Landscape Rebels

A new exhibition at Ipswich’s Christchurch Mansion, connecting art and culture with the climate crisis, explores how human impacts are changing our landscape.

Landscape Rebels is open from 22 October until 16 April 2023, thanks to support from the National Lottery Heritage Fund, Arts Council England, Friends of Ipswich Museums, Kerseys Solicitors and Suffolk County Council.

The centrepiece of this exhibition is Turner’s masterpiece Walton Bridges, saved by Norfolk Museums Service with the support of Colchester and Ipswich Museums. Thanks to major grants obtained from the National Lottery Heritage Fund, Art Fund, the Friends of Ipswich Museums plus a private donor, this nationally important painting was saved for East Anglia in 2019 to be enjoyed by all.

Turner’s renowned piece is joined by Claude Monet’s The Thames below Westminster and Flood Waters on loan from the National Gallery, along with many artworks from the Ipswich Collection, including new acquisition Shingle Street Legend by Julia Heseltine in 2022 thanks to funding from the Friends of Ipswich Museum. Other artists on display includes works by Anna Airy and Connie Winn.

Local stories are also being told through contemporary works as part of the exhibition, including a series of black and white photographs by Ipswich-based photographer Tom Owen as a collection entitled Welcome to the Funny Farm, depicting people enjoying their allotments around Ipswich.

From Suffolk to Alaska and Australia, objects from the Ipswich collection highlights the impact of climate change and encourages visitors to consider what changes they can make to help the environment and create positive change for the future. Find out more on the Landscape Rebels website.

Photograph at top by Megan Wilson.