Christmas Past 2009

400 Years Of Seasonal Traditions In English Homes

Tuesday 24 November 2009 – Sunday 3 January 2010

A living room in 1935 - photograph Steve Speller

Recapture the magic of Christmas with a visit to the Geffrye’s annual Christmas Past exhibition. Each year the museum’s eleven period rooms are decorated in authentic festive style, evoking some of the rich and colourful traditions and celebrations of Christmases past which are often forgotten amid the hubbub of the modern festive season. From feasting, dancing and kissing under the mistletoe to playing parlour games, decorating the tree and throwing cocktail parties, Christmas Past will illustrate how Christmas has been celebrated in English middle-class homes from 1600 to the present day.

Christmas doesn’t need to be costly and commercial. In tune with the current economic climate and to complement the museum’s special Eco Home exhibition, this year’s programme of related events will embrace ‘make do and mend’ and all things home-made.

Throughout the exhibition, festive food will be served in the restaurant and visitors can hunt for original gifts, decorations, cards and books in the shop.

Related Events

Adults

Vintage Christmas Craft Workshop

• Saturday 5 December, 11.30am – 4.30pm. Tickets £25 (includes all materials)

Create a unique range of Christmas decorations using recycled fabrics.

Swags and Garlands Workshop

• Saturday 12 December, 1.30 – 4.30pm. Tickets £30 (includes short talk, workshop and all materials)

Use greenery, seed pods, dried fruits, spices, scraps and pretty recycled materials to create gorgeous but environmentally-sound decorations for Christmas.

Christmas Decorations Talk

• Saturday 12 December, 11.30am and repeated at 3.00pm

Christmas hasn’t always been about buying commercial decorations – for centuries people have been making their own. Join Christine Lalumia, Deputy Director, in the reading room to learn more.

Concert by Candlelight

• Wednesday 16 December, concert begins at 8.00pm, museum opens at 7.30pm. Tickets £14 in advance - includes a glass of sherry or port and a mince pie 

A moving recital of Christmas music by acclaimed a capella group Bocca Aperta.

Children

Christmas Craft Workshop for children aged 5-16

• Saturday 5 December, 10.30am – 12.30pm and 2 - 4pm. Admission free.

Use recycled materials to make a fabulous Christmas decoration.

All Ages

Family Evening: Find Your Festive Spirit

Twelfth Night cake, 1830s room - photo Jayne Lloyd

• Thursday 10 December, 5.00 – 8.00pm. Admission free.

This special open evening has an Eco Christmas theme – enjoy a Christmas decorations talk, listen to live festive music, or bring children to a Christmas card-making workshop. The evening will also feature a short talk by eco designer Oliver Heath, who will be signing his new book, Urban Eco Chic.

Farewell to Christmas

• Wednesday 6 January 2010, 4.00 – 5.00pm. Admission free.

The Geffrye’s traditional burning of the holly and the ivy, celebrated with carol singing, stories about Epiphany and a taste of mulled wine and Twelfth Night cake. Please note that this event takes place in the garden, so wrap up warm!

Notes to Editors

1. For further details or transparencies, please contact Nancy Loader, Press Officer, on 020 7739 9893 or nloader@geffrye-museum.org.uk.

2. The Christmas Past exhibition is now in its twentieth year, and on-going original research into the history of Christmas adds a new dimension to the displays each year. A well-illustrated book has been written to tell the history of Christmas in English homes and is available in the museum's shop.

3. Eco Home exhibition

• Tuesday 13 October 2009 – Sunday 7 February 2010

Eco Home will address widespread and increasing interest in the way that climate change and the state of the planet affects our homes and the way we use, decorate and inhabit them. Visitors will see that eco-friendly can also be chic and that aspiration towards good taste and design can go hand-in-hand with trying to help conserve the planet’s resources. Eco Home will help visitors to consider ways in which almost every home could become a bit greener.

 Eco Home is supported by

4. The Geffrye’s main displays are arranged as a chronological sequence of period rooms showing English urban middle-class interiors from 1600-2000. This contextual presentation enables the museum to interpret its collections of decorative and fine arts within a social historical framework, exploring home life and style – and the way urbanites lived – over four centuries. 

5. Admission: FREE

Address: 136 Kingsland Road, Shoreditch, London E2.

Tel: 020 7739 9893. Web: www.geffrye-museum.org.uk

Travel: Buses149, 242, 243, 67, 394

Tube Liverpool St, then bus 149 or 242/Old St (exit 2), then bus 243

Open: Tue–Sat, 10am-5pm, Sun & Bank Hol Mon, 12noon–5pm

Closed: Mons (except Bank Hols), 24, 25, 26, 27, 28 Dec 09, 1 Jan 2010

Wednesday, October 21, 2009

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