Buxton Museum and Art Gallery is a small place but in terms of its ambitions and achievements, it is a titan. Whilst BMAG is temporarily closed to the public for a building inspection, we gaze back through the mists of time to remember some superstar exhibitions:

10) Merman, 2012

2012 witnessed a very unusual reunion. BMAG’s own “Fiji Mermaid” has been on display since 1988 and has become a massive hit with visitors, despite not being the prettiest of creatures. However, it wasn’t until 24 years later that the museum staff knew much about her.

Originally, the Wellcome Collection gifted both a Merman and a Mermaid to the Horniman Museum, who subsequently broke up the pair and transferred the latter into the care of the Derbyshire Museums Service, describing her as “the second best of the two” at the time. The pair were overdue for a catch up!

On loan from London for two months, the Merman was allowed to share the same display cabinet as the Mermaid and this small and unusual exhibition was supported by a programme of expert talks and new research into exactly what Buxton’s Mermaid was made of (spoiler; she’s not a real mermaid). More recently, it was the Mermaid’s turn to visit the big city, lent to the Natural History Museum for their Harry Potter Fantastic Beasts exhibition in 2021/22.

9) Andrew Cavendish, 11th Duke of Devonshire, 2008

The 11th Duke of Devonshire, based at Chatsworth House in nearby Bakewell followed in the footsteps of his predecessors by maintaining a close relationship with Buxton, including its museum and art gallery. Andrew attended several exhibition previews and took the opportunity to purchase artwork for the Chatsworth collection. Some of the museum staff have a fond memory of the Duke turning up to one occasion in tuxedo and carpet slippers! They also recall that despite his standing, Andrew was very down-to-earth and keen to chat to everyone.

After his death in 2004, it seemed natural that BMAG should celebrate the life of one of their most cherished patrons. Collaborating with the Duke’s family and the staff at Chatsworth, an exhibition was arranged in 2008 not only to reflect on Andrew’s life, but also to display some of his collection. Considering some of the display contained work by famous artists such as Lucien Freud and Elisabeth Frink, they had to upgrade the security a bit!

8) Between Two Worlds, 2020

The biggest and boldest of exhibitions are often the culmination of a long project. Derbyshire Museums Loans Service was an education resource, established in the 1930s, to lend museum-quality objects to Derbyshire schools. The service came under the umbrella of Derbyshire County Council’s Schools Library Service (SLS). Following the closure of the SLS in 2018, a project to oversee the dispersal of the collection to other museums and art galleries received funding from the Esmée Fairbairn Collections Fund, in conjunction with the Museum Association. Some of the SLS objects and artwork have been retained by BMAG.

Featuring rarely seen work by artists and communities who faced discrimination, Between Two Worlds took the opportunity to explore challenging themes. Unfortunately, the exhibition came to a premature end due to a global pandemic and didn’t quite receive its intended lifespan. However, BMAG went on to glean international attention as many of the SLS objects were handed back to the indigenous populations from whence they came.

7) Pictures in the Landscape, 2010

In recent times, BMAG’s had a go at open-air exhibitions, and this was the prototype. Over the centuries, countless artists have chosen local beauty spot Dovedale as their muse. As part of the 2010 Derbyshire Literature Festival, BMAG took 20 landscapes from the art collection to Dovedale and attached them to gates, walls and trees.

Of course, leaving the county’s collection of invaluable artwork out in the open would be ridiculously irresponsible so BMAG made weather-proof prints in faux gilded frames. This also gave them the chance to include a snippet or poem from famous writers, providing the literature link.

The staff tried to get each painting as close as possible to the view the artist was trying to portray but this wasn’t so easy. Some of the paintings were embellished with “artistic licence”. In fact, some of the artworks had so much artistic licence, you wonder if the artist had ever stepped foot in the place!

The exhibition proved incredibly popular although there were one or two grumbles from people who thought the plastic paintings spoiled their walk. The formula was repeated a couple of times, albeit smaller and in other locations, but the museum staff have always harboured an ambition to repeat the success of the Dovedale version.

6) Ferrassic Park, 2010

2010 was a maverick year for BMAG because this is the second of three exhibitions in this list from that year. Everyone loves dinosaurs and the surge in visitor figures during local sculptor Andy Hill’s exhibition is testament to this fact. Astonishingly created as a hobby, Andy had been sculpting skeletons of extinct animals out of steel for a while, starting in small scale and working his way up to life size as his confidence grew.

