Following the sad news of the destruction of the Cobain exhibition in the singer’s hometown of Aberdeen, some good news comes for Ireland.
The first public exhibition of some of Cobain’s personal items will be put on display this summer at the Museum of Style Icons in Newbridge, Co Kildare. The collection is a personal family collection of items belonging to the late lead singer and guitarist of Nirvana. The collection is bound for the Kildare Museum, where it will be unveiled to the world for the first time on July 19th.
Growing Up: Kurt Cobain, is replete with rarities such as the top he adorned in the video for Smells Like Teen Spirit. There’s also hand-written lyrics, childhood toys and awards, sketches he drew as a child and as a teenager and the only car he’s reported to have owned, a powder blue 1965 Dodge Dart.
Cobain’s family, his mother Wendy O’Connor, sisters Kim Cobain and Olivia O’Connor, and his 25-year-old daughter Frances Bean Cobain will be in attendance at Newbridge to open the exhibition.
According to The Irish Times, William Doyle, owner of the museum at Newbridge Silverware, met the Cobain family at an event in LA last summer. The Cobains, who are very aware of their Irish roots, decided to curate an exhibition of the singer’s possession’s for display at the museum.
It’s reported the family chose Newbridge because of their Irish links and because they were assured that Kurt Cobain’s name and the collection would be treated with respect.
Cobain’s daughter Frances Bean Cobain, said she is overjoyed to participate and support her family. In a statement she said: “I have always been the most intimately informed of who my father was by my grandmother and aunts. I am so ecstatic that their view of who Kurt was gets to be celebrated with Nirvana fans the world over.”
His sister Kim said she hoped the exhibition will ‘bring the focus back to Kurt’s roots, vision, and artistic genius to inspire everyone not to lose their creativity and childlike wonder’. Kurt Cobain always maintained his family came from Co Cork but in reality his Irish ancestors emigrated from Carrickmore, Co Tyrone, in 1875.
William Doyle said of the collection: “These items have never previously been seen by the public and it’s an incredible honour to be a part of this amazing exhibition. We expect this exhibition of Kurt’s life to be one of our greatest exhibitions.”
Growing Up: Kurt Cobain opens at the Museum of Style Icons, Newbridge, Co Kildare, on July 19th and runs till September 30th. newbridgesilverware.com/museum
