Celebrating 10 years of The Novium Museum!
Celebrating 10 years of The Novium Museum
The Novium Museum is inviting residents and visitors to celebrate its 10th anniversary this July with a birthday party and special exhibition.
Since officially opening its doors to the public on Sunday 8 July 2012, the award-winning museum has established itself as a much-loved visitor attraction in the heart of Chichester's City centre. Over the last decade, it has achieved an incredible amount, with headline exhibitions including Tim Peake: An Extraordinary Journey, Mystery Warrior: The North Bersted Man and the most recent Brick Wonders, all of which have attracted tens of thousands of visitors of all ages.
The museum, which is free to visit, will be celebrating with a 10th birthday party on Saturday 9th July. Historical characters will bring the museum to life throughout the day, with activities including:
· Meet Brutus, the brave Roman Centurion.
· A mini-dig with 'Dr Forbes', founder of the original Chichester museum.
· Code breaking with 'Joan Clarke'.
· Traditional parlour games with a Victorian teacher.
· Meet an astronaut-in-training and learn about life in space.
· Craft activities and trails.
Councillor Roy Briscoe, Cabinet Member for Culture and Community Services, says: "We're incredibly proud of our award-winning museum and what it has achieved over the last 10 years, both with and for our community. The purpose-built museum has enabled us to tell the story of the Chichester District and its rich heritage better than ever before and meant that we have been able to host an exciting range of temporary and touring exhibitions.
"In 2012, Chichester's museum collection moved from a disused corn mill in Little London to a new, purpose-built museum constructed over the breath-taking remains of Chichester's Roman bath house, becoming The Novium Museum. Since then, it has been nationally recognition at the Museum + Heritage Awards for its exhibitions, learning programme and events.
"This is a great opportunity to mark this key milestone and to thank our visitors, without whom the last 10 years would not have been possible. We hope you'll join us in celebrating!"
For more information and to book your free admission to The Novium Museum's 10th birthday party, visit: www.thenovium.org
An exhibition celebrating The Novium Museum's 10th anniversary is open until Saturday 17 September. The exhibition looks back at key moments and exhibitions from the last 10 years and prompts visitors to share their own most memorable moments and leave their thoughts on the future of the museum. For more information, visit: www.thenovium.org
A special 10th anniversary print has been commissioned thanks to grant funding from an 'Innovate to Generate' grant from South East Museums Development Programme. Designed by local artist Victoria Oatway of Bobbie Print, the print takes the form of a montage of illustrations of key features of the museum including the bath house, logo and artefacts from the museum's collection, including three objects voted for inclusion by members of the public. The 10th anniversary print is available to purchase from the museum's shop — both in-store and online: http://shop.thenovium.org
In addition to the 10th anniversary print, local artists Gael Emmett, who designs and makes jewellery and Charlotte Deal, who specialises in ceramics have produced a new Dialogues in Design range to celebrate the anniversary. Dialogues in Design invites local designers and artists to make responses to The Novium Museum displays. The result is a collection of unique contemporary craft objects connected to both historical and present day Chichester: visual dialogues through time. The ceramic and jewellery pieces are available exclusively through the museum's shop.
ENDS
Notes to Editors
Background information
The museum was located in Little London until 2012, when a new purpose-built museum was constructed over the remains of Chichester's Roman bath house. It was named The Novium Museum, which is short for Chichester's Roman name, Noviomagus Reginorum.
With specialist environmental control, showcasing and storage, The Novium Museum allowed for vast improvement of the care and display of the museum collection. With more space, their award-winning learning programme has been expanded and the museum runs a wide range of events for visitors. A big factor in building the new museum was accessibility - a large portion of the museum in Little London was completely inaccessible, but now the museum's large 'space rocket' lift means that everyone is able to enjoy the museum.
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