Northampton was once the centre of the British shoemaking industry and lauded as the ‘shoemaking capital of the world.’ Unfortunately, as is the case with many British towns, this industry is under serious threat of completely disappearing. Northampton Museum & Art Gallery is trying to keep this part of the town’s history alive. The temporary exhibit ‘Lasting Legacy’ covers this heritage by introducing the visitor to the shoemaking world with a modern pop-culture twist.
The exhibit is not large due to it being temporary and located at the entrance of the museum. The focus of the exhibit is simply the last, which in shoemaking terms is a recreation of a person’s foot that is used by shoemakers to create and repair shoes for the person whose foot was copied. The title ‘Lasting Legacy’ is quite a clever and fun play on words that fully portrays the content of the exhibit (the Last) and the aim of the exhibit (to preserve this part of Northampton’s shoemaking legacy).
Even for the most detailed person, the exhibit would only take 5 minutes to fully explore. In the exhibit, there is a distinct lack of interpretation and a clear prioritisation put on the objects in the exhibit. I normally advocate that strong interpretation outweighs strong object displays; however, this instance I believe is an exception to that rule. Given the fact that this exhibit is at the entrance of the museum, I believe that interpretation on a topic like Lasts may cause less open visitors to lose interest in this exhibit. Because there is a permanent exhibit in the museum focused on Northampton’s shoemaking history, this exhibit only needs to pique someone’s interest and convince them that the permanent exhibit is worth seeing. The decision to show the last of a wide range of celebrities without extensive interpretation is a good one by the museum for two reasons:
Firstly, by limiting interpretation, there is more room for the Lasts.
Secondly, visitors are more open to exploring shoemaking interpretation later in the permanent exhibit located after this one.
This exhibit is not revolutionary, and if it were a permanent exhibit, it would be very underwhelming. Despite this, the lack of interpretation and interactivity matters little in the overall visitor experience because the exhibit is clearly made to supplement other exhibits in the museum rather than work as a standalone piece. It is a great introduction to the heritage of Northampton, and it displays a culturally relevant topic to Northampton in a way that can engage visitors of all ages. You would be hard-pressed to find a person who did not know at least one person mentioned in this exhibit. In this way, the museum manages to show that the declining shoemaking capital of the world still has a large influence with the celebrities and royalty that still come to Northampton for their shoes.
The exhibit is not a crowd puller, it isn’t something you would be a fool to miss out on. But it is a nice addition to the Museum of Northampton, and I am excited to see what temporary exhibit they unveil following the end of this exhibit on February 16th.
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