Welcome to The Powell-Cotton Museum, Quex House and Gardens

When you wander around our woodland (we reopen on the 11th *wink *wink), you might notice a new feature. This “dead hedge” has been assembled using materials collected as part of our woodland maintenance.
Not only does this dead hedge provide a habitat for insects and beetles to thrive, it is also a great source of feed for little mammals such as hedgehogs! Our dead hedge is providing a super-shield from the cold winter winds for our bee hives located just behind.

#quexgardens #habitats #bees #hedgehogs #wildlife ...

Thank you to everyone who came along to hear Napandulwe Shiweda talking about her recent work to bring contemporary women’s craft from Northern Namibia to the Powell-Cotton Museum. She had a great discussion with Nicola Stylianou and there were lots of interesting questions from the audience.

The collection includes bright pink skirts made of cloth (odalela) and ostrich eggshell (ondjeva) as well as beaded jewellery and dolls (ounona). They will be on display this autumn…stay connected with us for the official exhibition launch date!

You can find out more about the Namibian Narratives project on our website.

#reimaginingthemuseum #Namibia ...

The #cactus house is blooming lovely at the moment!

#quexgardens @visitthanet @visitkent ...

Musicians Spotlight! 🤩

We're very excited to confirm Sunday's musician for 'Percy's world trip - Japan'... @hibiki.ichikawa! Hibiki is a specialist musician with over 15 years experience of performing the Tsugaru Shamisen, a very special instrument.

Performing in our opulent oriental room, visitors will have the opportunity to ask questions in between performances and learn the history of this unique instrument.

Tickets to this event are £2.50 and include entrance to the museum, house and gardens as well as all event activities!

#reimaginingthemuseum ...

Musicians Spotlight! 🤩

We're delighted to confirm Aki Kitagawa will be performing the absolutely beautiful koto instrument in our opulent oriental room on Saturday 16th and Monday 18th April as part of our 'Percy's world trip - Japan!' event.

Visitors will have the opportunity to speak to Aki between performances and ask questions about the history of this beautiful instrument.

Tickets are £2.50 to include entrance to the museum, house and gardens as well as all event activities!

#japanesekoto #livemusic #museum #reimaginingthemuseum ...

🌸 Our lovely museum team have been busy creating origami #sakura blossoms for our #Japanese event next weekend. With live music, crafts and games there's something for the whole family to enjoy and all for just £2.50 per person! 🌸

#reimaginingthemuseum ...

It’s the end of another lovely weekend🌸Thank you to the artists who shared their beautiful work with our visitors as part of @powthanet - our visitors loved it.
Next weekend we are hosting @dtcartdesign as part of our Natural History Project “Colonial Critters” so make sure you come along on Saturday or Sunday, 11-3. See you there!

#reimaginingthemuseum #blossom ...

A new year brings a new series of #WhatsInStoreWednesday!

Today's stored objects are linked by their weight. The brass neck rings and bracelets were collected in 1927 by Percy Powell-Cotton in present day Cameroon (then French Cameroon). Percy collected approximately 100 such objects during this trip. We don't know why he collected so many, but they are many different shapes, sizes and weights. These items represented wealth. Owning and wearing them showed your wealth and allowed you to carry your wealth with you. They would have been very heavy to wear.

The other three items are also from Cameroon, but were collected between 1933-1935 by Fred Merfield, an associate of Percy's who was better known as a naturalist. These interestingly shaped iron objects are bride wealth, essentially a type of dowry. They are extremely heavy, weighing between 10-15lbs.

Objects that are both fragile and very heavy face a challenge for museum storage. Today we've been repacking them from large crates in to small boxes so that they can be stored safely, but also moved safely by staff if needed. Remember folks - bend from the knees!

#ObjectInfocus #BehindTheScenes ...

Bring Art and Science together with our new workshop ‘Drawing from Nature’. Get up close and explore our amazing animal skulls through drawing in this fun, interactive workshop. If you are learning about Animals and their Habitats or Animals including Humans in Science or are looking at still life and drawing in Art, then this will make a school visit to the Powell-Cotton Museum even more unforgettable. To find out more and book email learning@powell-cottonmuseum.org
#ReimaginingTheMuseum ...