{"id":2668,"date":"2016-01-19T14:46:52","date_gmt":"2016-01-19T14:46:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/specialcollections\/?p=2668"},"modified":"2016-01-20T11:42:18","modified_gmt":"2016-01-20T11:42:18","slug":"five-fascinating-artefacts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/specialcollections\/2016\/01\/19\/five-fascinating-artefacts\/","title":{"rendered":"Five Fascinating Artefacts"},"content":{"rendered":"

Work placement volunteer, Ellis Spicer, explores the new exhibition in the new library:<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

It\u2019s already been an action-packed 2016 for the Special Collections and Archives<\/a> at the University of Kent\u2019s Templeman Library. Their \u2018Comedy on Stage and Page\u2019 exhibition is up and ready for perusal displayed in the newly built Templeman West Wing on Level 1 of the library. This exhibition embodies the crossover between the British Cartoon Archive<\/a> and Stand-Up Comedy Archive<\/a>, founded forty years apart but very much complementary to each other.<\/p>\n

Throughout my time browsing the exhibition, my favourites began to emerge. You may agree, you may disagree. The exhibition features treasures from the collections at Kent, so come along to choose your favourites too!<\/p>\n

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  1. ‘The Young Ones’ Script, Alexie Sayle Collection<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    \"Ellen<\/a><\/p>\n

    My first favourite from the exhibition was Alexei Sayle\u2019s script from episode 3 of the second and final series of the Young Ones. For me, this stood out as an item in the collection due to its personalised nature of what seems to be a generic script. This script reveals Sayle\u2019s expressive, cursive handwriting and an absent-minded doodle of a car. It\u2019s nice to know that even the rich and famous still get bored and doodle, whilst referring to themselves as Se\u00f1or.<\/p>\n

    2. Bomber Blair, Leon Kuhn Collection<\/p>\n

    \"Ellen<\/a>\"Ellen<\/a>\"Ellen<\/a><\/p>\n

    My second favourite item from the exhibition is an image of Tony Blair that changes depending on the angle you look at it (for photos of different angles see below). I felt the poignant message that the artist, Leon Kuhn, was trying to portray about Blair\u2019s foreign policy, especially once you know how anti-war the artist himself was. The collage style itself is also fascinating and really stood out for me, and the view from different angles resonated with me as the different angles such a complex situation can be looked at.<\/p>\n

    3. Tory Toff Speak (with subtitles),\u00a0Chris Riddell <\/a>(British Cartoon Archive)<\/p>\n

    \"Ellen<\/a>,<\/p>\n

    My third favourite item from the exhibition was the image \u2018Tory Toff Speak\u2019 with subtitles, featuring David Cameron and Boris Johnson. Parliamentary talk in debates is notoriously ridden with euphemisms due to MP\u2019s potentially being ejected from debates for \u2018unparliamentary language\u2019. This image shows a \u2018translation\u2019 of that euphemistic dialogue.<\/p>\n

    4. Rendezvous, David Low<\/a> (British Cartoon Archive)<\/p>\n

    \"Ellen<\/a><\/p>\n

    My fourth favourite item from the exhibition resonated with me due to my background as a History MA student specialising in the Second World War. Here Hitler and Stalin greet each other rather cordially, \u2018doffing their caps\u2019 to each other in a sign of deference. The two extreme political leaders greet each other politely yet their words disagree. Overall I feel the suggestion that the artists wonders whether the two polar opposite ideological leaders are that different at all\u2026.<\/p>\n

    5. Votes and violence, W.K Haselden <\/a>(British Cartoon Archive)<\/p>\n

    \"Ellen<\/a><\/p>\n

    My last favourite item from the exhibition is a Suffragette cartoon by artist W.K.Haselden from 1909. It suggests that militant suffragette activities was not going to be successful, and that violence could not win the vote. With hindsight, women\u2019s wartime contribution has been argued to be more influential, and I found it interesting how hindsight connected with the past views.<\/p>\n

    Overall, an intriguing exhibition that I thoroughly recommend you see for yourself on Level 1 of the West Wing of the Templeman Library.<\/p>\n

    Written by Ellis Spicer, student work placement in Special Collections and Archives.<\/p>\n