Embroiderers Guild announces move of collections to Buckinghamshire
At the AGM of the Embroiderers Guild in Manchester last Saturday a new way of managing the Guild collection was announced. 200 members of the Guild heard how it was placing its internationally important collections in the long term care of Buckinghamshire County Museum, one hour from London on the mainline rail route to Birmingham.
The move comes after many years when the collection has been without a high profile display space for its permanent collections and during which it has instead focussed on special projects and exhibitions (see below).
Under the new arrangements the Guild will place collections on 25 years deposit – including many work folios circulated to branches to inspire the 7500 membership. The County Museum will devote long term gallery space to exhibiting the collection and newly converted and environmentally conditioned storage to the care of the study collections. New volunteers from the EG branches around North Bucks will assist the museum’s permanent team of curators to make the collection work even harder and ensure that an inaugural special exhibition in summer 2017 is a success. There will also be a need to help prepare and pack pieces to be loaned to other museums and sent out for exhibition in other regions of the Guild.
