Alice in Wonderland’s 150th birthday celebrated at Museum of Modern Art

Michael Tomlinson, Kim Dewsbury and Annie Ovenden help The Museum of Modern Art, Wales in Machynlleth mark the 150th anniversary of the publication of Lewis Carroll’s 'Alice's Adventures in Wonderland' with an exhibition of paintings on themes from the book.

Many of the paintings have been created especially for the exhibition, which runs from June 6-27. MOMA Wales, located at Y Tabernacl, Heol Penrallt, Machynlleth, is open from Monday to Saturday 10am to 4pm.

The original 'Alice's Adventures in Wonderland' book was inspired by real events and a real child. The story was dreamt up on a summer’s day river outing with the Liddell family on July 4, 1862, from Folly Bridge to Godstow, in Oxford.

Charles L. Dodgson (Lewis Carroll) travelled down river with the Dean of Christ Church, Oxford - the college at which he was a lecturer in mathematics - and his family. Along the way he told them a story about a bored little girl called Alice who goes looking for an adventure.

The family loved it and at the end of that day one of the daughters, Alice Liddell, asked for the story to be written down. Charles agreed and began writing the manuscript the next day but it took him two and a half years to complete. It was first published in 1865, 150 years ago.

Charles’ pen name, Lewis Carroll, is closely related to his real name. ‘Charles Lutwidge’ translated into Latin as ‘Carolus Ludovicus’, and when translated back into English, it became ‘Carroll Lewis’. Finally, this name was reversed to make ‘Lewis Carroll’.

There will also be a free Children's Art Week Workshop at MOMA Wales on Saturday, June 13 from 10am to 1pm when families are invited to drop in and join artist Jo Marsh for a Mad Hatter’s workshop.

Children will be invited to choose a cup and saucer from a selection, then collage directly onto them in a surrealist style, inspired by our Alice in Wonderland exhibition, before taking their work home for all to admire.

Children's Art Week 2015 is run by engage, the National Association for Gallery Education and supported by Children and the Arts and the D'Oyly Carte Charitable Trust.

Annie Ovenden’s work titled ‘Drink Me’.

Picture captions:

Top: A work by Michael Tomlinson from the exhibition.

ENDS

Notes for the Editor

The Museum of Modern Art, Wales (MOMA, WALES) was established in 1991 alongside The Tabernacle in Machynlleth, Powys. It is owned and run by Machynlleth Tabernacle Trust which is funded by grants and public donations. Throughout the year the galleries show contemporary art, featuring leading artists from Wales, works from the growing Tabernacle Collection, and in August selected entries from the Tabernacle Art Competition. Many of the works of art are for sale.
In May 2015 "The Tannery" was opened after many years of fundraising and restoration of this historic industrial building. This contains two galleries, connected to the main building by a bridge, one of which is specifically for sculpture. This brings the number of exhibition spaces up to seven.

For more information please contact Lucinda Middleton, Richard and Ann Mayou Fund Curator, at lucinda@momawales.org.uk or Tel: 01654 703355