Where would we be without spoons? It’s pretty tricky to sup on a bowl of broth with a fork! So in honour of this simple but universal utensil, the Inverness Museum & Art Gallery is launching a new exhibition this weekend, celebrating the humble spoon.
Opening on Saturday (31 May) ‘Spoonful’ brings together a wide range of historic spoons from both Inverness Museum and the Highland Folk Museum, alongside new commissions from contemporary craft makers – Stuart Cairns, Helena Emmans, Caroline Lingwood and Gabi Veit.
The spoon – an implement that crosses cultures, gender, ritual, symbolism and social hierarchies – also has a long tradition of craftmaking, so visitors to the exhibition can expect to be served with more than a dolloping of variety when it comes to spoons. Everything from silverware and souvenirs to spoons carved from wood and stag horn.
The ‘Spoonful’ exhibition has been supported by Museums Galleries Scotland and over the past six months the team at Inverness Museum & Art Gallery have also been working on a wider outreach project with community groups to explore stories around spoons.
In the Inverness Museum Community Gallery there’s a further two exhibitions, titled ‘An Extra Spoonful’. The first includes new sculptural work from pupils at Cantraybridge College followed by a cookbook developed by women from the Afghan Resettlement Programme and artist Lizzie Wood. Also, a regular group from Keltic Care have been meeting with artists Dean Melville and Mike Webster to discuss their stories of spoons and record a new sound piece for the exhibition.
Young people from the Brora Gallery Social Enterprise Project will be selling some of their amazing wooden spoons in the museum shop – the project operates from a range of different learning themes, which incorporate creative skills, employability skills, outdoor learning and literacy.
Kirsten Body, High Life Highland’s Visual Arts Programme Curator at Inverness Museum & Art Gallery said: “This project has been developed to showcase some little-known parts of our collections and explore relevant cultural and social issues by working in partnership with community groups to co-create some of the new content. It’s well worth a visit and we hope that people will leave the exhibition with a greater appreciation of the humble spoon!”
Spoonful: a Celebration of the Humble Spoon runs from 31 May – 26 July 2025.
