THE QUEEN OF THE DESERT
ART EDITORIAL from "The Crack" magazine in the North EastTHE QUEEN OF THE DESERT
The north-east born explorer Gertrude Bell is often dubbed ‘the female Lawrence of Arabia’ but sod that, let him be the male Gertrude Bell for a change, for this woman lived a quite extraordinary life and her exploits are being fully documented in an important new exhibition at the Great North Museum: Hancock.
Like T.E. Lawrence, Gertrude Bell has had a biopic made of her life. But while Lawrence had David Lean on hand to make the Oscar laden Lawrence of Arabiaback in 1962, Bell had Werner Herzog direct Queen of the Desert in 2015, with Nicole Kidman slipping into the Arabic robes (and being labelled by one character as a “globe-trotting, rump-waggling, blathering ass” for her trouble). Now, given Herzog’s past glories with epics set in inhospitable climes – Fitzcarraldo and Aquirre, the Wrath of God – he would have seemed the ideal choice to do justice to her extraordinary life, but, sadly, the film was more plodding than a camel with gout. Thankfully, this new exhibition addresses the problems inherent in Herzog’s film by giving us a rounded picture of Bell in all her glory.
She was born in 1868, in Washington Hall, Country Durham, and during the 57 years of her life many different labels were applied to her bold, risk-taking career in which she embraced archaeology, mountaineering, linguistics, writing and politics. She would even become one of the advisors to Winston Churchill in 1921 on the country that became Iraq, helping to shape the Middle East after World War I.
Co-curator of Great North Museum: Hancock, Andrew Parkin, commented: “Gertrude Bell was an extraordinary woman who made significant contributions in so many different areas, including archaeology, exploration and the politics of the Middle East. She frequently found herself in a male-dominated environment but was nearly always able to hold her own whether dealing with British government officials and politicians or leaders of the various Arab tribes she encountered on her travels.
“We’re very pleased to be able to create this original exhibition in partnership with Newcastle University. The Gertrude Bell Archive offers a wealth of material and it’s safe to say her correspondence provides invaluable insights into the British Empire and the Middle East a century ago.”
Drawn from her prolific correspondence, papers and photographs donated to Newcastle University by Bell’s wealthy industrialist father Sir Hugh Bell, the exhibition will also feature objects loaned from the British Museum, Imperial War Museum and Royal Geographic Society. Some of the items on display were acquired as recently as 2014 by Newcastle University including four embroidered fabrics used as tent dividers by Bell. These are believed to have come from the Sivas region (now modern day Turkey) and were probably made by the semi-nomadic Rerylahni and Kurdish group of the region.
Several Bell experts have contributed to the exhibition that will also feature newly commissioned videos and a book that will be available to purchase in the museum shop. And there won’t be one bit of rump-waggling in sight.
The Extraordinary Gertrude Bell, 30 January-3 May, Great North Museum: Hancock, Barras Bridge, Newcastle, free. There will be a free public lecture programme to accompany the exhibition (check website for details): greatnorthmuseum.org.uk
The north-east born explorer Gertrude Bell is often dubbed ‘the female Lawrence of Arabia’ but sod that, let him be the male Gertrude Bell for a change, for this woman lived a quite extraordinary life and her exploits are being fully documented in an important new exhibition at the Great North Museum: Hancock.
Like T.E. Lawrence, Gertrude Bell has had a biopic made of her life. But while Lawrence had David Lean on hand to make the Oscar laden Lawrence of Arabiaback in 1962, Bell had Werner Herzog direct Queen of the Desert in 2015, with Nicole Kidman slipping into the Arabic robes (and being labelled by one character as a “globe-trotting, rump-waggling, blathering ass” for her trouble). Now, given Herzog’s past glories with epics set in inhospitable climes – Fitzcarraldo and Aquirre, the Wrath of God – he would have seemed the ideal choice to do justice to her extraordinary life, but, sadly, the film was more plodding than a camel with gout. Thankfully, this new exhibition addresses the problems inherent in Herzog’s film by giving us a rounded picture of Bell in all her glory.
She was born in 1868, in Washington Hall, Country Durham, and during the 57 years of her life many different labels were applied to her bold, risk-taking career in which she embraced archaeology, mountaineering, linguistics, writing and politics. She would even become one of the advisors to Winston Churchill in 1921 on the country that became Iraq, helping to shape the Middle East after World War I.
Co-curator of Great North Museum: Hancock, Andrew Parkin, commented: “Gertrude Bell was an extraordinary woman who made significant contributions in so many different areas, including archaeology, exploration and the politics of the Middle East. She frequently found herself in a male-dominated environment but was nearly always able to hold her own whether dealing with British government officials and politicians or leaders of the various Arab tribes she encountered on her travels.
“We’re very pleased to be able to create this original exhibition in partnership with Newcastle University. The Gertrude Bell Archive offers a wealth of material and it’s safe to say her correspondence provides invaluable insights into the British Empire and the Middle East a century ago.”
Drawn from her prolific correspondence, papers and photographs donated to Newcastle University by Bell’s wealthy industrialist father Sir Hugh Bell, the exhibition will also feature objects loaned from the British Museum, Imperial War Museum and Royal Geographic Society. Some of the items on display were acquired as recently as 2014 by Newcastle University including four embroidered fabrics used as tent dividers by Bell. These are believed to have come from the Sivas region (now modern day Turkey) and were probably made by the semi-nomadic Rerylahni and Kurdish group of the region.
Several Bell experts have contributed to the exhibition that will also feature newly commissioned videos and a book that will be available to purchase in the museum shop. And there won’t be one bit of rump-waggling in sight.
The Extraordinary Gertrude Bell, 30 January-3 May, Great North Museum: Hancock, Barras Bridge, Newcastle, free. There will be a free public lecture programme to accompany the exhibition (check website for details): greatnorthmuseum.org.uk