Ditchling Museum of Art + Craft reimagines what a museum can be

It Takes a Village is the name of the exhibition this summer as Ditchling Museum of Art + Craft reimagines what a museum can be.

The exhibition runs from July 5-February 1.

Steph Fuller, museum director and CEO, said: “This summer, Ditchling Museum of Art + Craft invites visitors behind the scenes with a new exhibition that re-examines its extraordinary collection of over 20,000 arts and craft objects from fresh perspectives. Marking 40 years since the museum’s inception, this living curatorial experiment will shape the museum’s major redisplay planned for 2028.

“The museum is collaborating with over 50 contributors to bring together rarely seen discoveries from the collection alongside familiar works, presented in new ways. Featuring pieces by renowned artists and craftspeople – including Ethel Mairet, Eric Gill, Joseph Cribb, David Jones and Amy Sawyer – It Takes a Village offers new ways of looking at these objects and the connections between them. Visitors will also be invited into the process, contributing their own local items into the museum’s Wunderkammer, with each object's origin marked on a map of Ditchling designed by illustrator Neil Gower, building a unique, community-sourced collection.

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“Over 100 objects from the museum’s collection, with many never-before-seen items will be featured, including a limestone relief carving by Joseph Cribb, vibrant screen-printed textiles by little known artist Grace Denman and a handwoven silk wedding dress, made and worn by Petra Gill, daughter of Eric Gill. The exhibition features a display co-curated by members of the Methodist Survivors’ Advisory Group (a group of people who have lived experience of abuse) and the Methodist Modern Art Collection Management Committee addressing the complex legacy of Eric Gill. Meanwhile, visitors can experience a sensory reimagining of Ethel Mairet’s home and workshop, Gospels. Created using inclusive design techniques, the display offers a multi-sensory way to engage with Mairet’s world.

“Interventions created with community members, museum conservators, Ditchling craftspeople and local schoolchildren will nestle next to live residencies with contemporary craftspeople using equipment from the museum’s collection, including a100-year-old loom and the museum’s resident 200-year-old Stanhope printing press.”

Steph added: “We're thrilled to present this exhibition, inviting both longtime supporters and new visitors to experience our collection in fresh, interactive ways this summer. It’s an opportunity to engage with the stories our collection holds, sparking dialogue not just among museumgoers but also across the sector. Together, we’ll explore the questions these objects raise and consider new ways of understanding them.

“It Takes a Village considers how artists' legacies are shaped over time, questioning traditional narratives and offering new interpretations of their work. Over the past year, the museum has partnered with the Methodist Survivors’ Advisory Group and the Methodist Modern Art Collection to co-curate the Eric Gill display in this exhibition. It marks a significant first: a museum display about an artist’s abusive legacy shaped in direct collaboration with abuse survivors.

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“Recognising Gill's abuse of his daughters, the display focuses on the experiences of Petra and Elizabeth, offering space for a thoughtful and sensitive retelling of their stories, family lives and creative careers. Works include The Plait, a pencil drawing of Petra by Eric Gill (1922), and wood engraving Girl in Bath II by Eric Gill (1923). Examples of handweaving by Petra Gill, who trained under Ethel Mairet, will be shown, including the silk wedding dress from her 1930 wedding to Denis Tegetmeier, which has never been displayed before. Drawings and booklets created by Petra, Elizabeth and their sister Joan as children will also be shown for the first time.

“The display features Eric Gill’s Annunciation (c. 1912), on loan from the Methodist Modern Art Collection. This watercolour became a central focus for the collaboration with the abuse survivors, who were working with the Methodist Modern Art Collection to determine whether the artwork should remain in their collection. The group felt strongly that the artwork should not be hidden or brushed aside. Their re-interpretation of the piece and its contextualisation alongside these works has shaped the direction of this display.

“This collaborative approach extends to other parts of the exhibition, where oral histories, recorded in partnership with the University of Sussex, offer fresh perspectives on the museum’s collection, rethinking its history with input from the community. Exhibited as part of this is Louis Ginnett’s striking oil painting of his daughter, Mary, adorned in a dramatic black and silver cape - now reunited with the very garment, selected by textile conservator Zenzie Tinker. Also featured is Edward Johnston’s 1927 calligraphic masterpiece Shakespeare's Sonnet CXVI, chosen by calligrapher Ewan Clayton - the final member admitted to the Guild of St Joseph and St Dominic - who brings his own deep connection to Johnston’s legacy.”

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