OSL Dorset
DORSET
Press Release
COUNTY
MUSEUM
5 December 2011
New exhibition project for Dorset
Museums
Our Sporting Life:
30 June 2012 to 13 October 2012
Our Sporting Life is an
exciting new exhibition project focusing on the heritage of sport
in Dorset. It will enable communities in Dorset to connect with the
London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games locally, nationally and
internationally through inspirational personal stories and unique
objects. The exhibition runs from 30 June to 13 October
2012.
The project is being led by Dorset County Museum and Poole
Museum and is primarily funded by a £33,000 grant from the Heritage
Lottery Fund through a Your Heritage grant. Further
funding has been provided by Dorset County Council Museums Service
through the Small Museums Grant together with
contributions from Dorset County Museum and Poole Museum. In total
14 museums across Dorset will be taking part in this inclusive
community project.
Dorset has a thriving sports community playing at all levels and
has strong traditions of participation and spectating. The
project will reflect not only the historic sporting superstars of
the county but also the unsung heroes of its sporting community -
from the groundsman to those who wash the kit. The exhibition
will celebrate local heroes and forgotten sporting
legends.
The project will culminate in major exhibitions at Dorset County
Museum and Poole Museum running from 30 June to 13 October 2012 and
a series of smaller exhibitions at museums across the county from
Easter 2012. These exhibitions will celebrate sporting achievements
in Dorset and show how sport has helped to shape the county and its
communities. People will be able to showcase the objects that tell
the stories of their sporting lives and interpret the history of
sport in their community.
Project officers have already started collecting stories and
will be approaching a number of sporting clubs, societies and
organisations across Dorset to discover the full range of sporting
achievements in the county.
Our Sporting Life has been created by the Sports
Heritage Network. Through a programme of nationwide community
exhibitions leading up to 2012, Our Sporting Life aims to
bring together from all over the country objects, stories and
photographs that tell the story of Great British Sport. With the
support of the Arts Council, LOCOG, the British Olympic Foundation
and the Sports Heritage Network, OSL will help to ensure that the
legacy and heritage of sport is preserved well into the future.
For more information please Tel: 01305 262735
Dorset County Museum is supported by
Dorset County Council
Dorset County Museum High West Street Dorchester Dorset DT1
1XA Tel: 01305 262735
www.dorsetcountymuseum.org