Task 6 Exhibition Review

In June 2009 Marks & Spencer celebrated its 125th anniversary by opening up an exhibition in the Centenary Gallery of Leeds University's Parkinson Building. The exhibition, curated by M&S archivists, displays M&S' journey from its penny bazaar market stall to becoming an international retailer.

It showcases how through each decade M&S has striven to become a part of British life from the clothes we wear, to the food we eat, through to the moral values we expect from businesses to day.

Considering the proposed 60,000 items to be archived in a purpose built location on the university campus, the initial modest exhibition space housed a small collection of M&S items from staff uniforms and key fashion pieces, to ad campaigns and WWII helmets that the staff would have worn in the event of an air raid.
The walls at opposing sides of the room were covered with customers feedback over the years and provided random but somewhat interesting facts from the population of women wearing M&S knickers to the number of fans on Facebook of Percy the Pig (which in case you weren't in the know are pink, pigs headed shaped sweets). There was even an interactive wall for visitors to write up their own current thoughts on M&S.

Walking around the exhibition, as a woman, you can't help but feel a slight bit of feminism creep up inside you, as you take in the cookie-cutter characters of housebound women displayed in adverts, illustrating a time when men and women's roles appeared so simple. Not to mention the display of letters written to M&S that give a somewhat deranged but comical view of the average female customer, who felt the need to comment about their day to day experiences with their M&S purchases; "I got a dress from one of your stores, nothing wrong with the dress but...I couldn't get the fastener open and had to go ask a policeman on duty to help me...after a full hours struggle he had to tear the dress off...I can see the funny side of it now, but I was red in the face trying to free that zip".

Altogether, the most entertaining part of the exhibition was the M&S representative that guided you through each M&S piece of each history. A camp and witty fellow, he provided many of M&S's life's quips from ridiculous customer stories to some of M&S's somewhat amusing adverts. 

What was most likeable about the exhibition was that along with the M&S rep, it didn't seem to take itself too seriously and provided an encapsulated view of how a humble northern market stall can grow to become a household name amongst British middle class culture.