Saturday 25 July 2015

What's on in Ladybird Land

There are a lot of exhibitions taking place connected with Ladybird's so-called 'Centenary' year.

It's quite hard to keep track of what has happened, what has been planned and what's on.
I thought a round-up might be helpful.

1) The 'Ladybird by Design' exhibition took place in Bexhill at the De La Warr Pavilion between January and May this year.  So that's now finished ... but ...

2) ...  The House of Illustration is currently hosting the same exhibition - or most of it - near Kings Cross in London.  The rooms are smaller and so far the beautiful parade of book (my books!) haven't been exhibited yet for lack of space, but I understand that they will be displayed any day now, as another exhibition comes to an end and the space is freed up.

This incarnation of the LbD exhibition is on until the end of September but if you can come on the evening of Thursday 30th of July please do!  That's when I'm meant to be heading up an 'informal evening' talking about the impact of Ladybird.  Here's how it's advertised:


I wasn't sure how the Bexhill exhibition would translate to a much smaller venue - but actually I liked the arrangement.  The smaller rooms encourage you to get up closer to the artwork and - since the pieces were designed to be viewed in detail close up - this works very well.

3) The Charnwood Museum in Loughborough is having its own exhibition.  Loughborough is the home of Ladybird and from the pictures I've seen so far it looks very good:

I hope to visit later this week so I'll review then.


4)  On the subject of Loughborough, Angel Yard, the birth place of Ladybird, has been awarded a 'Green Plaque'. The unveiling ceremony is on Wednesday 29th of June and I hope to be there.







5) Finally, there is another exhibition: 100 Years of Ladybird, which opened last week and the British Schools Museum.  This is in my county of Hertfordshire, in Hitchin.  If you live locally, do drop by.  The only building is interesting and the staff are friendly.


The exhibition, though small, has been put together with an eye for detail and tender loving care.  When I was there I didn't get a chance to see the original school rooms there - but I imagine they're interesting too.

If you know of anything else Ladybird related that's on now or is being planned, do let me know