A new pop-up exhibition has opened at Dewsbury Town Hall to showcase the town’s history. It celebrates textile heritage, famous people and civic life.
The exhibition has been made possible thanks to a grant from the Arts Council England Museum’s Resilience fund. The fund supports projects which explore new ways to make museum collections more sustainable.
The exhibition looks at Dewsbury’s past from the Industrial Revolution in the 1800s to its political history, visitors can also find out about famous local people including Dr Jane Walker – who founded the Medical Women’s Federation, Eileen Fenton – the first woman to finish the Daily Mail Cross-Channel Race and Sir John Simon – Dewsbury’s first MP.
Kirklees Museums and Galleries are committed to getting museum collections out and about into the community. Their Arts Council funded Sustainable Collections Project has enabled them to create high profile displays and share collections with wider audiences in popular locations such as Dewsbury Town Hall, Huddersfield Leisure Centre and Huddersfield Railway Station.
Councillor Graham Turner, Cabinet Member for Asset Strategy, Resources and Creative Kirklees said:
“We are excited to bring this display about Dewsbury right into the town centre so that many people can enjoy their heritage. We want to tell the story of the people of Dewsbury, the industrial history, and how this created social and political change over the years. We are delighted with how it looks and hope that visitors of all ages will enjoy sharing their memories and talking about how Dewsbury’s creativity inspires our lives today.’
“During our public engagement about museums last summer, people told us that they wanted us to do more things outside of museums, taking inspiring stories out into communities.’
“These collections belong to the people of Kirklees and we want a wider range of people to have the opportunity to enjoy them. The museums’ service is responding to the challenges of the council’s budget savings in a very creative way.”