A record-breaking 44,509 people visited the Victoria Art Gallery’s summer exhibition, A Celebration of Flowers: Kaffe Fassett with Candace Bahouth, which ran from 19 May to 2 September.
This is a new record for temporary exhibitions at the Gallery. The previous record was set by Grayson Perry’s The Vanity of Small Differences in 2016.
The talks and tours that accompanied A Celebration of Flowers were also very well attended, with an average of 30 to 35 visitors per weekly tour.
Councillor Paul Myers said: “We are delighted that so many residents and visitors were able to see this colourful exhibition and enjoy the talks and tours. There are lots more exhibitions and events over the coming months which are free for local Discovery Card holders.”
Inspired by flowers all his life, Kaffe Fassett demonstrated his full creative flair in A Celebration of Flowers. The installation transformed the Gallery, with a bespoke colour scheme forming a dazzling backdrop to 40 of Fassett’s vibrant coloured quilts and needlepoints.
The show also featured mosaiced island gardens, benches, totems, mirror frames, shoes, flower-encrusted candlesticks and a chandelier by Candace Bahouth, one of Fassett’s long-term collaborators, who is based in Somerset.
This is not the first time the pair have broken records at the Victoria Art Gallery: When they last showed here, in 2008, the Gallery welcomed 31,000 visitors, a record-breaking number at that time.
