Visit to Manchester Museum

Today I went to visit the Manchester museum. I thought that the animals exhibition would be perfect for my final major project. I wanted to look at the animal bones and skins and look into why animals have been killed for their skins. I also wanted to look at the things in the museum where s have interfered with animals, such as butterfly catching and killing for sport.

I had heard about an exhibition called animal mummies, featuring animals that had been mummified in ancient Egypt. I wasn't sure how this would fit in to my research, but I still thought it would be very interesting.

The mummified animals gives me ideas for making 3D sculptures. I could do some fine liner drawings in continuous line. The mummies and the statues show how important cats were to the ancient Egyptians and this was their way of remembering them.

This is a tigon that lived at Belle Vue zoo. Her skin was moulded in to a shape so could continue to be admired by visitors of the museum. Even though this tigon died of natural causes, in my contextual research I will look in to big cats who have been killed by hunters.

I have been inspired by these stuffed taxidermy animals. I could create some cuddly toys, however I am not sure if this is too similar to a previous project. I could create an applique textile sample. I could develop on with the rabbits and cats in a childrenswear style. I like the difference between the big and small cats and will look at the difference between the two. I will also do some contextual research into rabbits and how they have been used for animal testing.

Here are some furs of animals being displayed at the museum. They had previously been sold at a market in Manchester. I am going to do some research into the fur industry and maybe collect some faux fur fabric samples and create textiles with them.