Notes from an Exhibition

Following the success of the pupil-curated exhibition of 400 year-old objects in the Reception Foyer for the Alleyn’s 400^th anniversary, the School decided to continue the idea with pupil-curated exhibitions in that space, called 'Pupil-curator's Corner'.

Bea had been volunteering in the Archives as part of her DoE award, working on a project to ensure all Alleyn’s students who served in the World Wars were recognised on our website, when she was asked to curate the inaugural exhibition.

She had narrowed down a few subjects when alumnus Derek Kirkman Smith donated some material relating to his elder brother, Ian Kirkman Smith, so Bea decided to mount her exhibition from these papers. Ian, who had remained in London during WW2 while Alleyn’s was evacuated to Rossall, was bombed out of his home at 6 Park Hill, Forest Hill.

Bea worked under the direction of the School Archivist Nicola Waddington but the choice of material, captions and layout in the cabinets is all hers. Bea and Nicola also visited the address with Derek Kirkman Smith, who gave them more context about his family and the house. Bea also took some photos of the buildings now, after re-build, to make a then and now feature in the exhibition.

Of her experience mounting the exhibition, Bea said:

‘I absolutely loved working on this project and am delighted with the final outcome and want to give huge thanks to Miss Waddington, the Archivist, without whom none of this would have been possible.’

What a great start to 'Pupil-curated Corner'!