Easter Sunday reflections

I’ve visited a few art galleries in the past year. This is our Victorian art gallery and museum here in Wednesbury. I’ve also visited Bilston Craft Gallery where I was impressed with an exhibition there. I was less impressed when I went to West Bromwich and went in the ‘Public’ with it’s pink neon lights.

This was Walsall Art Gallery. It was OK, but it’s a bit of a maze and a tall building. They could have made it bigger and I would have put an escalator in to take people from one floor to another. It could have been so much better and it’s on the waterfront. That could have looked really nice, but it’s typical Walsall; in a word ugly.

This was the Public in West Bromwich. This was another ‘iconic building’ that closed down because it was too expensive to run. That was an expensive disaster. It cost about 70 million pounds ($100M); it could have been so much better.

This was Bilston Craft gallery, another traditional Victorian art gallery. I have a few new readers this week. Most of them have their own blogs on WordPress. I hope today I have given you something to think about. Pictures add quite a lot to a post. I don’t usually do this on a Sunday. This is the day I ramble about whatever is on my mind. I live in Wednesbury and that first picture is our art gallery and museum that has lasted over 100 years. It’s not iconic, I can walk around it without climbing 4 flights of stairs or taking a lift. It doesn’t have pink fluorescent lighting. The Victorians gave us sustainability even though industry was in it’s infancy. The problem was that the Victorians besides making things for the masses and  producing  food in industrial quantities, also pandered to the rich and provided them with trinkets and amusement.

I spent a lot of time reading a novel set in Victorian times last evening. I imagined the importance of a window in the early 19th century. There was no electricity, not even gas lamps and candles didn’t give out much light. There were no computers and not even typewriters. Women were seen as mere servants and the Bronte sisters had to publish their novels under male pseudonyms. 

We are lucky today to be able to write so easily and illustrate what we write with images that can be captured with the pressing of a little button on a camera. It’s all so easy, yet we often prefer pink neon to the more subtle and stylish elegance of Victoriana.

It’s Easter Sunday, perhaps we have time to reflect on the past and past values and traditions. We can also look at our heritage and consider what was good about the past and what is good about the present. I like the modern gadgets that allow us to communicate across the world, but we should remember our heritage. This modern technology that we all depend on began with the inventions of the industrial revolution that harnessed the power of steam and gave us the energy to forge ahead. 

What do you think? Do you value our heritage or do you want it swept away in favour of iconic buildings  and pink neon? Please share your thoughts in the comments box. You can also follow me on Twitter.

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