Crèvecœur

Old Ghosts is an exhibition of new work by Glasgow-based artist, Mick Peter. Old Ghosts takes a wry and affectionate look at the idea of history as an industry. In several surprising interventions, inside and outside the Holburne Museum, visitors will encounter amusing tableaux which appear to be cartoons that have come to life.

Old Ghosts creates a narrative trail through the Museum and its Garden that humorously critiques the conventions of heritage sites. Outside the gallery, there will be what appears to be an archaeological dig complete with a half-buried “Roman” road, although the artefacts being revealed are somewhat ‘wrong’. Meanwhile, on the Holburne’s famous facade – known to Jane Austen as the Sydney Hotel, and more recently to fans of the Bridgerton TV series as the home of Lady Danbury – facing Great Pulteney Street, a hapless signwriter desperately tries to complete his task of refreshing the Museum’s signage.

Inside the Museum a screen test takes place in the ballroom, with the backdrop a drawn (everything is derived from Peter’s drawings) version of a Georgian room but with camera operators, runners, take-away coffees, and the other paraphernalia of a film set. Here, Mick Peter is playfully riffing on the Holburne’s role as both an art gallery and a film location, along with the history of Bath and, in so doing, is contemplating a new way of thinking about the Museum in the 21st-century.