Guernsey Museum at Candie has opened its doors to a fascinating new exhibition and IslandFamilies was lucky enough to be invited to a family friendly viewing.
Brick City is an exhibition celebrating some of the world’s favourite buildings and iconic landmarks from cities around the world, recreated in Lego bricks by artist Warren Elsmore and his team. The exhibition looks at the essence of what makes an urban landscape recognisable and sparks fantastic conversations with youngsters about famous landmarks and cities alike.
How many iconic structures do you think your children will recognise?
A lifelong Lego fan, Warren Elsmore is an artist in bricks based in Edinburgh, Scotland. It’s been 20 years since Lego Creator products were launched with the aim of encouraging children and adults to build without rules and limitations and we think it’s fair to say that Warren Elsmore personifies this aim – the builds are designed using reference images, sketches, experience and knowledge not instructions.
The star of the show has to be the 180,000-piece London St Pancras Station which drew gasps from both children and adults alike as they entered the room. My two particularly enjoyed finding out how many bricks made up each piece and even more astonishing, the number of hours it took to create – from the moderate nine hours to build Rio’s Statue of Christ the Redeemer to the incredible 60 hours to replicate Delhi’s Red Fort.
Tour the world as you walk around and discover highlights of cities across all seven continents. The floating market of Thailand and San Fransisco’s painted ladies were favourites of mine with their intricate details and fascinating structures but the most action-packed model is hands-down the Mardi Gras of New Orleans. This 2,400 brick piece is set in the French quarter and portrays a carnival passing by while revellers gather on balconies above the festivities. My youngest really enjoyed spotting some of Lego minifigures from his collection partying in the street!
In a style we’ve come to expect of the enthusiastic team at the museum, they’ve put together picture hunts for youngsters to enjoy which can be picked up from the Discovery Room. Can your children find the man with the baguette or lady with the pink hair?
There’s also a screen showing the team assembling models and transporting the exhibition as well as a huge Lego board on the wall with plenty of blocks to play with which is a nice touch. Children were letting their creativity flow and even using bricks to write out their names.
It’s fair to say that museums offer a fantastic hands-on experience for children and Guernsey Museum has once again hit the nail on the head bringing such an exciting, immersive, and imagination-inspiring exhibit to the island. In our opinion, Guernsey should consider itself lucky to have such a facility manned by such creative and dedicated staff.
Whether you have a bucket full of bricks collected over generations or a handful of your favourites, we hope you’ll go home inspired to make your own creations and see what you come up with.
Brick City is open from 2 April – 3 July 2022.
Guernsey Museum at Candie is open 10:00-17:00
Entry is free with your Discovery Pass.
Adult entry is £6.50, children £2.00 (under 7 go free)