ARCHIVE
joan charnley at MMU special collections museum
The Joan Charnley Archive is held at Manchester Metropolitan University’s Special Collections Museum. Joan’s comprehensive archive, which includes thousands of mid-century textile designs, sketch books, diaries and photographs, is now part of the museum’s prestigious public collection, a resource of national significance for the study of twentieth century design.
Janneke Geene, Head of Special Collections Museum: “Discovering Joan’s archive and legacy has been a highlight for me professionally and personally. The archive is extraordinary in its completeness and the whole picture it sketches of the mid-century woman, the talented artist, designer and educator, but also the person.
Leafing through the designs, the sketches, the travel journals and lesson plans, you are not just holding the items, you are holding a conversation with Joan. About her life, her career, her aspirations, her frustrations at being a woman artist in a world that seemed to only value the male mind. The tiny pages in her notebook where she describes going down to London on the occasion of the 1951 Exhibition of Great Britain, and how she tries to meet with design buyers and is told she’s too modern, or there is no need for her designs. It’s moving and inspirational at the same time. It inspires one to take good care of these stories, these materials, so they are here for all to discover.”
“The Special Collections Museum is Manchester Metroplitan Uuniversity’s museum and has its roots in the Manchester Arts and Crafts Museum, founded in 1898 by, amongst others, the father of Beatrix Potter and the husband of Emeline Pankhurst (yes, all men of course). The museum was set up to inspire students at The Manchester School of Art and recognized most of these students were not from privileged backgrounds and couldn’t travel the world to feed their inspiration. So the museum showed a range of items from plaster casts of famous sculptures to leading arts and crafts design pieces. The Special Collections Museum continues that legacy by being a source of inspiration for students, academics and general visitors alike. For their studies and research.”
“Being able to add Joan’s legacy and archive to our rich collections and archives is a rich opportunity to embed it within our overall collections and archives. We have a strong collection of mid-century material, including commercial advertising and poster designs, ceramics, ephemera and also architectural drawings. Joan’s archive sits beautifully amidst these pieces and I would love to think Joan would have pronounced herself happy with this new home away from home. We are her alma mater after all, so we’re delighted to welcome her home.”
