{"id":1484,"date":"2016-04-29T00:00:36","date_gmt":"2016-04-29T04:00:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sequitur\/?p=1484"},"modified":"2018-09-13T14:47:39","modified_gmt":"2018-09-13T18:47:39","slug":"mckellar-alice","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sequitur\/2016\/04\/29\/mckellar-alice\/","title":{"rendered":"Alice in Wonderland"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Alice<\/a>
Alice in Wonderland exhibition at the British Library (\u00a9 Tony Antoniou).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Alice in Wonderland<\/em><\/strong>
\nBritish Library, London<\/strong>
\nNovember 20, 2015 \u2013 April 17, 2016<\/strong><\/p>\n

The British Library has staged a free exhibition to celebrate the 150th <\/sup>anniversary of the publication of Lewis Carroll\u2019s Alice\u2019s Adventures in Wonderland<\/em> (1865), the now well-known story of Alice\u2019s descent through a rabbit hole into a fantasy world inhabited by anthropomorphic creatures. The display engages the story of the book from its initial telling to Alice Liddell and her sisters through its publication, with iconic illustrations by John Tenniel, to the present. Because the story explores the theme of childhood imagination, the exhibition\u2019s material is inherently fun and often vibrant. Among the first objects that the viewer encounters is Carroll\u2019s original handwritten and illustrated manuscript, Alice\u2019s Adventures Under Ground <\/em>(1864), part of the British Library\u2019s expansive collections. Various editions of the book, including one by surrealist artist Salvador Dal\u00ed, appear throughout the display. These versions, coupled with large-scale illustrations, film clips, Alice-related objects and ephemera, illuminate the ways in which the story has been continually reimagined in the 150 years since its first publication.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

The British Library has aimed the exhibition at a wide audience, seeking to captivate both casual visitors and those who use the space on a day-to-day basis. The display occupies a central location within the library\u2019s mezzanine-level atrium. Due to the building\u2019s layout, visitors encounter the materials as they move from the lobby to the caf\u00e9, as well as from floor to floor. This positioning means that visitors have informal contact with the material, and in the case of people who frequent the library, may have repeat encounters. Moreover, because the exhibition does not require an admission fee, visitors wander in and out at their leisure.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a>
A drawing of Alice from Lewis Carroll\u2019s manuscript of Alice\u2019s Adventures Under Ground, written between 1862 and 1864 (\u00a9 The British Library Board).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Alice in Wonderland <\/em>does not demand the careful scrutiny of other British Library exhibitions, and the display enhances the playfulness of the materials shown by drawing from the book\u2019s text and illustrations. While the exhibition\u2019s curators have positioned the bulk of the displayed materials in the darkened area behind the escalators, an introductory sequence located more visibly in front of this space functions to pull visitors into the exhibit. Comprised of panels featuring op-art-inspired imagery and funhouse mirrors, this sequence playfully attempts to mimic Alice\u2019s journey down the rabbit hole. Keeping the book\u2019s text central to the exhibition, these panels are numbered and display illustrated snippets of text, which function to walk the visitor through the story. The rest of the display visualizes the book\u2019s text as well. Beyond the opening sequence, canvas-wrapped plywood frames support protective vitrines that display manuscripts, books, figurines, ephemera, and so on. The canvas is printed with lively imagery and features selections from the text of Alice\u2019s Adventures in Wonderland<\/em>. Periodically, larger visual elements punctuate these smaller-scale objects, such as a pair of Alice legs that comically jut up into the space between vitrines. While this mode of display lacks the permanence and perhaps even the authority of other British Library exhibitions, it centralizes the book\u2019s text and playful tone at all times and visualizes it for the library\u2019s visitors.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>
The playful installation of the exhibition in the library\u2019s mezzanine-level atrium. (Photo courtesy of the author).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The exhibition\u2019s introductory sequence also serves an important second function by encouraging playful audience engagement with the display. The funhouse mirrors provide an opportunity for visitors to examine and photograph their reflections. In fact, this is the only part of the exhibition that allows photographs, as it does not rely on fragile collected manuscripts and works on paper. After visiting the exhibition on several occasions, I observed that children and teenagers, especially, enjoy interacting with the display in this way. By staging this exhibition and including this interactive component, the British Library successfully activates viewers through play and humor in order to impart the story and imagery of this 150-year-old novel to a younger generation of readers.<\/p>\n

Erin McKellar<\/em><\/h3>\n

Download Article<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Alice in Wonderland British Library, London November 20, 2015 \u2013 April 17, 2016 The British Library has staged a free exhibition to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the publication of Lewis Carroll\u2019s Alice\u2019s Adventures in Wonderland (1865), the now well-known story of Alice\u2019s descent through a rabbit hole into a fantasy world inhabited by anthropomorphic […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10585,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[4],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sequitur\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1484"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sequitur\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sequitur\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sequitur\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10585"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sequitur\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1484"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sequitur\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1484\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1827,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sequitur\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1484\/revisions\/1827"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sequitur\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1484"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sequitur\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1484"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sequitur\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1484"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}