February 2012

You paid HOW MUCH for that catalogue?!

February in England is a strange month this year: the weather is still inclement but the shoots of bulbs are heralding a promise of spring. It's a new season in art too, as several of the major galleries launch new exhibitions, and we will be covering them as and when they open. Frances Follin and I went to the V&A to see the wonderful silk woven by the Golden Orb Weaver spiders of Madagascar, and Frances tells us of this extraordinary story . We were very struck by the slim, attractive and very accessible booklet, priced at £5.00, which accompanied this small exhibition. Congratulations to all involved in its production at the V&A. We feel very strongly that exhibition catalogues get bigger and more expensive all the time, and much of the nature of their content is very academic. We wonder what the public actually get out of them.

Catalogues seem to be an opportunity for academics...

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