BEING MODERN | WILLIAM JOHNSTON: His Residence & Collection

BEING MODERN | WILLIAM JOHNSTON : His Residence & Collection will re-present the original arrangement of William Johnston’s collection in Fairhall, as it was when it first opened to the public as an exhibition-house in 1990. Using photographs, floor plans and layouts of the innovative arrangement from our archives, Fairhall will be recreated as a ‘modern’ iteration of an English Georgian-inspired domestic interior, just as it was first presented to the public over two decades ago.  This tour will continue exploring one of the themes underpinning The Johnston Collection, that ‘Old is New’.

BEING MODERN will also consider ideas around modernity and how “Every age thinks it's the modern age”. ‘Modernity’ is a phase of history said to have begun around the 17th century in Europe. It encompassed the Age of Enlightenment, the Industrial Revolution and Colonialism / Imperialism – social and political movements represented in many of the objects on display in The Johnston Collection.