Exeter lends comedy to ‘Rude Britannia’ exhibition

Tate curators came to Exeter to see the Bill Douglas Centre for the History of Cinema and Popular Culture (BDC) collections because they were keen to represent the influence of Charlie Chaplin on comic art.  They were loaned comic books featuring the little tramp from as early as 1915 and comic postcards from the same period. Publicity material from Chaplin’s 1940 classic The Great Dictator is used in the political satire section of the exhibition. Comic icons and the development of comic strips form a significant part of the exhibition.

Bill Douglas Centre Curator Phil Wickham, who attended the launch of the exhibition, said ‘We were delighted to be involved in ‘Rude Britannia’ and to have loaned artefacts to Tate Britain, such as the two postcards which illustrate the extent the extent of Charlie’s fame in the WW1 period. This reflects the value and importance of our collections on cinema and popular culture, as well as the enduring influence of Chaplin as a comic figure.’

BBC 4 are screening 'Rude Britannia', a 3 part series tying in with the exhibition of the same name at Tate Britain, Each day from Monday-Wednesday this week. The programmes look at the history of humour in British art. The Bill Douglas Centre contributed a number of items to the exhibition and was also consulted by the producers of the TV programme. In Tuesday night’s show the less respectable side of Victorian and Edwardian culture is highlighted, including the mutoscope or ‘what the butler saw’ machine. A view from the University’s mutoscope located in the Centre’s lower gallery and Donald McGill postcards featuring the device from the collections are likely to be featured.

Programmes are screening 9pm to 10pm, Monday –Wednesday on BBC 4.