Constable's The Hay Wain exhibition at Christchurch Mansion confronts climate crisis

A new exhibition at Christchurch Mansion in Ipswich, built around John Constable's 1821 painting The Hay Wain, opened during a heatwave, prompting reflections on climate change. The show includes Peter Kennard's anti-nuke photomontage that stacks cruise missiles in the cart, and a recent newspaper cartoon depicting an Iranian ballistic missile speeding through the scene. The exhibition highlights the beauty of the natural world and what could be lost. The Tudor house interior displays Constable's painted Suffolk fields under grey, blue, and brown rain-promising clouds, while outside the grass is straw yellow from the heat.