The Mantelpiece Exhibition
The Mantelpiece Exhibition, curated by Kerry Curtis as part of Stuff BathStuff Bath
Milsom PlaceMilsom Place, Bath
Extended to 20 November (open 10am-6pm Mon-Sat, 11am-4pm Sun)
In existence, the mantelpiece commands the focus of the domestic interior; an altar, serving as a place to exhibit precious and sentimental objects. It has a permanence and somehow stands quietly separate from the daily life around it. On the mantelpiece everyone is able to curate the things they most love.
For many designers visiting the car-boot or charity shop, is as regular as doing the grocery shop. Back at home, they can’t help but curate and showcase arrangements of found and made objects, residing on mantelpieces, shelves, sideboards and window sills. Initiating the connection between looking for, collecting, sorting, thinking, designing and making.
The Mantelpiece looks at these inspirational collections of objects. Individually, the items may be viewed as beautiful, incredibly crafted or even plain ugly and pointless, yet when arranged on a mantelpiece this stuff creates a narrative, expressing the design handwriting of the creator.
In this exhibition, a group of designers, who have close links with the Bath School of Art and Design, recreate their mantelpieces, displaying personal, yet disparate windows through which the audience can catch a glimpse of the private world of design, designers and the objects that inspire the creation of new stuff.
Contributing designers:
Shai Akram
Fabien Cappello
Jo Chambers
Peter Clark
Kerry Curtis
Custhom
Darkroom
Blue Farrier
Amanda Goode
Andrew Haythornthwaite
James Jarvis
Sam Johnson
Sara Jowett
Tracy Kendall
Jenny King
Claire Loder
Ptolemy Mann
Michael Marriott
John Miles
Karen Nicol
Marcus Oakley
Flora Roberts
Nigel Robinson
John Taylor
Donna Wilson
Mantelpiece 