Museum of London | The Mystery of the Cheapside Hoard

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Elbow were asked to create a suite of films for a major new temporary exhibition at the Museum of London; The Cheapside Hoard: London's Lost Jewels. These included a dazzling site specific projection of images, light and colour - mapped across charred wooden panels arranged in the form of an explosion - providing a tantalising glimpse of the jewels at the beginning of the exhibition.

 

At the end of the gallery a short film addresses the question; who buried the Hoard, and why did they never return to reclaim it? Unusually for a Museum project, Elbow were asked to conjure a completely fictitious, yet believable, scenario, set against the backdrop of the English Civil War. The resulting film is a dark and mysterious docu-drama, combining abstract vignettes - shot on location - with a motion graphic treatment applied to archive images from the Museum's collection.