'Archaeology of the Mind' at the Ruskin Museum, Coniston

In an exhibit marking the 150th anniversary of the Cumberland & Westmorland Antiquarian & Archaeological Society, John Hodkinson's 'Archaeology of the Mind' compares the 'eye' and 'instinct' which inform his art practice with the archaeologist's 'eye' and 'instinct' - both seeing clues and intuiting the past story from them.

The founder of the Ruskin Museum, WG Collingwood served the CWAAS as Editor and President. WG Collingwood and his son, Robin, were intuitive archaeologists, bolstering their intuition with digs and research - in much the same way as John Anstee, who was the curator of the Museum of Lakeland Life and Industry in Kendal. Collingwood had the creative imagination to inspire interest in others by fictionalising the 'story' behind the evidence & gut instinct. He inspired his son that way - and it filtered down to Arthur Ransome as well.

The exhibition runs from 27 August until 30th October 2016.

Flyer (pdf)