Saturday 26 October 2024 to Sunday 5 January 2025 | Worcester City Art Gallery and Museum
A visual journey through time of Gypsy, Roma and Traveller (GRT) communities, co-curated with members of the communities.
Works by Turner, Munnings and Gainsborough will hang alongside newly commissioned artworks by Romani artists, some of which demonstrate skills from endangered crafts. Hear oral histories, traditional Romani storytelling, poetry and music, and leaf through family photograph albums, while discovering how Romani identity has been portrayed through time.
This exhibition at Worcester City Art Gallery and Museum is part of the Vardo Project based at Worcestershire County Museum at Hartlebury Castle. It has received funding from the John Ellerman Foundation and the Elmley Foundation.
Listen to the free audio guide here.
This exhibition is free to visit; no booking is needed. Plan your visit to the Art Gallery and Museum.
What’s On:
Enjoy a fascinating series of talks and events alongside the exhibition.
Opening day | 26 October
Saturday 26 October 2024, 10am – 4pm.
Celebrate the new exhibition by visiting on its opening day! Storyteller Richard O’Neill will be performing Colours of My Wagon at 11am, 12noon, and 1pm (free and suitable for all ages).
Saturday Talk | It’s Kushti to Rokker Family Connections (It’s Good to Talk Family Connections), Saturday 2 November - cancelled
Saturday 2 November, 11am – 12noon.
** Unfortunately this event has been cancelled due to illness. If you have booked tickets, we will be in touch with you soon. **
Kelly Horsley is the great-great niece of Granny Smith, whose daughter-in-law was Beulah (Freedom) Smith. Beulah’s portrait by Dame Laura Knight is exhibited in Atchin Tan. She discusses her family connections, and Romani heritage and culture in this hour-long talk.
£6.50.
Bite-size Talk | Romani Arts, Tuesday 12 November
Tuesday 12 November, 2 – 2.30pm.
Be introduced to the autumn exhibition, Atchin Tan – Travelling Through Art, by Georgie Stevens, Vardo Project Curator.
£4.50. Find out more and book your place.
Storytelling | Colours of My Wagon, Saturday 16 November
Saturday 16 November 2024, 11am, 12noon, 1pm.
Colours of My Wagon is a storytelling and woodcraft performance by Richard O’Neill which brings to life the ever-changing and adapting culture of Romani people. Performances at 11am, 12noon, and 1pm (free and suitable for all ages).
Find out more.
Saturday Talk | The Baby and the Snake, Saturday 23 November
Saturday 23 November, 11am – 12noon.
A screening of The Baby and the Snake will follow a short introduction to the film by the director Corrina Eastwood. Following the screening there will opportunity for audience members to ask Corrina questions about the film, her identity and wider practice.
£6.50. Find out more and book your place.
Storytelling | Colours of My Wagon, Saturday 7 December
Saturday 7 December 2024, 11am, 12noon, 1pm.
Colours of My Wagon is a storytelling and woodcraft performance by Richard O’Neill which brings to life the ever-changing and adapting culture of Romani people. Performances at 11am, 12noon, and 1pm (free and suitable for all ages).
Find out more.
Group Talks
Bring your group to the Art Gallery and Museum to enjoy a talk from curator of Atchin Tan, Georgie Stevens.
Gypsy Guise and Disguise
Curator Georgie Stevens discusses Gypsy style and fashion. Hear about the origins and symbolism of the traditional styles favoured by the Romani community and how they have both changed over time and are still favoured and worn today.
Discover the value and meaning behind particular traditional items.
A Travelling Work of Art
Hear about the history of wagon art and building, specific to travelling communities. What are the meanings of the symbolism shown in various styles of motif and colour used within travelling communities?
Learn about the origins of wagon art, the first notable wagon builders and the most popular names in wagon building, wheelwrighting and painting.
Foraged Food Fundamentals
This talk explores the history and origin of traditional dishes, favoured foraged foods and subsequent recipes popular with travelling communities.
Discover the importance of herbalism and foraging for plants that have a medicinal or therapeutic use within travelling communities.
Atchin Tan: An Introduction to the Exhibition
Be introduced to Atchin Tan – Travelling Through Art by its curator, Vardo Project Officer Georgie Stevens.
Hear about how the exhibition came to be, the works on display, and Romani arts today.
Talks are £75 per group and the exhibition is free to visit. For further information and to book please contact joanna.jeffree@worcester.gov.uk.
Image: ‘Landscape with Gipsies’, Thomas Gainsborough, 1753-4. Bequeathed by Mrs Arthur James 1948. Photo: Tate.
