We’re all agreed that Herefordshire is much more than apples and cattle. But it's the extraordinary global story of apples and people that's being highlighted by two Herefordshire heritage venues.
The Apples & People project, which is a partnership between the National Trust and the Museum of Cider, has been busily highlighting stories and artefacts that showcase the way the apple has impressively followed human history all around the world since ancient times.
Later this year the Museum will host a new exhibition called 'A Variety of Cultures', which explores how cultures across the globe have taken the apple and made it their own. There’ll be a large collection of nineteenth century Australian model apples lent by the Royal Botanic; work by New Zealand pop artist Billy Apple; Chinese art including a cultural revolution poster courtesy of the Ashmolean Museum, and a new commission by Anglo-French artist Anne Rook who has created a body of work looking at the iconography associated with varieties of apples.
A companion exhibition, An Apple Gathering, is already running at National Trust-run Croft Castle near Leominster.
For more information head to www.applesandpeople.org,uk.
A Variety of Cultures exhibition runs at the Museum of Cider, the UK’s only museum dedicated to cider making and cider culture, from 27th October 2023 to 28th January 2024. An Apple Gathering is open at Croft Castle until 5th November 2023.
Apples and People is a predominantly online exhibition project that was developed in Herefordshire with help from international experts and art collections. It features a series of illustrated short stories that recount different aspects of the connection between humanity and the humble apple.
Image above are a snapshot of the project's Instagram feed.