AN acclaimed artist will work with the people of Swindon and Wiltshire to create a new short film and book celebrating the Science Museum’s enormous collection of fascinating finds.

The museum is working on a National Collections Centre in a former RAF base in Wroughton which will make hundreds of thousands of historic objects from its vast collection archive accessible to the public for the first time.

Bedwyr Williams will collaborate with communities across the county to make an artistic response to this effort which will premiere when the centre opens for school visits, research visits and public tours in three years’ time.

Members of the public aged 18 or over with an interest in writing can contribute to the Science Fictions project by submitting brief online application before April 5 which suggests three items from the collection they want to write about. 

Submissions from those living near to the centre are particularly encouraged. 
Successful applicants will receive behind-the-scenes access to the full archive, which includes a visit to the National Collections Centre once Covid-19 restrictions allow, as well as having the opportunity to work closely with Mr Williams and have their words included in the Science Fictions book and film. 

Mr Williams said: “I think, as a child, I had an inkling that a collection like this existed, but I never thought I’d have the opportunity to explore such an enormous, amazing thing. 

“It’s a collection that sends me on wild flights of fancy imagining the histories of these objects from the banal to the extraordinary and the whimsical to the heartbreaking. 

“Driving across an airfield in the middle of nowhere and getting a glimpse behind the scenes of a collection like this my first thought was I’d like to be sniffing around these objects with other people and their imaginations and memories. So for me sharing this experience in this way seems the only way to do it.”

Science Museum art curator Dr Katy Barrett said: “We are delighted to work with Bedwyr Williams on this ambitious project at the National Collections Centre. 

“We know that collaborating with contemporary artists can open new ways for our audiences to look at science differently and see their own connections to the stories we tell and historic objects we care for. 

“Our participants have the wonderful opportunity to delve into the Science Museum Group Collection with Bedwyr as a guide and take part in creating an exciting new artwork. 

“This film and book will be part of how we think about the collection for years to come.”
Mr Williams was appointed for the project in collaboration with contemporary arts commissioners Foreground.

Director Simon Morrissey said: “This project offers the public a truly unique opportunity. The Science Museum Group Collection held in Wilshire is vast, beguiling and more than a little mysterious. Its home is like a place out of time – a windswept ex-RAF base near Swindon, dotted with huge hangars full of everything from submarines to early computers, Arctic exploration vehicles to medical instruments. 

“To join an artist of Bedwyr’s calibre in a collaborative creative exploration of this amazing place will be a very special experience for people, and we are delighted to be partnering with the Science Museum Group to make this possible.”

Mr Williams represented Wales at the Venice Biennale in 2013 and has been shortlisted for the Artes Mundi Prize. In 2016 he presented ‘The Gulch’, a solo exhibition at the Barbican, and in 2018 worked with the public on a collection-focused artwork for the Royal Albert Memorial Museum. His exhibition ‘Milquetoast’ will open at Southwark Park Galleries later in 2021.

The new National Collections Centre will transform how the Science Museum Group manages, cares for and shares its internationally significant collection with the world, ensuring these historic objects continue to inspire future generations. 

Around 300,000 objects are being studied, digitised and transported from London to Wiltshire as part of the ambitious project, thanks to £40 million part-funding from the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport. 

From 2024, the new facility will welcome thousands of school children, researchers and members of the public, giving  people unprecedented access to a remarkable collection.