After announcing ‘NG Stories: Making a National Gallery’ as part of the Bicentenary programme, the National Gallery has revealed details of the forthcoming interactive and immersive experience opening in the Ground Floor Galleries in July 2024.
Building on the success of previous digital in-Gallery experiences, ‘NG Stories’ will use digital technology to tell unexpected human stories which have shaped the Gallery’s 200-year history.
‘NG Stories’ combines digitised archival material and interactive technology in a playful way across two spaces in the Gallery – the ‘People Room’ and the ‘Story Room’ – and invites visitors to reflect on the diverse group of people and talents that have cared for the collection and the building for the last 200 years.
The experience will look at stories within themes such as dreams, creativity, bravery, revolution and adventures.
The ‘People Room’ will use innovative depth camera technology to incorporate displays of real-time visitors with archive imagery. The ‘Story Room’ will be more intimate, allowing visitors to explore stories at their own pace through interactive screens.
Extracts from the experience will later be transformed and used across a video wall within the new welcome area of the Gallery’s Sainsbury Wing when it reopens in spring 2025, making visitors to ‘NG Stories’ part of the Gallery’s future.
In April, the Gallery will launch an online component to gather personal stories about the Gallery, capturing the public’s own reflections, visits and experiences, creating a dialogue and making them part of a Gallery for the Nation.
By adding the public’s voice to the Gallery’s ever-evolving story, ‘NG Stories: Making a National Gallery’ allows us all to reflect on what it means to be a National Gallery – more than the paintings in one place, but a collection that belongs to the whole nation.
‘NG Stories’ will highlight lesser-known stories such as that of the Wornum family. Ralph Wornum (1812‒1877) was appointed Keeper of Paintings in 1855 – a role which required him to live in the Gallery, along with his wife and nine children. Their home was in the Gallery’s west wing. A life surrounded by art clearly had an impact on several of his young children – two of whom went on to exhibit at the Royal Academy as artists later in life.
Other threads will feature groups that were instrumental in the growth of the collection – for example, the 113 subscribers who clubbed together to purchase – and most likely named – Constable’s The Cornfield in 1837, as well as later campaigns to save paintings by Titian for the nation in 1972, 2008 and 2012 reflecting on how the generosity of individuals and groups has made the collection so remarkable in its scope. It will also look at the evolution of many roles at the Gallery – scientific, learning, framing and art handling – and how and why they are so important to the Gallery’s mission and the day-to-day care of the collection.
Lawrence Chiles, Head of Digital at the National Gallery, says, ‘We are always looking for ideas for how digital technology can enrich experiences and create connection with our audiences in new ways. This project invites a broader understanding of the Gallery’s collection and the stories that have evolved over 200 years of caring for the collection. We hope to create a dialogue with old and new audiences about what the National Gallery means to them and what role it has played for some in their past, but what it might mean for someone coming to the Nation’s Gallery for the first time.’
Alan Crookham, Research Centre Manager at the National Gallery, says, ‘The people that have shaped and been part of the Gallery’s history have always had fascinating stories. We’re delighted to have the chance to bring them to more people through this project, not just to learn from them but to relate to them.’
The National Gallery is one of the greatest art galleries in the world. Founded by Parliament in 1824, the Gallery houses the nation’s collection of paintings in the Western European tradition from the late 13th to the early 20th century. The collection includes works by Bellini, Cezanne, Degas, Leonardo, Monet, Raphael, Rembrandt, Renoir, Rubens, Titian, Turner, Van Dyck, Van Gogh and Velázquez. The Gallery’s key objectives are to enhance the collection, care for the collection and provide the best possible access to visitors. Admission free. More at nationalgallery.org.uk
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