Flower Fairies Exhibition Interpretation Design

Briony Hartley
2 days ago
1 min read

Bringing the iconic Flower Fairies to Bournemouth

Design of art gallery interiors with paints and wallpapers, signs, hanging banners plus promotional materials to celebrate these vintage artworks in Dorset.

This exhibition design project began with exploring the iconic drawings of botanical fairies from the 1920s. Working with the curator, and the Flower Fairies brand team, the aim was to transform a two room gallery at The Russell-Cotes, a victorian museum by the beach, to display these small but beautiful artworks for the summer season.

I remember loving these images as a child, looking for fairies in the garden at home and feeling a bit sad that I never saw one.... so it was really great to be working with them so closely now. The project lasted about four months from first discussion to walking into the private view and seeing everything installed.

From postcards and books of the gorgeous drawings created by Cicely Mary Barker in the 1920's-40s, I chose Farrow & Ball paints in pinks and lilacs for a pretty, light and feminine feel for the walls, and created large scale digital wallpaper to show off the art at scale, adding drama and bringing the botanical fairy world alive for visitors. The delicate colour palettes and sweet little characters were really fun to work with.