Exhibition Preview: The dying art of child's play

Children Welcome Montage Gallery, Derby

Jennifer Rodger
Friday 19 December 1997 00:02 GMT
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By banishing the spectre of "Don't Walk On The Grass" signs and the one- at-a-time welcome frequently experienced by urban children, a series of photographs has been produced that suggest that innocence does survive in the gardens of eden.

The photographs show their excited release into greener pastures, to roam free and with permission to play with a toy normally well out of their reach. These snaps are of the children taking photographs with their own distinctive angle. From lying on their back and looking up, to towering over the subject and radically changing the perspective - they are blurred evidence of energetic enjoyment. "We are committed to ensuring that our sites are accessible for learning and enjoyment for our children and their children's children," says Laura Hetherington of the National Trust.

The culmination of a National Trust and Severn Trent Water initiative, children were invited to some of the main environmental, conservation and recreation sites in the East Midlands. These included Calke Abbey, Sherwood Forest and Clumber Park, and the "Golden Gates" catching the sun amongst the lakes and woodland gardens at Kedleston Hall in Derbyshire. "We're delighted to back their drive to make more people, especially children, aware of the vast trove of national treasures we have in the East Midlands," says Dave Morris, Severn Trent's East Midland's customer relations manager. Grown-ups are welcome.

Montage Gallery, 35-6 Queen Street, Derby, DE1 3DS. Free admission. Today - 11 Jan.

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