New Exhibition Comes To Dumfries Museum

Dumfries Museum has created a new display focused on childhood. It includes old dolls, toys, games and more. A beautiful old leather football is on display alongside a rocking horse, dominoes and a toy sailing boat. There is a section focused on the Peter Pan books which explores the connections between JM Barrie and Dumfries. There are also charming vintage children’s clothes, christening gowns and baby’s bottles alongside paintings of children from the past.

The highlight of the display focuses on the artworks of Anne McEntegart, several of which have not been on display in Dumfries before. Anne spent a lot of her childhood in Crocketford, her mother lived in Castle Douglas. After time in Edinburgh, London, Singapore and the New Forest, Anne and her family settled in Dunscore.

This display includes artworks made by Anne when she was a new mother, in Singapore in the 1930s. She spent time studying the people of Malaya and created beautiful artworks inspired by this culture. Anne used her observations in books that she illustrated such as ‘A Malayan Cookbook’ and books which helped teach the children of Singapore how to read English. The work inspired by her son’s carer, his Amah, is the most remarkable with two eye catching sculptures of this particular woman.

Visitors to the museum will be able to enjoy a special tour with Museum Curator, Judith Hewitt on Saturday 21September from 11am. This tour has been organised as part of the national Art History Festival 2024, organised by the Association for Art History.

Council Leader Gail MacGregor said:

“This new display presents the museum with an opportunity to explore childhood in all its varied forms. It is particularly pleasing to see a female artist being celebrated in this way and to see how she explored life in different cultures – particularly women who cared for other people’s children.. The focus of this year’s festival is Local to Global and I look forward to seeing the exhibition for myself.”

This display will be available to see throughout 2024 and 2025. For full details of how to visit, see: https://www.dgculture.co.uk/venue/dumfries-museum/