Be prepared to be spooked at the V&A's Museum of Childhood. Photographer Craig Deane is exhibiting a dozen images of dolls, picked from the museum's 8,000 strong archive. Fascinated by 'the evolving representations we have made of ourselves - and given to our children to play with', his photographs present a variety of dolls of different shapes and colours spanning back to the 1930s. It is interesting but unnerving too. I feel this is one for the grown-ups, I don't want to give little Evie nightmares. Suddenly teddy bears seem a whole lot more cuddly.
V&A Museum of Childhood, Cambridge Heath Road, London E2 9PA (020 8983 5200/www.vam.ac.uk) Open Mon-Sun 10am-5.45pm. Doll Face is on now until the end of the year.
I know what you mean, somehow they can be a wee bit spooky! Give me teddy bears any day :) I'm having a giveaway over on my blog that finishes tomorrow if you fancy hopping along. Catherine x
ReplyDeleteHi Maggie, I'm Craig, the photographer of the dolls currently showing at the Museum of Childhood. I know what you mean when you say that this is 'one for the grown-ups', but you may be surprised at the kids' reactions to the dollies; adults tend to bring a load of cultural and social baggage to their viewing of these images (dolls in horror films, Freudian psychoanalysis, etc) whilst the kiddies simply seem drawn by the big faces, the eyes, the red lips, or whatever detail draws their eyes. I'm sure your children, as mine, hold dear the weirdest-looking dolls and teddies - please don't let your preconceived ideas of what is scary put you off taking your family. I'd love to hear your feedback, and that of your readers. Thanks for the write-up by the way. All the best, Craig
ReplyDeleteHi Craig, thanks so much for your comment. You are right, I should let my daughter decide what she thinks about these. I look forward to taking Evie there. She is already a fan of Chris Ofili and Henry Moore so it will be interesting to see what she makes of your bold images. I'm fascinated by these weird and wonderful dolls. I shall blog about it once we've been. Best wishes, Maggie
ReplyDelete