Norwich Works: The Industrial Photography of Walter and Rita Nurnberg marked a particular point in the history of Norwich’s economy and celebrated the people who were part of it. The exhibition showcased a series of photographic portraits of working people in 1940s and 1950s Norwich. Despite the commercial nature of the commission by business owners, keen to promote their firms, Walter focussed his lens on people – not machines. These were not spontaneous images; all were carefully staged. Factory production was stopped, lighting was installed and workers were asked to pose in certain ways. In ..read more

by Daniel Bokenham – Museum Trainee, 2023-2024. Conservation work and documentation by Jonathan Clark – Senior Conservator. Norwich Castle is due to reopen its doors in 2024 after a £15 million project to transform the interior of its Keep to become one of the UK’s premier heritage attractions. New exhibits will be included as part of the transformation and a wide range of medieval objects will be displayed for the public to enjoy. In the lead up to the opening, the conservation team at Norfolk Museums Service have been busy preparing objects for display. Senior conservator, Jonathan Cla ..read more

We have been honoured to talk to exhibition visitors whose family members feature in the photographs taken in Norwich by Walter and Rita Nurnberg in the late 1940s – 50s. In a few cases, we have been lucky enough to meet the people portrayed in the photographs themselves! This exhibition has brought back memories of people (and industries) that are no longer with us, whilst we’ve met friends who worked at Mackintosh-Caley and have kept in touch for more than half a century. Here are just a small selection of stories from Norwich Works. If you recognise yourself or a family member in the exhibi ..read more

The front cover of the 1940 first edition of Walter Nurnberg’s instructional guide: ‘Lighting For Photography’. Image courtesy Heritage Auctions, HA.com For International Women’s Day, Kate Wolstenholme, formerly at Archant and now Press Officer at the Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts, reflects on the importance of women both in front of and behind the camera. Kate explores the role of women in the exhibition ‘Norwich Works: The Industrial Photographs of Walter & Rita Nurnberg’, and in so doing, realises her own personal connection to the show… (c) Sonya Duncan Behind every man is an ev ..read more

Norwich Works: The Industrial Photography of Walter & Rita Nurnberg, Norwich Castle Museum & Art Gallery – exhibition runs until Sunday 14 April 2024 In this post, Dr Simon Dell answers my questions about the context in which Walter and Rita Nurnberg were creating the striking imagery on show in the exhibition. Where did Walter train as a photographer? Can you tell us about his early photographic practice? Walter at first thought he might be a musician but then followed his father into working in finance.  In this role he met the Finance Director of the Reimann School, a private a ..read more

by Daniel Bokenham – Communications Trainee, 2023-2024. Strangers’ Hall celebrated 100 years as a publicly owned museum on 4 July 2023 and to mark this milestone, new displays were created along with a programme of events under the name ‘Strangers’ Hall 100.’ Back in the Spring of 2023, Strangers’ Hall put a vote to the public to name their favourite objects in the museum as part of their centenary celebrations – This campaign was to be called Strangers’ Things. The votes were counted, and a top 10 list was formed that included a wide variety of extraordinary objects from the museum ..read more

Norwich Works shines a spotlight on the remarkable and beautiful photographs by Walter and Rita Nurnberg capturing post-war working life in three Norwich factories. The journey of these images from the archives to the gallery wall is a fascinating story of chance and rediscovery. In the final months of the show, we will be publishing a series of blog posts exploring different themes in the exhibition. In this first post, we talk to curator Dr Nick Warr, Lecturer in Art History and Curation at the University of East Anglia, about how the show came together. When did you first become aware of th ..read more

Museums have a vital role to play in welcoming people to our city. Learning about the history of a place goes a long way to helping people feel integrated and involved. As a Museum of Sanctuary, this is central to how we welcome people who have recently arrived in Norwich as refugees or asylum seekers. As well as offering free entry to our museums through our Welcome Pass, we run regular sessions that allow then to get involved with our buildings and collections. Over the past three months we’ve been working on a project called Friends & Fabric in partnership with ArtatWork CIC and New Rou ..read more

By Toni Carr, Media Engagement – Placement, RNLI As part of The Last Voyage of the Gloucester Exhibition, Norwich Castle has teamed up with the RNLI to mark the third anniversary of World Drowning Prevention Day on Tuesday 25th July. Tuesday 25th July marks the third World Drowning Prevention Day (WDPD) and in support of this global awareness day, the RNLI are working with Norwich Castle to bring a contemporary glance into water safety on our Norfolk coasts.  As the charity that saves lives at sea, every day is drowning prevention day for the RNLI. With a vision to save e ..read more

Marking 100 years since Leonard Bolingbroke gave Strangers’ Hall to the City of Norwich On 4 July 2023, the beautiful medieval merchant’s house, Strangers’ Hall in Norwich, celebrates 100 years as a museum in public ownership. It was on this day in 1923 that Strangers’ Hall, one of the oldest folk museums in the UK, opened its doors for the first time as a City of Norwich Museum, the building and its collections having been gifted to the City Council by Sir Leonard Bolingbroke the previous year. To mark Sir Leonard’s gift and the vision of the City councillors in accepting it, Strangers’ Hall ..read more