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Year of the Dealer - Trails

The ‘Year of the Dealer’ project involves the creation of a series of 5 individual museum interpretation digital trails which will direct attention to the significance of the role that the antique trade has played in the development of collections in public museums. The trails will focus on a curated selection of 10 key objects that entered the collections in the 19th and 20th centuries at each of our participating museums.

The Trails will take place at:

  • The Victoria & Albert Museum, London
  • The Bowes Museum, Barnard Castle
  • Temple Newsam, Leeds
  • The Lady Lever Art Gallery, Liverpool
  • Preston Park Museum, Stockton

The trails are multi-media productions, using video and audio with a wide range of visual material.  Focused on 10 well-known and familiar museum objects at each of the 5 museums, the individual trails are between 3 and 4 minutes long; each museum also has a bespoke introductory film of about 2 minutes; there is also a general introductory film (3 minutes) introducing the Year of the Dealer project, and a short film (5 minutes) on 'What is an Antique?'  We are launching the trails in a co-ordinated release on-line and in our partner museums in early 2025 - to make 2025 The Year of the Dealer! - so do look out for News of the Launch!