Splendour: Staging Splendid Bodies in Early Modern Scotland and England

This essay was an invited contribution to the catalogue for an exhibition in the Reid Gallery (The Glasgow School of Art) for the project Splendour: Staging Splendid Bodies in Early Modern Scotland and England. The project was a collaboration between The Glasgow School of Art and The Queen’s House, Royal Museums Greenwich, with the core team including Matilda Pye (National Outreach Curator, Royal Museums Greenwich), Silvia Weidenbach (Lecturer, Silversmithing & Jewellery, The Glasgow School of Art) and Anthony Brotheridge (Subject Leader, Fashion, The Glasgow School of Art). Involving more than 150 GSA students and staff from Textiles, Silversmithing & Jewellery and Fashion, the Splendour creative brief was an exploration of adornment, textiles and fashion as tools for the expression of love, power and politics. As well as the exhibition, the project involved a photo-shoot on location in Stirling Castle, and a symposium and performative event at The Queen’s House, Greenwich on 28 June 2019. The essay explores pedagogical approaches within the Splendour project, for example ‘working alongside’, and how these tessellate with the cultural heritage themes and aspects that were the inspiration and provocation for the creative learning journey. The catalogue also contains essay contributions from Matilda Pye (National Outreach Curator, Royal Museums Greenwich) and Dr Helen McCormack (Lecturer, Design History & Theory, The Glasgow School of Art)