Exhibition at Wakefield Museum

This exhibition is based around the work of pioneering 19th century environmentalist Charles Waterton, who built the world’s first nature reserve – the title comes from one of his letters. Waterton campaigned to protect the natural world by making a haven for wildlife and protecting it from hunters and pollution. Through his campaigning, he hoped he was doing “a world of good” but sadly, his work was largely ignored and dismissed as being eccentric. It has taken 150 years to listen to his warnings and to continue his fight for a better future.

The exhibition is a multimedia experience of sculpture and sound, where visitors can explore and interact with issues that Waterton dealt with (which are all too familiar to us in 2021) including pollution, hunting, deforestation, changing weather patterns and more. The exhibition features paper sculptures by local artist Andy Singleton, which are then animated by local animator Charlotte Blacker. Her animation will follow a flock of Andy’s birds around the walls of the exhibition. Accompanying the animation is an immersive soundscape which includes readings by well-known eco warriors Sir David Attenborough, Michael Palin, Chris Packham, and Liz Bonnin, plus interviews with local environment heroes, too.

Visitors will be encouraged to make an “environmental pledge” of their own. The team at Wakefield Museum have written their own “World of Good Manifesto” intended to inform and empower visitors to make practical and affordable changes in order to be kinder to nature and the environment .

Members of our Society volunteered to transcribe some of Waterton’s letters for the Museum a few years ago and found them a fascinating glimpse into Waterton’s life and beliefs.