THE WAY OF THE WARRIOR EXHIBITION, Inverness Museum and Art Gallery, running until April 2011. Admission FREE

A personal view of the exhibition by John Coleman

Do you happen to be a grown man, going on fourteen? Are you the sort who works in an office but secretly feels you could, if given the chance have held your own at the battle of Thermopylae, say?, that you would have fitted right in there with the Viking horde, or the Viet cong in the jungles of Vietnam, that you were born to someday wear a helmet as befitting your own warrior status?  Or do you simply just enjoy war films?   If so, then I highly recommend Inverness museums latest exhibition, The Way of  the Warrior. It is guaranteed to appeal to the small boy, or for that matter, the small tomboy within each of us.

The premise of the exhibition is to show  life size models, artefacts and film posters from various war films throughout the centuries so that you can see the costumes of, say, a Saxon warrior from the film King Arthur, a Praetorian guardsman from Gladiator, or even a modern day warrior complete with flak jacket from Black Hawk Down. How good is that!

But here is the thing that really makes it for me, a balding forty  year old who secretly believes himself  to be a Viking in Tesco’s or a Spartan in Wetherspoons, here’s the difference, you can actually try on various pieces!  It’s okay. It’s allowed!  We are taught from childhood; don’t touch things in the museum! But in this wonderful exhibition we are positively encouraged to touch, to get tactile. Should you so desire you can try on a beautiful Spartan helmet from the film 300 and see how it might have felt to peer through at your own imaginary Immortals, or to simply just physically feel the weight of this magnificent object on your head.  I myself advocate we all brighten up our Facebook profiles by sporting a G.i. helmet from  Saving Private Ryan, or even just posing alongside Alexander the Great for a moment. This is a unique history lesson as when encouraged to lift a roman legionaries’ shield it soon becomes apparent why the Romans are always portrayed with such brawny arms.  The greatness of this show which runs until April 23rd is the delicious touchy feeliness of it all. Watching people, it is quite amazing to see just how many have the compulsion to let chainmail slide beneath their fingers, or to stroke a Saxons  fur cloak……it’s that kind of show.

Of course, it’s not just for frustrated middle aged men like me who yearn back to their childhoods; it’s for everyone with an interest in movies, in history, in our martial past, or even in shiny crafted things for that matter. The knight in armour is very impressive, as is the female Pictish warrior Aeron from the movie Centurion

When I visited it was mostly women taking their kids along, and not surprisingly the kids were delighted, their little faces lit up in awe as Maximus Decimus Meridius from Gladiator towers over them. Play swords, helmets and shields are laid out for the kids to give them the full interactive experience.  Incidentally many actual objects, claymores, targs and muskets are also on display, giving a fuller sense that these events are not just in the movies but that they actually happened.   It surely must be one of the most enjoyable ways of learning history for kids and adults alike, and remember, fellow warriors and epic film buffs…….ITS FREE! …….Give it a go, and enjoy.

Source: Inverness Museum and Gallery