SWINDON’S emerging artists have been taking centre stage at a new exhibition at the museum and art gallery.

Unwrapped: Rediscovering Swindon’s Stored Collections through the Art of Paper features the work of 11 talented artists who are making waves in the town creative industry.

The exhibition is curated by Sophie Cummings and Julie Smith and features drawing, printmaking, illustration, costume, animation and puppetry.

“Unwrapped” refers to the unwrapping of items kept in storage at the museum, which then breathe life into emerging artists work.

These include some of the first objects acquired by Swindon Museum in the early 20th century, such as the Higginbotham Mollusca, Miss Todd’s Wiltshire Herbarium and fossils and minerals acquired by Charles Gore, the museum’s founder.

Curator Sophie Cummings said the art works had generated a positive response from museum visitors.

“11 emerging Swindon artists have created a number of pieces inspired by collections held in the museum and the response has been brilliant so far," she said.

The unusual collection includes bling antlers, antlers decorated with sequins and gems, and modelled on antlers from the 1970s, crafted by artist George Ciora.

There is also a vintage style dress decorated with images of typewriters, a teddy bear fashioned from different materials such as pipes and miniature portraits..

Sophie said: “People have liked seeing some of the slightly odd things from our collection and they really appreciate seeing how the artists have responded to it

“In Swindon we are seeing more and more spaces for people to get involved in art, there is Open Studios, Artsite and we are seeing so many talent as a result."

The exhibition even includes a quirky installation of purple gloves in a nod to safety measures taken when handling the historical items.

Unwrapped will run until March 18.