Three framed mixed-media artworks feature a woman dressed in vintage-style clothing against dark backgrounds filled with colorful graffiti-like text and symbols. Each panel highlights themes of identity, history, and legacy, with notable elements including striped trousers, a feathered hat, a pink dress, and words such as "women," "life," and "legacy" prominently displayed.
Exhibition

Meg Fletcher: Character Studies – 3 Acts

Mon – Sun, 10am – 5pm

The Bowes Museum

A series of specially designed flags by local fashion designer, Meg Fletcher, bridging the worlds of high fashion, theatrical history and the museum’s own origin.

A site-specific commission by fashion designer Meg Fletcher, flying from the museum’s iconic terrace until 6 September 2026. The installation features a series of specially designed flags that bridge the worlds of high fashion, theatrical history and the museum’s own radical origin.
Meg Fletcher’s practice is rooted in the art of character creation. While her work sits firmly in the realm of fashion rather than costume, Fletcher explores the transformative power of clothing and examines the idea that we dress to manifest different versions of ourselves.

Titled Character Studies – 3 Acts, Fletcher’s installation features three specially designed flags. These flags creatively link the rebellious spirit and visual legacy of Dame Vivienne Westwood (1941–2022) with the pioneering vision of The Bowes Museum’s founder, Joséphine Bowes (1825–1874).

Each flag reimagines Joséphine Bowes as a contemporary figure, blending elements from her iconic pink-dress portrait (c.1858, attributed to Louis William Desanges) with silhouettes and motifs drawn from Westwood’s groundbreaking fashion archives and the museum’s historic collections:

Rebel: Inspired by Westwood’s Pirates Collection (1981), this flag combines striking silhouettes with decorative influences from 16th and 18th-century porcelain vases housed at The Bowes Museum.

Storyteller: Drawing on Westwood’s Mini-Crini (1986) and Harris Tweed (1987/88) collections, this flag reinterprets Bowes’s portrait details through a lens of historic and textile references.

Visionary: Referencing Westwood’s Anglomania (1993/94) collection—famously worn by Kate Moss – this flag incorporates classical art from the museum’s collection, including The Birth of Venus by Pierre-Jacques Cazes.

The Bowes Museum

Newgate Barnard Castle DL12 8NP

View on map

18 May—6 September 2026

Mon – Sun, 10am – 5pm

£20 day ticket / £25 local membership / £28 membership. Under 18s, carers and full time students free.

Book Now

Venue opening hours:

  • Mon 10am – 5pm
  • Tue 10am – 5pm
  • Wed 10am – 5pm
  • Thu 10am – 5pm
  • Fri 10am – 5pm
  • Sat 10am – 5pm
  • Sun 10am – 5pm

Accessibility

  • Accessible toilets
  • Adult changing facilities
  • Baby changing facilities
  • Interpretation aids
  • Level access
  • Lifts to all areas
  • Mobile gallery stools
  • Mobility scooters
  • Walking aids
  • Wheelchair access
Hide info Expand info