiration from the plants that represent places where artefacts were stolen; this group created drawings, type, projection and artist books, are presented to echo the aesthetic of the Collection Vault.
(textiles/fashion)