I have been a member of local group SoCo Artists for a year or more. Their current exhibition is a series of personal responses to objects or themes from the Museum’s collection. My work, Shadowbird, which has been (incredibly) nearly six months in the making, highlights the story of the Slender-billed Curlew, critically endangered, probably extinct. A specimen in the Museum’s collection was reputedly shot locally a hundred years ago and is now a silent witness in what has become known as the Hastings Rarities affair, a hoax exposed in 1962. Today, the common (Eurasian) Curlew is endangered too, and the narrative of habitat and species loss has become all too familiar.
The private view successfully launched the show in Hastings last night, which continues until 30 September.