Perth Museum has announced the first exhibition in its programme after a £27m transformation project.
‘Unicorn’ will open this Easter to “explore the cultural history of Scotland’s national animal from antiquity to the present day.”
Loans include the ‘Danny Jewel’, an English Elizabethan pendant jewel of narwhal horn and enamelled gold, usually on display at the V&A, which is also lending a narwhal tusk from the early 12th century.
The oil painting Lady and the Unicorn by the late-Renaissance Italian artist, Luca Longhi (1507-1580), will be shown in the UK for the first time, on loan from the Museo Nazionale di Castel Sant’Angelo.
Public objects and stories of personal significance are still being collected from the local community to create a display documenting the unicorn in contemporary culture. The final section of the exhibition features six newly commissioned artworks exploring the ongoing struggles faced by the LGBTQI+ community.
JP Reid, Senior New Projects Officer at Culture Perth & Kinross said: “We are thrilled to be able to display a stunning selection of artworks and artefacts, including a series of newly commissioned sculptures. With a long, complex, and often contradictory history, the unicorn has been a popular subject for contemporary artists, writers, musicians, filmmakers, and activists.”
Perth Museum is free to enter. Tickets for Unicorn cost £10/£8 and are available to book now online; members of the Culture Perth and Kinross Supporters Scheme receive free entry.
perthmuseum.co.uk/unicorn
