Is This Neo-Victorian?:

Planning an Exhibition on Nineteenth-Century Revivalism

Abstract

Neo-Victorian things are all around us but can these disparate objects, incorporating so many different points of reference, make a coherent exhibition within the museum environment? What does such an exhibition say about us and the Victorians – and why say it now? In September 2013, the Guildhall Art Gallery in London will tackle these questions with Victoriana: The Art of Revival, a show highlighting the work of artists and designers over the last twenty years who have been inspired by the nineteenth century. This article explores the challenges of curating an exhibition on the Neo-Victorian and reviews our relationship to contemporary material culture as channelled through the exhibition medium