Mannequins with x-ray vision

Following the opening of the Fitzwilliam Museum’s major exhibition Silent Partners, mannequins will be invading Cambridge City Centre in a Mannequin Parade from Saturday 25 October - Sunday 9 November, timed to coincide with the beginning of October half term.

The mannequins are being placed in various locations and shops across the city, all dressed differently, with unique names and ages relating to historic artists, lay figures, paintings, and references to books and film.

Participating venues have posters in their windows, and maps are available to pick up from each location to spot all twelve of the Silent Partners mannequin displays; people who find them all and jot down their names can enter a competition to win a digital camera from John Lewis, Cambridge.

Two of the highlight displays in the parade include a life-size recreation of the painting The Black Brunswicker by Millais in John Lewis, and a mannequin and series of images related to the Silent Partners exhibition in the Arts Picturehouse. Remarkable displays from food to fashion will be taking place in Fitzbillies, Tindalls, Bowns, Cambridge Contemporary Art, ARK, the Tourist Information Centre Gift Shop, CallyCo, Cristine Patisserie and Noa Noa.

The final mannequin is located in the Fitzwilliam Museum’s gift shop, next to the competition form collection box.

The Museum will be sharing photos from the public with the mannequins they find which are tweeted to @FitzMuseum_UK with the hashtag #SILENTPARTNERS, along with their name.

The Mannequin Parade is supported by Cambridge BID, also in partnership with Our Cambridge Story’, encouraging shops to tell stories about their history and products in window displays as part of ‘Curating Cambridge: our city, our stories, our stuff’. Neon green posters are in participating ‘Our Cambridge Story’shop fronts across the city, presented by the University of Cambridge Museums in partnership with the Cambridge BID and Independent Cambridge.

Time lapse video of mannequin art recreation at John Lewis Time-lapse footage courtesy of Keith Heppell

23 October 2014