A tale of two cities – exhibition by Dutch artist Jet Rotmans comes to Shrewsbury Museum & Art Gallery

An exhibition by an artist from Shrewsbury’s twin town of Zutphen will launch in late September 2015 at Shrewsbury Museum & Art Gallery.

“Jet Rotmans: A Tale of Two Cities – Shrewsbury and Zutphen” will open to the public on Monday 28 September 2015, with an official launch by Mayor of Shrewsbury, Councillor Miles Kenny, on Thursday 1 October 2015.

The exhibition will reflect Jet’s parallel responses to Shrewsbury and the wider Shropshire landscape and to her own town of Zutphen in Gelderland. Jet has got to know and love Shrewsbury and Shropshire on her frequent visits over the last three years, and has been inspired by the contrasts and connections between the two locations. Zutphen echoes Shrewsbury, an attractive market town with a medieval core, situated on the busy River Ijssel.

The exhibition takes place against the background of the many years of twinning exchanges involving thousands of residents from the two communities.

The work exhibited will be largely in the form of Jet’s favourite medium: the Artists’ Book. Jet currently specialises in this genre, using traditional skills to craft the books themselves which hold, in the form of photographs and related paintings, images of the local landscape she has observed and her responses to them. In addition there will be paintings (acrylic on paper), poetry and films as well as scrapbook archive material.

Jet Rotmans will be describing her work at a talk at the Museum & Art Gallery on Wednesday 7 October at 2.30pm. Details will be available from the Visitor Information Centre in the Museum & Art Gallery.

Tina Woodward, Shropshire Council’s deputy Cabinet member responsible for museums, said:-

“The exhibition will be a wonderful way to celebrate the enduring friendship between the towns of Shrewsbury and Zutphen, which originated in the last dark days of World War 2. Jet Rotmans’ work has captured the spirit of both places, and I am looking forward to talking to her about her love of Shropshire.”

The exhibition will remain at the Museum & Art Gallery until 13 December.

Shrewsbury’s association with the historic Dutch town of Zutphen dates from 1586 when Sir Philip Sidney, an old boy of Shrewsbury School, was wounded at the battle of Zutphen when trying to liberate the town from the Spanish occupation.

Contact was renewed after the liberation of Zutphen at the end of World War 2, when the population of Shrewsbury sent aid to the town. In October 1945 Shrewsbury adopted Zutphen. Contacts were continued and encouraged by both towns and an official Twinning was finally recognised in May 1977.

Shrewsbury Museum & Art Gallery is open daily until Sunday 11 October 2015, then closed Mondays (except Monday 26 October 2015) until Easter 2016. It is open from 10am to 4.30pm during the period from October 2015 to Easter 2016.

Tel: 01743 258885; email: shrewsburymuseum@shropshire.gov.uk

Website: www.shrewsburymuseum.org.uk.