Dated: 04/02/2008

Swing back to the sixties

Press Release

New 1960s experience for 2008 at York Castle Museum

Reel back the years and travel back to a time when the cultural changes were massive but the cars and skirts were mini.

Swinging into life on March 19 2008, The Sixties experience at York Castle Museum will change your perspective on one of the most explosive decades in recent times.

Listen to the music, see the fashions, and explore the era that changed Britain and the world forever.

Social history, art, fashion, textiles and decorative art will all be included together with sound, moving images and innovative design.

Mary Kershaw, Director of Collections, said: The 1960s is an era that has left a lasting impression on the society we live in today. Even those too young to remember the decade know something about it, or live in a world that has been shaped by the 60s - from the space race to the music, the change of attitudes towards young people, and fashion

She added: York Castle Museum is well known for representing the intimate social history that is often overlooked. The new gallery will move us into a new arena where we are exploring big themes that affect us all, with a real grounding in the experiences of people from the city and the county. In the 60s we discovered that the medium is the message. Were aiming to use the medium of a museum gallery to create new and exciting messages.

The new experience has been made possible thanks to a 200k award from the DCMS/Wolfson Museums & Galleries Improvement Fund

The York Museums Trust, which runs York Castle Museum, has a brilliant collection of 1960s artefacts which will be incorporated into original and interactive displays. These including a Lambretta scooter, a Dansette record player, Beatles singles, clothes and fashion accessories by the like of Mary Quant, confectionery and technology of the age such as televisions.

A replica Mercury space capsule is also included for people to get in and experience what it was like to be inside it. A Jukebox will be in the gallery for people to play their favourite tunes of the era, and telephones to the past will allow people to listen to memories of the day. There will also be a cut out of the famous picture of Sir Bobby Moore, with his face removed so you can lift the 1966 World Cup!

There will also be television and film footage from the decade.

The brightly coloured gallery also contains famous images and photographs of iconic moments.

Themes relevant to the period will run throughout the gallery including space, the role of women, the atmosphere of optimism, fashion, music, children and the Cold War.

ENDS

Notes to Editors:

Images of some of the artefacts are available on request.

More details of the new 1960s gallery at York Castle Museum will be released closer to the launch.

The 1960s were a time of great optimism and political activism; when aesthetic and cultural boundaries were blurred - popular trends influenced high art and fashion; outer space was conquered; National Service ended; alternative lifestyles became mainstream; large waves of new immigrants arrived in Britain; new technology was accessible to the masses; and the power of people was felt to be limitless. Improved communication and transportation meant the world was becoming ever smaller, and Britain would never be the same again.

For further information, contact Lee Clark Media co-ordinator, York Museums Trust, telephone 01904 687673 or email lee.clark@ymt.org.uk