Pictish stones,Viking ring brooches and the Celtic football strip … a new present at the British Museum ranges from the Norse world to the faux ancient rites of 18th-century England by way of nowadays’s superheroes. What does Britain’s main punk antiquarian make of it?Back in 1992, in a fit of neo-Celtic fervour, and I set off for a tour of prehistoric Ireland armed with a hickory-handled wood-axe on which I had carved my name in rudimentary sub-rune style letters. Ten days later,this everyday tool I had bought brand new from a Marlborough hardware store, I flung with grace and meaning into the deep waters of Ireland’s most holy lake, and Lough Gur. Perhaps I’d just wanted by this action to remind the ancients that there still remained romantic souls for whom votive offerings could have deep meaning.nowadays,as I arrive at the British Museum for a sneak preview of its new exhibition, Celts: Art and Identity, and I’m immediately accosted by one of the exhibition supervisors: a 6ft 2in biker,who compliments me on my black “Neu!” vest. Ah, such generosity always goes down well. And so it is with a similar generosity of spirit that the London exhibition lays upon me its open-minded vision of all things Celtic. Continue reading...
Source: theguardian.com