‘Ruskin: Museum of the Near Future’
Look closely, see clearly, imagine freely: parables and places to encounter our world.

The Ruskin, Lancaster University
26 September 2019 – 28 February 2020

John Ruskin’s motto was ‘Today’. He believed that the way we see things now will shape the way we think and behave in the future. ‘Ruskin: Museum of the Near Future’ explores the relevance of Ruskin’s thinking for our own time. This exhibition celebrated the purchase of the collection by Lancaster University, showing iconic works by Ruskin relating to literature, art, architecture, science, ecology and social activism. The exhibition positioned Ruskin as a compelling educator and his collection as the gateway to the University, encouraging us to look closely, see clearly and imagine freely through his works. ‘There is no wealth but life,’ he wrote. “But what is life?’

The exhibition featured works from The Ruskin Whitehouse Collection alongside objects from Ruskin’s Geology Collection at Brantwood, and works by contemporary artists, Sarah Casey, Janet Manifold, Franziska Schenzk, Emma Stibbon and Patricia Townsend.

The on-site exhibition was accompanied by an exhibition guide:
https://www.lancaster.ac.uk/media/lancaster-university/content-assets/documents/ruskin/RuskinMuseumoftheNearFutureExhibitionGuide.pdf

A short film of Ruskin: Museum of the Near Future is on YouTube and in a Google Arts and Culture digital exhibit:
https://www.lancaster.ac.uk/the-ruskin/exhibitions/ruskin-museum-of-the-near-future/

The exhibition was profiled in the Daily Mail and the Financial Times podcast ‘John Ruskin's message for our times’. Coinciding with the bicentenary of Ruskin’s birth, the exhibition also celebrated the purchase of The Ruskin Whitehouse Collection by Lancaster University in 2019.