Traveling Lens

Dennis Severs House - London - One of the most unique museum experiences in the world…

Imagine for second that you had the ability to not only get transported back in time a few hundred years but that you were also somehow able to inhabit an unfolding dramatic story occurring in real time.

Well, you don’t really need to imagine any of this because the in London is a truly transformative and imaginative experience.

Dennis Severs was an artist who lived in the house as many of its inhabitants would have done back in the 18th century. With a vivid imagination, he spent his life creating a still life drama in every room accumulating multitudes of historic elements to place in the house to craft an ongoing story for visitors.

The plot follows a family of Hugenot silk weavers who are always somehow just leaving each room you enter.

The bolts of fabric actually date back many years and are native to the area (Spitalfields).

What is incredible about the experience is that Dennis Severs inhabited this very house during his lifetime (he passed away in 1999). I was fortunate enough to meet the current curator who stays in the house as well and meticulously looks after the artifacts keeping Dennis Severs vision just as vivid as it was when Dennis was alive.

What is so intense about the entire experience is that the whole house is lit by candles and gas lamps. And the scents of the fires burnings and the candles brings the entire story to life.

There are also sounds that bring everything to life as well.

These photos barely do it justice to be honest.

The whole house is a living piece of art. Part historic fact and part whimsical imagination.

Seriously.

I am standing by my claim that this is the best museum experience I have ever experienced.

Here is the link. The website is extraordinary too!