BSL 'The 1920s: Beyond the Roar' exhibition tours

Take a BSL tour of our current exhibition The 1920s: Beyond the Roar.

Get closer to the 1920s in our exhibition tours where we reveal the surprising stories behind the documents from a decade of change, crisis and defiance.

The 1920s: Beyond the Roar celebrates the release of the 1921 Census; a historic snapshot of the nation. Using the census as its keystone, the exhibition rebuilds the world of the 1920s through the lens of our collection, drawing on records including international peace treaties, textile samples and lonely hearts ads to explore key moments from the decade, from the public to the personal.

Tours will take place on the dates and times listed at The National Archives in Kew, and last approximately 30 minutes. Please arrive promptly.

Please note: The 1920s: Beyond the Roar is open to all and free to visit during normal building opening hours - visitors may enjoy the exhibition on their own or as part of a tour. Find out more about the exhibition here.

About the tour guide

John Wilson was born deaf. He is a freelance consultant working in the field of Deaf Arts and British Sign Language, with a wide range of experience as a deaf arts practitioner, a theatre and television actor, a creative signer, and a director of numerous productions ranging from devised performances to BSL translations of Shakespeare. His work as a sign poet and performer has been well received, and John has been part of several projects both in the UK and internationally to promote creative sign through the medium of BSL. John works with several major museums and galleries across the UK, including the Tate Galleries, National Gallery, National Portrait Gallery, and the Royal Collection at Windsor Castle and Buckingham Palace. He leads BSL tours at London Zoo and works as an accredited BSL guide at Hampton Court Palace and Highgate Cemetery. Since 2017 he has been curator of a programme of BSL tours at the Royal Academy of Arts - the first profoundly deaf person to hold such a role. Likewise in 2020 he was the first deaf profoundly person appointed as External Examiner by the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. John is a Trustee of the British Sign Language Broadcasting Trust which makes films and TV for the deaf community in BSL.

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Category: Lifestyle