XClose

UCL CULTURE

Home
Menu

Projects landing page

Showing All Projects:
Disrupters and Innovators
About Disrupters and Innovators
Discover more about Disrupters and Innovators, UCL's exhibition dedicated to remarkable women, whose lives and careers were shaped by what they learnt, taught and researched at UCL. The exhibition curated by Dr Nina Pearlman is presented in two parts: a prologue called The Magic Fruit Garden, and Disrupters and Innovators, which features a number of women with connections to the university.The stories in this exhibition reflect the long struggle for democracy in the UK and for gender equality in higher education. They provide insights into educational reform, advancements in science and art and social and political change in the world in which these women lived.Some women were rewarded with professional recognition and personal accolades for their contributions to their discipline, culture and social reform. Others, despite equally significant contributions, received much less attention and reward. It falls to later generations to uncover their achievements and restore their reputations. Find our more about these women here. [[{"fid":"8519","view_mode":"large","fields":{"height":"1510","width":"2347","class":"media-element file-large","format":"large","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":"Record card Aimee Nimr","field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":"","field_caption_heading[und][0][title]":"","field_caption_heading[und][0][url]":"","field_caption[und][0][value]":"%3Cp%3EStudent%20registry%20card%20for%20Slade%20student%2C%20Aimee%20Nimr%20(1907-1974).%20After%20graduating%2C%20Nimr%20became%20a%20driving%20force%20in%20the%20Art%20and%20Liberty%20Group%20founded%20in%201930s%20Cairo.%20Its%20members%20%26ndash%3B%20Surrealist%20artists%2C%20poets%20and%20writers%20%26ndash%3B%20aspired%20to%20connect%20art%20with%20social%20issues%2C%20particularly%20the%20impact%20of%20World%20War%20II%20on%20Egypt.%3C%2Fp%3E","field_caption[und][0][format]":"limited_html","field_float_left_right[und]":"none","field_file_image_decorative[und]":"0"},"type":"media","field_deltas":{"1":{"height":"1510","width":"2347","class":"media-element file-large","format":"large","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":"Record card Aimee Nimr","field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":"","field_caption_heading[und][0][title]":"","field_caption_heading[und][0][url]":"","field_caption[und][0][value]":"%3Cp%3EStudent%20registry%20card%20for%20Slade%20student%2C%20Aimee%20Nimr%20(1907-1974).%20After%20graduating%2C%20Nimr%20became%20a%20driving%20force%20in%20the%20Art%20and%20Liberty%20Group%20founded%20in%201930s%20Cairo.%20Its%20members%20%26ndash%3B%20Surrealist%20artists%2C%20poets%20and%20writers%20%26ndash%3B%20aspired%20to%20connect%20art%20with%20social%20issues%2C%20particularly%20the%20impact%20of%20World%20War%20II%20on%20Egypt.%3C%2Fp%3E","field_caption[und][0][format]":"limited_html","field_float_left_right[und]":"none","field_file_image_decorative[und]":"0"}},"attributes":{"height":"1510","width":"2347","class":"media-element file-large"}}]]Exploring new disciplinesDisrupters and Innovators is displayed across four cases in UCL's Octagon Gallery. In the second part of the exhibition, each case addresses a different area of academic study: Archaeology, Art, Science, and Politics and Society. Visitors can explore how women pioneered new disciplines and their often interdisciplinary approaches.ArchaeologyArchaeology was a new science at the end of the 19th century. The study of Egypt – Egyptology – was on the edge of this new science. It did not require the same formal qualifications, such as knowing Latin and Greek, demanded by more established subjects. As women were less likely to have these qualifications, Egyptology was easier for them to enter.The attitude of the first UCL Professor of Egyptology, Flinders Petrie, was crucial to women’s advancement in this subject. Petrie helped to transform archaeology from treasure-hunting to a scientific discipline, and his collection is held at the UCL museum established in his name. Petrie's own career was made possible by the generosity and support of women, particularly his benefactor Amelia Edwards and his protégé Margaret Murray, who is featured below.Murray enabled Petrie to make long trips to Egypt to carry out excavations, as she taught most of UCL's Egyptology classes. Her high profile as a scholar, teacher and advocate for women’s rights in turn contributed to the subject’s popularity with women. In 1907, Manchester University Museum received a rare collection of two mummies, complete with the contents of their tomb, and Murray worked to catalogue the objects. A year later she took part in the public unwrapping of one of the mummies to an audience of 500 with extensive media coverage.[[{"fid":"8467","view_mode":"large","fields":{"format":"large","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":"Margaret Murray, mummy unwrapping","field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":"","field_caption_heading[und][0][title]":"","field_caption_heading[und][0][url]":"","field_caption[und][0][value]":"%3Cp%3EMargaret%20Murray%20and%20team%20unwrapping%20the%20mummies%20of%20the%20%26lsquo%3BTwo%20Brothers%26rsquo%3B%20at%20Manchester%20University%20Museum%20in%201908.