A Mirror on the Past exhibition

As part of the ongoing work for the Heights of Abraham, Steve Keeling has designed and curated a costume exhibition. To accommodate this, a complete repurposing of a building was necessary which also provided an opportunity for additional staff facilities to be incorporated.

The A-frame construction of the building posed a number of constraints. Designs were developed to make the best use of the space by incorporating divisions and AV screens to punctuate the visitor’s route through each time period.

Titled, A Mirror on the Past, the exhibition reflects how fashion and dress codes have evolved over the last 250 years and how dressing for a day out has changed from high cost, high fashion and ‘Sunday best’ to the very casual attire of shorts and tee shirts we see today.

Screen based interpretative AVs are used to provide social and historic context that charts the lives of Georgian and Regency upper classes, wealthy Victorians, railway tourists of 1875, Edwardian visitors prior to the First World War and the lead miners who worked on the estate.

The costumes were created by students at Art University Bournemouth following exacting and authentic methods of tailoring, wig-making and millinery. Heights staff were involved with the installation which opened to the public in May 2022.