Knitted tea cosy. Ballymena, Northern Ireland, 1999. © Folk Archive

Leamington Spa Art Gallery and Museum is hosting a new exhibition exploring anonymous historical and contemporary folk art, curated by folk art enthusiasts Alan Kane and Jeremy Deller

Maker Unknown: Anonymous Folk Art Past & Present runs until November 11 2007 and features works from the gallery’s own collection, Compton Verney’s historical folk art collection, and the Folk Archive put together by Kane and Deller.

Folk art refers to artworks by people who have had no formal artistic training, but often produce pieces in established styles by traditional techniques. Types of folk art handicrafts and decorative works are often peculiar to specific regions or peoples, having been handed down through generations.

Man with House Weathervane. Maker Unknown, British. Metal, 1800-1900. © Compton Verney, photograph by Hugh Kelly

Many historical works of folk art in collections are labelled ‘maker unknown’ as the details of whoever made the item have been lost, or were even deliberately left unclear. Contemporary folk art is often left nameless, too, to put the focus on the work itself or the event it depicts.

The works in Maker Unknown have been selected by Turner Prize winner Jeremy Deller and Alan Kane, and are displayed alongside photos and items from their own Folk Archive, which documents practices in present day Britain and Ireland.

Their photographic collection includes records of traditional performances that still go on today, such as the tar barrel rolling in Ottery St Mary, Devon, to inventive road-side signs obviously not made by professional designers.

Snowdrop the Mechanical Elephant. Clare family, Oswestry, Shropshire, c.1980. © Folk Archive

Items on show from Leamington Spa’s collection include many Victorian works, such as a beautiful painted photo album (a new page will be on display each week) and decorated police truncheons. There are also embroidered smoking caps, decorated tea cosies and an embroidery sampler. Most pieces have a local connection, though their makers are, of course, unknown.

Compton Verney’s folk art collection contains everything from metal weather vanes from the 1800s to naïve style paintings of Biblical allegories.

A public launch event for all ages will take place on September 22, featuring special guest Snowdrop, the mechanical elephant. It's free of charge and Snowdrop will appear at 2pm to give children rides around the Pump Room Gardens.

There will be an opportunity to meet the two curators on November 1 2007 at the gallery as they discuss the ideas behind the exhibition with art historian Claire Bishop of Warwick University.