VisitGuernsey’s sponsorship of an exhibition presenting a selection of Victor Hugo’s rarely seen works at the Royal Academy of Arts has helped put the islands in front of a new audience.

Open to the public from Friday 21 March, the Astonishing Things exhibition in London features 74 artworks from European collections spanning Hugo’s early caricatures and travel drawings to his dramatic landscapes and pioneering experiments with abstraction. 

A celebrated writer, artist, and visionary, Hugo’s time in Guernsey played a significant role in shaping his creative legacy.

As sponsors of the exhibition, VisitGuernsey has had the opportunity to engage with the Royal Academy’s database of 80,000 members, while its logo features in the exhibition catalogue, website, and on a 30-foot entrance panel at the Academy. 

The partnership also saw the exclusive hire of the Academy’s Fine Rooms – an opulent series of grand spaces adorned with unique artworks – to host a welcome event before a private viewing of the exhibition. 

This took place the evening before the exhibition’s public opening, which allowed VisitGuernsey to welcome 25 UK journalists alongside key stakeholders including arts, history, and tourism experts as well as Victor Hugo scholars, artists, and curators.

The guests mingled beside a one-night-only installation curated by Art for Guernsey.

The installation showcased three Victor Hugo-inspired works: intricate illustrations by Daniel Hosego, lithographs by Oleg Mikhailov – both of whom contributed to Art for Guernsey’s ‘A Renaissance of Victor Hugo’ exhibition in 2023 – and photography by local artist Paul Chambers.

Zoe Gosling, Lead Marketing Officer for VisitGuernsey, said: “Partnering with the Royal Academy of Arts was the opportunity of a lifetime for VisitGuernsey. 

“By sponsoring this exhibition, we can put the islands directly in front of their audience. Hosting a reception at the Royal Academy itself meant we could engage directly with journalists and, by collaborating with Art for Guernsey, we could not only showcase our Victor Hugo connections but how he continues to inspire artists today.”

Jock Pettitt, Director at Art for Guernsey, said: “Curating a number of notable artworks, showcasing both local and international artists’ response to Hugo’s legacy in the islands, in a very prestigious space and with a very short timeframe to achieve it, presented a challenge that we applied all of our skill and experience to, and we were delighted with the results, which were met with so many positive comments.

Whilst David Ummels, the founder of Art for Guernsey added; “It was such a pleasure to work with the VisitGuernsey team, our UK production partners and the Royal Academy; as a charity minded to create wider value for the island, we relentlessly apply art as a strategy, not only to inspire the community but also to promote Guernsey as a destination and support our tourism industry.”

The exhibition runs until Sunday 29 June.