English Heritage collaborates with New York's American Museum of Natural History on Darwin exhibition
Since November 2005 the experience of visiting Down House is brought to the doorstep of an American audience. New York’s American Museum of Natural History has launched an acclaimed exhibition on Darwin, in conjunction with English Heritage.
‘David Harvey, Vice President of Exhibitions, was keen to bring a sense of authenticity to the exhibition. English Heritage was able to assist by lending pieces from Down House,’ said Tori Reeve, the curator of Down House.
The exhibition charts the development in Darwin’s thinking from a youthful interest in the natural world to his emergence as the father of natural history. A watershed for Darwin was the acceptance of an invitation to join the crew of HMS Beagle as the ship’s naturalist, sailing to South America, the Galápagos Islands and beyond. The diversity of life he encountered on the historic five-year voyage was a revelation. Live Galápagos tortoises, an iguana and South American horned frogs are exhibited as examples of Darwin’s theories in action.
A centrepiece of the exhibition is a meticulous re-creation of the study at Down House, where Darwin spent 40 years carefully observing and testing his theories on plants, pigeons and other natural life. On this bedrock of work he wrote the explosive ‘The Origin of Species’, which turned the Victorian worldview on its head. A sense of realism is brought to the recreation by the display of Darwin’s personal possessions from Down House, including his walking stick, the table, specimen boxes containing beetle fragments and test1 tubes.
‘It is this mix of original loans and replicas that has made the finished recreation so marvellously evocative of Darwin’s actual study,’ said Tori Reeve. ‘This is for the benefit of the exhibition’s visitors, many of whom would not be able to travel to Down to see the real thing.’
David Harvey, Vice President for Exhibitions at AMNH, explained the rationale behind the re-creation:
‘After visitors to the exhibition have travelled with Darwin through his early years – his visit to the Galápagos and his return to London, after they have received an impression of 19th century England and what Darwin had discovered in his journeys – they round the corner in the galley to discover Darwin’s study. It is an affecting moment where the focus is on a recreation of the very space where Darwin worked and developed his theory.’
The sense of place evoked in the re-created study is part of an overall emphasis on Darwin as a man, as well as his work.
‘The visitor experience recalls my own initial visit to Down House, which evoked an understanding and appreciation of Darwin, as a scientist and as a family man, in his time,’ said Harvey.
The exhibition highlights Darwin’s musings on marriage prior to his union with his cousin, Emma Wedgwood, and touches on his grief after the death of a beloved daughter Annie at 10 years old. A writing box full of treasured keepsakes kept by her mother forms part of the display. The exhibition also documents Darwin’s agony over whether to publish; understandable to the visitor in the light of the outcry from the creationists that this exhibition has itself invoked. The current furore over creationism (also known as intelligent design) versus Darwin’s theory of evolution is tackled head on.
As part of the exhibition’s aim to educate, Darwin’s magnifying glass from Down House is used as a visual metaphor throughout for the careful observation that led Darwin to his pivotal discovery. The visitor is encouraged to peer through strategically placed magnifying glasses to observe the specimen behind in full detail.
Visitors to Down House will also recognise the ‘thinking path’, the sandwalk path which Darwin regularly trod in contemplation, conveyed to the American audience through a video presentation created from 1,000 high-resolution photographs.
The leading role of Down House in the exhibition highlights its cultural significance not only in the UK but worldwide. Down House and the surrounding countryside is currently nominated for World Heritage Site status, a prestigious accreditation awarded to cultural and natural sites ‘of outstanding universal value.’
Randal Keynes, Darwin's great great grandson, said: ‘Darwin at Downe' is a very strong candidate because the ideas he developed there are so important for all humanity today, and the settings in which he lived and worked are so well preserved. Visitors can step back into his world and see what he saw. World Heritage status will ensure that the whole area is protected so that our children and future generations will be able to enjoy that very special experience.'
If awarded, Down House and its environs will join a list of 26 World Heritage Sites in the UK, including English Heritage sites Stonehenge, the Jewel Tower (part of the Palace of Westminster) and Hadrian’s Wall.
The World Heritage Committee arrives at its decision in July 2006. The exhibition on Darwin in New York runs until 29 May 2006, then travels to the Museum of Science, Boston; The Field Museum, Chicago; the Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto and the Natural History Museum in London.
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