Abbey House Museum has proudly showcased their curation of musical items both in person and online since 25th January 2020. Due to the pandemic, the Sound of the City exhibition was adapted to be viewed online and was extended for another year to allow the public to visit when restrictions were lifted.
Kitty Ross is the curator of Leeds history and social history for Leeds Museums and galleries as well as the main curator for this project. The museum service and other curators have been building up archives for a project based on Leeds music for the past two decades so it was the perfect time to display their range of vintage memorabilia to the public.
From Soft Cell vinyl’s to historical operatic scores, the exhibition truly has something fit for any music lover. Many vintage magazines and posters were donated to this project including Rock Against Racism posters from the 80s and original magazines with The Beatles on the cover from the 60s. A firm favourite is a display featuring the history of the iconic Leeds Festival, showing the evolution of its humble beginnings at Temple Newsam to its height of Bramham Park hosting 90,000 fans.
As a part of the project, a playlist was made alongside local musicians for the public to listen to while riding the 50A and the 2 bus journeys around Leeds containing sounds said to match the scenery. Over the past 22 months, this exhibition has changed and evolved with the strange times we’ve been in. When asked what the future plans for this exhibition are Mrs Ross said ‘the collection that has been a part of this exhibition will go into the permanent collection and a lot of the projects will continue as we’ve found other exhibition spaces’.
