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Press Release - Jan 2023
‘View of Plymouth’ by Hendrick Danckerts
This painting showing a ‘View of Plymouth’ is attributed to a celebrated Dutch painter who came to England to paint for King Charles II called Hendrick Danckerts (1625-1679).
Press Release - Jan 2023
'A Fish Sale on a Cornish Beach' by Stanhope Forbes
This painting by Dublin-born artist, Stanhopes Forbes (1857-1947) is quite possibly the most popular work of art from our collections. Even though it’s been on display many times since it was acquired in 1962, ‘A Fish Sale on a Cornish Beach’ still blows people away.
Press Release - Jan 2023
The Boer War
The second Boer War of 1899-1902 is a conflict probably few of us know much about. It lies just beyond living memory yet has left a permanent imprint on Plymouth in monuments of stone.
Art - Jan 2023
Community Insight: Punch Bowl Project
Find out more about this special Punch Bowl, which was created by members of the community in response to Alberta Whittle’s film 'Hindsight is a luxury you cannot afford (2021)'. The film can currently be seen in 'British Art Show 9' and the bowl is also now on display on the first floor of The Box's main building.
History - Dec 2022
John Foulston and the Plymouth Proprietary Library
The Plymouth Proprietary Library is an active subscription library founded in 1810. Known as the Plymouth Public Library until 1881, here we explore the history of its architecture and its connection with leading English architect John Foulston.
News - Dec 2022
'Twas the week before Christmas
School's out for Christmas 2022. Have you got some excitable small people at home? If you're looking for things to do to help keep them occupied over the next few days, here are some ideas and activities that might help.
News - Dec 2022
New things to see in ‘100 Journeys’
Did you know we make regular changes to the displays in some of our permanent galleries? In many cases, we do this to protect the more fragile works in our care like photographic materials and works on paper from too much exposure to light.
Press Release - Dec 2022
Final few weeks to see British Art Show 9
The UK’s most exciting touring exhibition of contemporary art is heading into the home straight.
Family - Nov 2022
Meet the I Wonder team!
Meet Kay, Jane, Kara and Dom. Together, these four ladies run 'I Wonder', our sessions for pre-schoolers. Each week they make sure our youngest visitors and their adult - whether it's their parent, carer or grandparent - get a warm welcome and have the chance to make some really happy memories together.
Press Release - Nov 2022
2023 exhibition programme is revealed
International artists, significant national loans, important collections and a celebration of one of Plymouth’s most famous artists: The Box is thrilled to unveil an ambitious programme of exhibitions for 2023. Organised into three seasons, the programme complements a range of permanent collection displays and will weave historical and contemporary art and objects together to help audiences understand more about the world today, as well as the importance of history and creativity.
History - Nov 2022
To Australia via Plymouth: A Tale of Cornish Migration
Between 1840 and 1900, just over 430,000 British people passed through Plymouth, seeking a new life overseas. Some travelled with hope, some with trepidation. All had a long journey ahead of them. The majority were travelling to Australia and New Zealand. Canada, America and South Africa were also popular destinations. The Plymouth Government Emigration Depot which helped many of them is the subject of a display case in our Active Archives gallery this autumn.
News - Nov 2022
Archive insight: The digital preservation world moves on
Part of the Media Archive team’s responsibility at The Box is digital preservation. A large part of that is ensuring that digital file formats and storage mediums are 'current', so that precious archive files are safe and useable. Nothing sits still for long! A recent project has seen us embrace the 'Movage' as we ‘ingested’ (a delightful term) 35 terabytes of data, made up of nearly 3,000 digital video files to our digital archive store.