Staying Local
Since I last wrote anything here, the world has opened up, given me new opportunities and milestones, and then abruptly closed down again. I’m staying local, by default, and finally have the chance to think about my fleeting return to museums in the autumn. Closed for now thanks to tier restrictions, Weston Park Museum is still the dark and silent home of The Sheffield Project: Photographs of a Changing City , an exhibition of work originally commissioned by Sheffield’s Untitled Gallery (now Site Gallery ) in the 1980s. I went in with few expectations, because I was also on shift at the time, simultaneously keeper of the exhibition and curious visitor. So I was naively surprised to be moved by the experience, despite my buzzing radio and the shrieks of children on half-term visits. Sheffield is home now, and an exhibition that goes right to the heart of the city at such an important moment in its history was always likely to draw strong emotions. Those I spoke to felt the same – each h