NEW SEASON OF MINI-MUSEUM DISPLAYS

A new season of Mini Museum displays open at four of the District's libraries this week.

Visitors to Featherstone, Havercroft, Knottingley and Normanton libraries will be able to enjoy a variety of exhibitions from Wednesday (May 24).

At Knottingley a new display of objects associated with rites of passage will open. A silver christening spoon, lucky horseshoes and jet mourning jewellery will help tell the story of birth, marriage and death in Britain from the 1800s to the present day. Students of English from all over the world have given insights into traditions from their own cultures.

Whether fashion-conscious or just plain curious, visitors to Normanton library can see how local people used to step out in style in Best Foot Forward, a display of shoes from Roman sandals to 1970s platforms.

Lipstick, powder and paint are the order of the day at Havercroft library where readers can reminisce about the good times with Night On The Town. The exhibition features grooming and make up paraphernalia from as long ago as the 1890s.

At Featherstone library readers will be reminded of their first gig or their favourite record by Soundtrack of Your Life, a selection of musical objects from the museum collections for Wakefield Council and local people's own archives. This project is delivered in partnership with a range of music projects for young people at Chesneys.

Airedale and Kinsley libraries keep their existing Mini Museum displays - a 1940s dolls house, Home Sweet Home, at Airedale and Two By Two, a handmade Noah's Ark at Kinsley. There are free activities for the under 5s to enjoy at Airedale and Kinsley.

Mini Museums is a project designed to get some of Wakefield's museum collections out into community venues.

Denise Jeffery, Wakefield Council's Cabinet Member for Culture, Tourism and Sport, said: "All the Mini Museum exhibitions have objects to stir people's curiosity and imagination. They provide a great opportunity for people living in these towns and villages to see some of the objects that we're not often able to show, and also to get involved with activities to do with local history.'

The Mini Museum project is funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund, Wakefield Council and SureStart.

Ref: PR846
Date: 22/05/06

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