Examine a traditional Bermuda roof up close without ever leaving the ground — at a new art exhibition at the Masterworks Gallery in Paget.

'Our House...A Welcome Home' opened at the Masterworks Gallery this month to celebrate Heritage Month and is on until November.

The theme of the show is Bermuda architecture. It includes art and documentary video footage depicting various aspects of Bermuda architecture particularly stone quarrying.

The highlight of the exhibition is the real Bermuda roof that has been constructed in the middle of the exhibition hall to show various stages of building a Bermuda roof.

The roof was put together by DeCosta Construction.

"Building a roof in the middle of a gallery was not without its challenges," said Masterworks curator and collections manager, Elise Outerbridge

"We had to figure out what kind of rubber undercoat we could put under it to avoid ruining the floors," she said. "The people who put it together were so neat. They plastered and painted it right here.

"They measured the roof in here, and then cut the slate outside."

The Bermuda National Trust provided the historical background about Bermuda roofs.

Masterworks was also assisted by architectural experts Larry Mills, Henry Ming and Elijah Rego.

"It is surprising how many Bermudians don't know about the construction of a Bermuda roof," said Mrs. Outerbridge. "When they see it for the first time they're like 'oh, my gosh, this is how it works'."

The previous exhibition, 'We Are Sailing', was hugely successful and brought many visitors to the gallery.

"I thought we would never be able to mount an exhibition quite like that again," said Masterworks director Tom Butterfield. "We realised we were wrong. We are only limited by our knowledge and imagination."

Mr. Butterfield said they were pleased at how the overall theme pulled together for 'Our House'.

It took some debate between Mr. Butterfield and Mrs. Outerbridge to balance the different parts of the exhibition.

"One of the reasons we had the conflict is that we were running on two parallels," said Mrs. Outerbridge. "You have incredible artwork, by artists such as Ogden Minton Pleissner, Charles Green Shaw, Karl Struss and Adolph Treidler, among others.

"You don't want to lower their value in the exhibition, but at the same time you want things to be understandable to people."

She said the exhibition was about how Bermudians have lived through the centuries.

"We were probably the first green people in the world," she said. "Bermudians were very resourceful. We were ingenious about how we used whatever was around us to build houses and collect water."

And so far, 'Our House' is proving popular.

"Visitors love to see how the gutters on the roof work," said Mrs. Outerbridge. "They are fascinated by how we get water."

The exhibition also includes a carving of a blue bird by Canadian artist Larry Weston. Mr. Weston is a frequent visitor to the Island.

It explores deeper questions about the environment and sustainable development.

"'Our House' is not just about us," said Mr. Butterfield. "There are houses here for creatures large and small.

"Mr. Weston flew down just for the opening when he found out his carving of a blue bird would be in the exhibition."

Another art piece is a carved bird sitting on a nest of eggs in front of a chaotic landscape scene. 'Sustainable Development: A Bird's Eye View (2009)' was done by Bermudian Llewellyn Emery.

"This is about the issue of sustainable development," said Mr. Butterfield. "That too becomes something of 'Our House' and something to think about."

Mr. Butterfield said the exhibition was the solution to an otherwise very low-key Heritage Month.

"Low-key — celebrations have been non-existent," he said. "I think it is a shame. It feels like a lot of people didn't want to celebrate Heritage Month this year."

"With every show we do we find it important to put in some living history."

For more information visit www.bermudamasterworks.com, e-mail mworks@logic.bm or telephone 236-2950.