Hitchcock, The Mountain Eagle,which Hitchcock himself describedas "truly awful". It was Hitchcock'ssecond feature film, and would joinhis early classics Blackmail(1929)and Easy Virtue, featuring IsabelJeans and Franklin Dyall, pictured above. 10NADFAS REVIEW / WINTER 2010www.nadfas.org.ukARTS NEWSArts NewsArts and heritage updates from around the country. Compiled by Simon Tait'Big Vault' to save film heritage gets go-aheadSheffieldforced toaxe majorV&A showMuseums Sheffield has had to axea major exhibition, The Golden Ageof Couture: Paris and London1947-1957, which should haveopened at the Millennium Gallerynext April, because of costpressures. "An exhibition of this scalecomes with considerable upfrontcosts," explained Chief ExecutiveNick Dodd. "In this climate of economicuncertainty, with the possibility ofsignificant further cuts to publicspending, Museums Sheffield isnot in a position to guarantee thefull costs needed to mount theexhibition without puttingunacceptable strain on the city'smuseums service. "It is our duty to act prudently tobest safeguard Sheffield'smuseums and galleries and, sadly,commitment to projects of this sizecannot be justified in thesestraitened times." The exhibition was to have comefrom the V&A. The decision followsa rescue of Museums Sheffield by the city council in August after a portion of a grant cut of£172,000 was restored to avoid a budget crisis. Above:Sheffield's MillenniumGalleries has found itself subjectto cost pressuresA new £25m underground 'BigVault' to conserve the volatile andpriceless archive of film held by theBritish Film Institute is to go aheadafter the government confirmed itsfunding of the scheme. Work hasalready begun and it will open inthe West Midlands late next year. The archive is celebrating its75th anniversary this year with anappeal for its 75 "most wanted"missing films, dating from 1913 toas recently as 1973. Early cellulosenitrate prints, still in use until 1951,contained small amounts of silverso that many films were melteddown in order to extract theprecious metal. Studios deliberately destroyedsome so that they could get rightsto remake the titles, but many havesurvived in cupboards, attics andcellars. In particular, the institute islooking for an early black andwhite silent movie by AlfredWandsworth gets its museum back Wandsworth Museum, designatedfor closure when the local authoritydecided to cancel its funding, hasreopened in the borough's formercentral library thanks to privatedonations. The new museum, which hastaken over the collections of theold one, has been funded by localmillionaire Michael Hinze. Itincludes a cafe which doubles as amuseum gallery. Director AndrewLeitch said that although he had tocharge £8 annual membership foradmission, he would also rely onvolunteers, who he hopes willnumber 300 in a year's time.

The Foundling Museum, London,is celebrating the opening of anew and highly emotive exhibitionentitled Threads of Feeling. In the cases of more than 4,000babies left between 1741 and1760, a small object or token,usually a small piece of fabric, waskept by the Foundling Hospital asan identifying record. The fabric was either providedby the mother or was cut from thechild's clothing by the hospital'snurses. Attached to registrationforms and bound up into ledgers,these poignant pieces of fabricform the largest collection ofeveryday textiles from the 18thcentury in Britain. The Foundling Hospital is todaythe children's charity Coram.Renuka Jeyarajah-Dent, Coram'sDirector of Operations, comments:"The exhibition so vividly illustrateshow the separation of a motherfrom her child is never an easy actand the depth of feelings involvedare the same." The exhibition, which runs until 6 March 2011, will includerepresentations, curated byJeyarajah-Dent, from children,young people and families thatCoram works with today.Right:Calico printed with a bird,left with a child admitted to theFoundling Hospital in 1759ARTS NEWSFeelings run high at Foundling MuseumNationalmuseums'cut kept to 15%While cuts of almost 30 per centwere meted out to the Arts Council between 2011 and 2014 in the ComprehensiveSpending Review, nationalmuseums' grant reduction is to be kept at 15 per cent.Renaissance in the Regions isto continue, also, with a 15 percent cut. Michael Dixon, Director of theNatural History Museum andChair of the National MuseumDirectors' Conference, said that infuture museums would becomemore entrepreneurial."At a time of economicrecovery, museums and galleriesare more important than ever. "They deliver world-class publicservices, build confidence inBritain and stimulate the creativityand innovation that will help driveeconomic success. "Although public funding for museums is essential, we are increasingly effective at generating our own income." However, the MuseumsAssociation's Director, MarkTaylor, said that the importance ofmuseums in the community wasstill being hugely under-estimated,and he argued that the abolitionof the Museums, Libraries andArchives Council could be adisservice to them. "Museums cannot be a subsetof the arts or heritage world," hesaid. "It has a huge impact on thecountry's economy, educationand sense of identity. There mustbe a strategic body withmuseums as one of its principalfunctions that sits at the tablewhere strategy is made andimplemented".Watts Gallery, in the heart of thevillage of Compton, Surrey, isseeking help to plug the last£70,000 gap in a mammothfundraising effort. After tireless Watts issues print to boostemergency fundraisingfundraising, amounting to £4m -matched by a grant from theHeritage Lottery Fund -WattsGallery closed for restoration inautumn 2008 and looked forwardto reopening its doors this year.However, the gallery was dealt ablow when the contractors wentinto administration last summer.Seven months of legal andadministrative obligations ensued,resulting in £1m in unavoidablecosts. To meet this new target, thegallery launched the HopeEmergency Appeal. With thegenerosity of donors and thesupport of its project partners- architects ZMMA and newcontractors Blenheim HouseConstruction - the restorationrestarted at the earliest opportunityand Watts Gallery is set to reopenin late spring 2011. However thereremains a £70,000 shortfall, soleading contemporary artist BarryMartin and CCA Galleries haveproduced a limited-edition printinspired by GF Watts's sculpture,Clytie, for £295, with all proceedsgoing to the Appeal. . For a special NADFAS offer onthis print see page 55Above:Barry Martin's print isinspired by GF Watts's sculptureClytie(left). All proceeds fromsales of the print go towardsrestoration of the Watts Gallerywww.nadfas.org.ukNADFAS REVIEW / WINTER 2010 11