Object in Focus: Partnership project with the Horniman Museum
Objects in Focus is a loans programme run by the Horniman Museum in London, funded by Arts Council England, which aims to improve access to their collections and strengthen their partnerships with other museums and cultural organisations, by offering a range of objects for loan free of charge.
In July the Museum is loaning some tattoo design examples from the Horniman Museum under this Objects in Focus scheme. These tattoo models from Sarawak, Borneo date to the 19th century. We will use them, along with other items from our collections, to share with visitors more about the history of tattooing around the world.
The display will also include a tattoo implement from Fiji, made from a bone plate with a bamboo handle, which has been decorated with plaited coconut fibre. It was collected in Viti Levu, Fiji, Oceania Polynesia in 1876.
The display will be supplemented by an online talk by Dr Lodder, from the University of Essex, who curated the British Tattoo Art Revealed exhibition which was on display in 2018 at the National Maritime Museum in Cornwall, of which you can find out more here https://nmmc.co.uk/tattoo-british-tattoo-art-revealed/
