The Bermuda National Gallery is hoping to bring local history to life in their autumn 2000 exhibition "Made In Bermuda''.

And senior curator Marlee Robinson is hoping the entire community will get involved in bringing unique Bermudiana to light.

The show will feature not only fine art, but other decorative details of Bermudian silver, furniture, boats and architecture.

Mrs. Robinson explained that the Gallery is doing two kinds of research for the show -- charting both Bermuda silver as well as cedar chests through their distinctive markings.

"This is such an exciting show for Bermudians, and we hope it will make them look around their homes,'' said Mrs. Robinson.

"One of our aims is to focus on individual objects -- we hope to construct a fairly complicated history time line, then add silver, architectural, ship and furniture time lines.

"That way, you should be able to look at the year 1750 and see what kinds of silversmiths were working here, and what kind of architectural work was being done,'' she added.

In the first part of the Gallery's research, Mrs. Robinson said they hoped to research the distinctive marks of every known silversmith in Bermuda.

"We want to put a chart up with the marks, and information about each particular silversmith,'' she said.

And because part of the purpose of the show is to get information and feedback from the Bermudian public about their own unique pieces, the exhibition will be somewhat interactive.

"There will be gaps, and we want to fill the gaps, but if it's not completed by the time the show opens, it doesn't matter,'' said Mrs. Robinson.

"But of course the more information we have at the beginning, the more complete the show will be,'' she added.

The second piece of research for the show is charting the decorative detailing of Bermuda chests, which Mrs. Robinson said are basically the signatures of the makers.

"They made metal templates, cut out the wood designs and inserted it. It's unlikely they'd make a lot of different templates since it took a lot of work,'' she noted.

Mrs. Robinson said there was only one rare book published in 1971, "Bermuda's Antique Furniture and Silver'', which covered this kind of research in any detail.

And she asked that residents who had detailed silver items or Bermuda chests with dovetailing would take photos of the pattern, including as much information as possible, and send it to the Gallery.

"We'd like to find a few chests with the same pattern so we can compare the history and go back to find a common origin,'' she said.

The Gallery will also be producing an accompanying catalogue with scholarly essays by experts on the development of arts and crafts in Bermuda.

Gallery education director Louisa Flannery said she hoped the schools would use the exhibition as a way of getting students more involved in local history.

"This show is important because the exhibits are directly connected to Bermuda -- our history is in each object,'' said Ms Flannery.

Anyone with information or decorative pieces they want to share with the Gallery should call Mrs. Robinson on 295-9428.