Reimagining Captain Cook: Pacific Perspectives


Confused exhibition at the British Museum examining the voyage of Captain Cook through objects collected on them and art by contemporary artists.

This felt a strange mix at times and didn’t tell either story that well. It was good to see the original objects but the story of the journeys had been told so well in the recent British Library exhibition that this felt a bit superfluous. The story of contemporary ideas wasn’t told clearly and just seemed to provide a back drop.  The main feature of the show was a recently conserved costume from a chief mourner acquired by Cook on his second journey.

It was a neat idea though to start the show with posters from three exhibitions at the museum on Captain Cook from 1965, 1980 and this one to show how attitudes to him have changed.

Closes on 4 August 2019

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