Find out what’s coming up in 2022 with our new programme of exhibitions exploring creativity and landscape.
The Art of Brian Rice: 60 Years of Painting and Print
A display of more than 30 vibrant abstract works by a painter-printmaker who was born in Somerset but made an international name for himself in 1960s London. Brian Rice moved in the same circles as David Hockney, Jo Tilson and Peter Blake, and worked at the forefront of British Modernism. Later works reflect his fascination with the west country’s archaeology.
Dates: Open until 26 February
Venue: The Museum of Somerset, Taunton
The Blackdown Hills: A Photographic Portrait
A photographic exhibition documenting two decades of farming life on the Blackdown Hills by Somerset-based photographer Pauline Rook. Pauline has explored hundreds of miles of country lanes getting to know the individuals, countryside and buildings that make up this distinctive landscape. Includes a selection of recent work which has been captured using an infrared sensitive camera.
Dates: 8 January – 19 March
Venue: Somerset Rural Life Museum, Glastonbury
In Xanadu: Coleridge and the West Country
An exhibition in partnership with the British Library to showcase the only manuscript of Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s extraordinary poem Kubla Khan. The exhibition celebrates the display of the manuscript in the county where the poem was written. It will tell the story of Coleridge’s time spent living in and near the Quantock Hills, his relationship with William and Dorothy Wordsworth, and the legacy of his writing.
Dates: 12 March – 25 June
Venue: The Museum of Somerset, Taunton
This exhibition is part of the British Library’s ‘Treasures on Tour’ programme, generously supported by the Helen Hamlyn Trust.
Craft – Somerset Portraits and Voices
Somerset artist Kate Lynch documents the people practising old crafts and trades in Somerset. Kate’s charcoal drawings and paintings pay tribute to their knowledge and time-honoured skills. There are 30 traditional craftspeople featured including basketmakers, weavers, blacksmiths, farriers, potters, hedgelayers and many more.
Dates: 26 March – 5 June
Venue: Somerset Rural Life Museum, Glastonbury
Opening & Visit
To find out more, including the latest information about opening hours and admission visit our websites:
The Museum of Somerset, Taunton is open 10.00 am to 5.00 pm Tuesday to Sunday
Somerset Rural Life Museum, Glastonbury is open 10.00 am to 5.00 pm Tuesday to Saturday
Exhibitions generously supported by
IMAGES: Red Assembly, 1964 by Brian Rice. Henry Derryman with a shearing ram at Peterhayes Farm by Pauline Rook. Samuel Taylor Coleridge by Peter Vandyke © National Portrait Gallery, London. Charlotte Martin weaving with a counter march loom, by Kate Lynch.