It may be that you will choose it to take an English language course, or it will be one of the stops on your tour of England, because Cambridge, with its historic universities is a destination not to be missed. What I suggest today is a beautiful place that is located in the area of the prestigious colleges: it is called Kettle's Yard and it's on Castle Street.
It is a group of buildings, a typically English house surrounded by a green lawn, an art gallery, a small church (St. Peter's Church) and also includes an archive and a library. Kettle's Yard was the home of an art-loving couple, Jim and Helen Ede, from 1958 to 1973. He had worked as a curator at the Tate Gallery and had chosen this cottage to make it not a museum but a "home" for art and beautiful things.
Collector and friend of many artists Jim had collected paintings, sculptures, ceramics, furnishing objects, placing them with great taste in the various rooms. The house was open to Cambridge students and anyone who wanted to see, Jim himself provided the explanation. When he became old, he left his home at the University, which after having enriched it with an art gallery, however, continued this traditional opening.
So on entering Kettle's Yard one still has the impression of crossing the threshold of an inhabited environment, where the works are perfectly combined with green plants, stones, dry branches of trees chosen with care for their shapes, fresh flowers, bright colors but not cold wooden floors, white walls, stone of certain furnishings. Beauty "shines" from every angle.
From this July the house is closed for restoration: when it reopens it will be open every afternoon, for free, just ring the bell. The gallery, on the other hand, is open with a fixed time (11.30 - 17) with free admission, and welcomes works by contemporary artists, on temporary display.
