Dimbola’s newly appointed Vice President got into the role of promoting Dimbola at the Isle of Wight Festival.
Together with our Patron and Trustee and Festival curator, John Giddings, Julia Cameron De Villiers visited our stall at the festival (the space for which is gifted by John) and posed for a photo with him and our Chairman, Brian Hinton.
Dimbola at IW Festival
On the Saturday of the Festival Julia had visited Dimbola in Freshwater to see our current exhibition on Marilyn Stafford, which was organised by our new President Julian Bell.
Here she posed with the Jimi Hendrix statue, which was commissioned by John Giddings in memory of the 1970 Isle of Wight Festival held at Afton.
The statue had recently acquired a fancy-dress outfit as a Hendrix-style pirate, in keeping with the IW Festival spirit.
Brian Hinton said,
“Julia, for us, is Dimbola Royalty and such a lovely person.
“She is part of our future.”
Blood relatives
Both Julia and Julian Bell (President) are related to Julia Margaret Cameron (JMC) who lived and worked as a photographer at Dimbola, between 1860 and 1875. Julia is her great, great, great granddaughter and Julian is her great, great, great nephew.
It is the first time that Dimbola has had relatives of JMC in both of our top positions, and we are honoured to have such illustrious and talented individuals involved with our work to keep her memory alive and to promote the work of other cutting-edge photographers. Julian is an artist and writer and is based in Lewes. Julia is a voice artist, jewellery designer and works in events and PR.
“Extremely proud of my heritage”
Following the Festival, Julia wrote on her Instagram page:
“Epic weekend @isleofwightfest with huge thanks to @johngiddings01 for the incredible experience, hospitality and putting on such an iconic and brilliant event.
Super grateful for the amazing space at the festival for @dimbolamuseum. Anyone who knows me knows I am extremely proud of my heritage, and I feel super lucky to be a part of the Dimbola Team. If you’re heading to the Isle of The Wight this summer, please do visit us and check out the incredible @marilynstaffordphotography exhibition.
There are also works featuring iconic Bowie and Jimi Hendrix portraits by Gered Mankowitz and @terryoneillofficial Not to be missed!”
We’re looking forward to working with Julia in the future and welcoming her to Dimbola for events and future exhibitions.
Julia’s beautiful jewellery is on sale in our shop – ask to see it when you come over to visit our amazing exhibition of Marilyn Stafford’s photos, see our permanent exhibitions or attend one of the concerts we have over the summer.
See the Dimbola Website for more information.
News shared by Jo on behalf of Dimbola Museum and Galleries. Ed
Image: John Giddings, Brian Hinton and Julia Cameron De Villiers