Occupying the largest art gallery for two months, Andy’s marvellous metal monsters started getting attention. A lot of attention! Used to a steady stream of visitors trickling in and out, the museum staff recall it was the only time they’ve seen people queueing up to get in. The exhibition featured a massive T-Rex skull, a missing-link ape and a 6m long Apatosaurus, the latter of which was on sale for £6,950.

5) Exhibition X, 2010

Most museums will have objects that they can’t display because they’re too explicit, repulsive, dangerous, politically incorrect or just plain dull. In 2010, BMAG decided to take a risk and put their difficult artefacts on display under one umbrella or as they described it at the time “Exhibition X: The wrong, the weird, the ugly and the unloved”.

Understandably nervous when they opened the exhibition to the public, the museum staff offered visitors a gallery chock full of horrific weapons, bad taxidermy, outdated attitudes, unsettling artwork, drugs, poisons and body parts. Some of the most frightening exhibits were hidden behind little curtains, daring you to look behind them; the last of which was “the most hideous thing in the room” (a mirror). The staff had nothing to worry about: Exhibition X was a hit and even now, they are occasionally asked when it’s coming back.

4) Enlightenment! 2013

A museum conference six years previous had raised professional concerns over museums losing the skills to purchase items for their collections. Following the Derwent Valley in Derbyshire’s newfound status as a UNESCO site, a project was funded to enable adjacent museums to acquire new artefacts from the 17th century, the Age of Enlightenment, which originated there.

Working over five years with Derby Museum and Belper North Mill, BMAG exhibited the variety of artefacts that had been purchased, alongside new technology to interpret the time and place where the modern world began. There were a lot of paintings but also bank notes, jewellery, souvenirs, scientific equipment, charts and cotton stockings!

The project and the subsequent exhibition established BMAG as a cutting-edge museum and paved the way for a complete refreshment of its permanent Wonders of the Peak gallery a few years later. If you want to know more, there’s a blog still knocking about.

3) On the Edge, 2001

Before 2001, the displays at BMAG had not featured much about modern times. Photographer Kate Bellis’ stark portrayal of rural poverty and the crisis faced by hill farming communities was a break from the usual offering and word soon got around, leading to a surge of visitors, a new audience and a newfound sense of community.

Copyright: Kate Bellis

Following its success, BMAG collaborated with Kate on several more projects, the latest of which was called Hill, an exhibition that got off to a tricky start in Buxton due to the infamous “Beast from the East” snowstorm in 2018, although Joe Pasquale managed to get in to see it.

2) Faces in the Crowd, 2011

Officially the only exhibition to arrive at BMAG with a police escort, Faces in the Crowd was a chance to borrow the paintings of Joseph Wright from Derby Museum whilst they had their art gallery redecorated. Part of the Enlightenment project (see no.4 above), Buxton became host to the artwork of one of the most famous artists of the 18th century.

It wasn’t all about Mr Wright; the display featured other notable artists from the dawn of the industrial revolution. There was much palm-sweating and nail-biting as paintings beyond value were carried in and hung and as you can imagine, a close eye was kept on them for the exhibition’s three-month duration. It was worth the effort; With almost 40,000 visitors, 2011 was BMAG’s busiest year on record.

1) Hoards, 2019

This brings us the undisputed king of temporary shows at BMAG: Hoards. Privileged to be the only museum in the north of England to host a touring exhibition of ancient wonders from a partnership between the British Museum and Salisbury Museum, visitors flocked to Buxton for the rare opportunity to see bundles of treasure that had been unearthed in sites across the UK.

Complementing the exhibition were stunning views of some of the locations by photographer Nick Lockett, plus talks, activities for families and a book. Needless to say, a boost to footfall meant an increase in BMAG’s revenue and public donations, resulting in their second busiest year on record and it even got the boss on the telly.

So there we have it; proof if ever it was needed that BMAG isn’t just a sleepy little museum out in the wilds of the Peak District. In fact, if this list demonstrates anything, small museums and art galleries can put themselves on the map by embarking on brave journeys and working with others. Hopefully, it won’t be long before Buxton Museum and Art Gallery is open to the public again and we can look forward to a new chapter in its history.