Polar exploration’s golden age marked at Swansea Museum

Jan. 5, 2012 - PRLog -- An exhibition that marks a century since the first explorer reached the South Pole is opening at Swansea Museum this weekend.

Cold Recall: Reflections of a Polar Explorer runs from Sunday January 7 until April 22 and focuses on the story of famous Norwegian adventurer Roald Amundsen.

The exhibition is on loan from Oslo’s Fram Museum and includes images from the lantern slides Amundsen used in his talks and public lectures.

The exhibition also highlights the challenges faced by early 20th century Antarctic explorers and looks at the daily lives polar explorers lead.

He led the first Antarctic expedition to reach the South Pole between 1910 and 1912 when his party beat the team led by Captain Robert Falcon Scott by 33 days. Amundsen disappeared in June 1928 while taking part in a rescue mission.

Fram Museum Director Geir Glover will present a talk on the exhibition at Swansea Museum on Thursday January 19 at 7pm.

Swansea Council is also making preparations for an exhibition called Ninety Degrees South at Swansea Museum that will focus on Edgar Evans – one of Captain Scott’s famous Terra Nova Antarctic Expedition party.

Petty Officer Evans was one of only five in the party to make the South Pole on January 17 in 1912.

All five perished from a combination of starvation, exhaustion and extreme cold on their return from the Pole. Evans died at the foot of the Beardmore Glacier exactly a month after he’d reached the Pole.

Swansea Council’s exhibition will be launched on January 18 and will feature a selection of photos, family memorabilia and display panels. It will also feature a boot and a pistol from the fateful expedition.

It will also run until April 22.

Cllr Graham Thomas, Swansea Council’s Cabinet Member for Culture, Recreation and Tourism, said: “The early 20th century was a golden era for polar exploration and I’m delighted two exhibitions of this quality will be available for local people at Swansea Museum.

“Amundsen’s name is synonymous with exploration but it will also be very apt to celebrate the achievements of local man Edgar Evans one century after his heroic feat at the South Pole.

“This will be the first time many people will have been introduced to his incredible story.”

Have a look at http://www.swansea.gov.uk/swanseamuseum for more information or call 01792 653763.

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