Coming soon to Swedenborg House . . .
- DATES: December 2022 to January 2023
- PLACE: Swedenborg House bookshop
- TIMES: 9.30am to 5.00pm, Monday to Friday
Sally Kindberg
Dust is fascinating. Apparently we’re all made of dust from ancient stars, once responsible for the elements that make up our human bodies.
Can these tiny specific samples evoke their origins, of locations, events and the characters connected to them?
Sometimes the quest for dust includes an adventure, like a walk on the Great Wall of China in thick fog. I usually collect the dust myself, using a tiny dustpan and brush from a dolls’ house, but if not, people can be generous.
An archeologist I interviewed for one of my books contributed some AD200 Roman house dust from one of her excavations, and a contact working on the Dr Who television series generously donated dust from the TARDIS. Also bottled are specks of dust from mysterious eighteenth century books stored in the labyrinthine Swedenborg House basement. The most recent addition is from my exploration of ancient tunnels underneath Nottingham Castle, part of research for a graphic work in progress.
Every little bottle has a story to tell.
Dr Who’s TARDIS
The Treacle Well in Binsey
St Michael’s Mount Pilgrims Steps
Whitechapel Bell Foundry
Mummy wrapping
Wilton’s Music Hall
Celebrity Big Brother house
Bank of England
London clay (from 55m underground)
Swedenborg House 18C archive
Little Tich automaton
Pollocks Toy Museum
Master Carver Hugh Wedderburn’s workshop
French poets’ London lodgings
London Saharan dust
Great Wall of China
Nottingham Castle Tunnels
Read more about some of the Museum of Dust items on:
https://www.sallykindberg.co.uk/notebook/
About artist and author Sally Kindberg
Artist and author Sally Kindberg has a vast experience of working on books and features, and running workshops for both children and adults. She illustrated a series of four comic strip books for Bloomsbury, including The Comic Strip History of the World and The Comic Strip History of Space, The Comic Strip Greek Myths and an anthology – The Comic Strip Big Fat Book of Knowledge .
Sally recently wrote and illustrated an eight-book series of Draw It! books for Bloomsbury, and ten comic strips for CBBC as well as working on new comic strip stories, assembling and writing about her Museum of Dust and taking her Hat of Surprise along to various workshops.
Sally was a Royal Literary Fund Writing Fellow at City and Guilds Art School from 2018 to 2020. She is currently writing and drawing a mystery/memoir.
See sallykindberg.co.uk for more examples of children’s books, editorial illustration, travel writing, interview features & comic strips.
