Abstract

As part of the European Capital of Culture 2005 celebrations for Cork, the exhibition (budget £350,000) showcased work of Cork’s silversmiths and goldsmiths over four centuries. It contained over 165 pieces some of which came from the Victoria and Albert Museum. Breaking the rules of conventional exhibition methods for silver and gold, the showcase materials, artefact organisation and lighting were reanalysed as a part of the design process. The cabinets, 47 in total and varied in size and shape, were all free-standing, to allow for the mobility requested in the brief. They were constructed from untreated Corten steel to amplify the spectacle of the objects, by providing them with a contemporary counterpoint. Traditionally blue-toned light is used to display silver but, with the development and availability of new lighting, the opportunity to innovate resulted in the use of white light, a first in the displaying of precious metals. Fluorescent tubes (with colour designation ‘white light’ and a correlated colour temperature of 4000 Kelvin) combined with PMMA fibre optics tailed from a halogen light generator (white light - 4200 Kelvin) were combined within the cabinets behind a pearl acrylic to generate a ‘pure white’ environment for the silver and gold to be viewed. Received the highest number of visitors to the Crawford Gallery for any single exhibition. Moved to the Hunt Museum, Limerick, Ireland in April 2007. Credited as exhibition designer in catalogue: Cork Silver and Gold: Four Centuries of Craftsmanship ISBN: 1903464951 Invited contribution to book Space, Architecture for Art ISBN: 0955031907 to discuss exhibition design. Contribution sub-titled Barbara Griffin. Page 139, Chapter: The good, the bad and the ugly. What works for art and is there such a thing as the ideal space? Reviewed in Architecture Ireland RIAI – article title, Airgeadoir Exhibition ISSN 1469-5152