A NEW exhibition showcasing the later years of Robert Louis Stevenson’s life will be unveiled in Edinburgh this week.
The free exhibition by the National Library of Scotland (NLS) will explore the Scottish novelist's legacy about how he arrived in the Pacific as a colonial figure, but became “locally beloved” as Tusitala, a teller of tales.
In collaboration with the University of Edinburgh’s Remediating Stevenson project, the display will consider the ways in which the Pacific and its peoples had a profound impact on Stevenson and his writing.
Opening on Friday, November 8, the exhibition will display original letters from the NLS collections, alongside photographs taken at the time, and aims to reflect how Stevenson lived in and navigated Sāmoan culture as both a “welcomed guest” and a colonial presence.
The display will also feature new creative works, inspired by Stevenson and his Pacific stories, produced by Sāmoan, Hawaiian, and British artists, poets, and filmmakers on the Remediating Stevenson project.
Manuscripts curator Dr Colin McIlroy said letters and images alongside works inspired by his life and writing will be showcased.
He said: “Robert Louis Stevenson spent the last six years of his life in the Pacific. This exhibition reflects on Stevenson’s reputation among the people of Sāmoa, Hawai'i, and the other Pacific islands.
“Displaying original Stevenson letters and images alongside new works inspired by his life and writing, we hear the voices of the Pacific echoing through these new adaptations and tributes to one of Scotland’s literary greats.”
Born in Edinburgh, Stevenson is regarded as one of the most famous writers Scotland has ever produced.
Stevenson is best known for literary classics such as Treasure Island, The Strange Case Of Dr Jekyll And Mr Hyde, and Kidnapped.
He set sail from San Francisco in June 1888 and spent two years voyaging across the Pacific Ocean with his family, before eventually settling in Vailima, on the Sāmoan island of Upolu, where he lived until his death aged 44.
The Remediating Stevenson project leader, Professor Michelle Keown from the University of Edinburgh, said the exhibition explores the cross-cultural friendships between Stevenson and Pacific Islanders.
She said: “We are delighted that the National Library of Scotland is hosting this exhibition, which explores an under-represented element of RL Stevenson’s life and legacy.
“The exhibition, like the ‘Remediating Stevenson’ project, explores the cross-cultural friendships and dialogues Stevenson established with Pacific Islanders in his final years, and includes a suite of new works by Pacific creative practitioners inspired by Stevenson’s fiction.”
