As part of the recent Festival of Ideas, Chris Draper, Pathway Leader for Illustration, collaborated with the Museum of Anthropology and Archaeology in Downing Street. Exhibiting two 'cabinets of curiosities' and a recent work involving Danish Neolithic blades, Chris gave a talk at the museum about collecting, hoarding, the history of cabinets of curiosities and his own studio practice. Taxonomy, arrangement, curatorial decisions, historical context, and how one arranges one's fridge and books on a shelf were some of the topics discussed. Alongside the exhibition and talks, a series of children's workshops were run with the help of Mick Gowar and students from both Anglia Ruskin's Illustration and the University of Cambridge's archaeology courses.

Considered a great success by the museum, it has been a pleasure to collaborate with Cambridge University and the museum staff.

Chris has previously been interviewed on BBC 2's 'One Life' programme, where he discussed collecting, and his home has appeared in The Independent on Sunday, where they coined the term 'maximalism' (as opposed to minimalism) to describe the house.

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