The Fitzwilliam Museum’s collection includes approximately 50 medieval wooden sculptures. Some of them are brightly painted, whilst others have been stripped of their colours over time. Very little is known about them – their appearance, origin and function are open to interpretation.
As part of a research project funded by the Arts and Humanities Impact Fund, we have invited makers around the world to reinvent some of these sculptures: using 3D scans available online, makers were free to reinvent shape, colour, function and context in a quest to explore new meanings.
Challenge entries were exhibited at the Fitzwilliam Museum between 15 and 20 May 2018. Visitors were able to engage further with the reconstructions and their makers during a special late-night opening on Wednesday 16 May. This virtual exhibition includes all the entries and shows how creativity has helped us re-imagine and re-interpret these artworks for the twenty-first century.