%20%26copy%3B%20Courtesy%20of%20Manchester%20Museum%3C%2Fp%3E","field_caption[und][0][format]":"limited_html","field_float_left_right[und]":"none","field_file_image_decorative[und]":"0"},"type":"media","field_deltas":{"1":{"format":"large","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":"Margaret Murray, mummy unwrapping","field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":"","field_caption_heading[und][0][title]":"","field_caption_heading[und][0][url]":"","field_caption[und][0][value]":"%3Cp%3EMargaret%20Murray%20and%20team%20unwrapping%20the%20mummies%20of%20the%20%26lsquo%3BTwo%20Brothers%26rsquo%3B%20at%20Manchester%20University%20Museum%20in%201908.%20%26copy%3B%20Courtesy%20of%20Manchester%20Museum%3C%2Fp%3E","field_caption[und][0][format]":"limited_html","field_float_left_right[und]":"none","field_file_image_decorative[und]":"0"}},"attributes":{"height":"1772","width":"2490","class":"media-element file-large"}}]]“The shelf is not a comfortable place and I have no desire to be on it...I look forward to working till the last."Egyptologist Margaret Murray aged 100, autobiography, 1963ArtThe Slade School of Fine Art was founded in 1871. Teaching was grounded in the study of the human figure, setting the Slade apart from other schools. The admission of women to study alongside men formed another radical departure from established models. The Royal Academy followed suit nearly twenty years later, with other disciplines at UCL even slower to adopt a co-education approach: medicine was the latest in 1917-18.The Slade influenced women’s integration into wider College life and society, and many Slade women worked across disciplines or were involved in socio-political reform. Female students quickly outnumbered male ones at the Slade and their achievements were recognised by prizes. While 45% of the artists in the Slade Collection are women, many including Clara Klinghoffer (featured below), Winifred Knights and Aimee (Amy) Nimr in the exhibition, remain largely unknown today.Clara Klinghoffer (1900-1970) was an Austrian Jewish émigré who enrolled at the Slade in 1918. A year later, she won second prize for Figure Drawing and received the Orpen Bursary for students who ‘intend to become Professional Artists’. Promoted by influential artists such as Sir Jacob Epstein and Alfred Wolmark, she presented her first critically acclaimed exhibition in 1919. Reviewers compared her to the grand master of Italian Renaissance, Raphael. Journeys of early 20th-century women artists like Klinghoffer are explored in the UCL Art Museum's 2018 exhibition Prize & Prejudice. [[{"fid":"8531","view_mode":"medium","fields":{"format":"medium","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":"Clara Klinghoffer © The artist's estate","field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":"","field_caption_heading[und][0][title]":"","field_caption_heading[und][0][url]":"","field_caption[und][0][value]":"%3Cdiv%3E%3Cp%3EClara%20Klinghoffer%2C%20%3Cem%3EFive%20Studies%20of%20a%20Female%20Nude%2C%3C%2Fem%3E%20c.1918-1919%2C%20pencil.%20UCL%20Art%20Museum%206075%26nbsp%3B%26copy%3B%20The%20artist%26%2339%3Bs%20estate%3C%2Fp%3E%3C%2Fdiv%3E","field_caption[und][0][format]":"limited_html","field_float_left_right[und]":"none","field_file_image_decorative[und]":"0"},"type":"media","field_deltas":{"1":{"format":"medium","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":"Clara Klinghoffer © The artist's estate","field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":"","field_caption_heading[und][0][title]":"","field_caption_heading[und][0][url]":"","field_caption[und][0][value]":"%3Cdiv%3E%3Cp%3EClara%20Klinghoffer%2C%20%3Cem%3EFive%20Studies%20of%20a%20Female%20Nude%2C%3C%2Fem%3E%20c.1918-1919%2C%20pencil.%20UCL%20Art%20Museum%206075%26nbsp%3B%26copy%3B%20The%20artist%26%2339%3Bs%20estate%3C%2Fp%3E%3C%2Fdiv%3E","field_caption[und][0][format]":"limited_html","field_float_left_right[und]":"none","field_file_image_decorative[und]":"0"}},"attributes":{"height":"800","width":"504","class":"media-element file-medium"}}]]“Girl Who Draws Like Raphael - Success at 19"—Review of artist Clara Klinghoffer’s exhibition in The Daily Graphic, 1919Politics and SocietyWomen’s and workers’ rights, prison reform, education and Irish independence were key social and political concerns of the early 20th century. Women working across the sciences and humanities at UCL became forces for change in these areas, often alongside significant contributions in their own disciplines.Constance Markievicz (née Gore-Booth) was the first woman elected to the British House of Commons in 1918. She became an MP for a Dublin constituency while in prison, along with many Sinn Féin MPs who were political prisoners at this time. As with other Sinn Féin MPs, then and now, Markievicz did not take her seat in Parliament.Markievicz previously studied at the Slade School of Art and she became increasingly involved in the suffrage cause during this time. Despite her aristocratic background and marriage to a Polish count, she felt passionately about art and workers’ rights throughout her life. She was imprisoned and sentenced to death for her part in the 1916 Easter Rising against British rule, but was later released under a general amnesty.[[{"fid":"8543","view_mode":"medium","fields":{"height":"5688","width":"3960","class":"media-element file-medium","format":"medium","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":"Constance Markievicz","field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":"","field_caption_heading[und][0][title]":"","field_caption_heading[und][0][url]":"","field_caption[und][0][value]":"%3Cdiv%3E%3Cp%3EDigital%20reproduction%20of%20studio%20portrait%20of%20Countess%20Constance%20Markievicz%2C%20Keogh%20Brothers%20Ltd%2C%20c.1910-1927%20NPA%20POLF206%20%26copy%3B%20National%20Library%20of%20Ireland%3C%2Fp%3E%3C%2Fdiv%3E","field_caption[und][0][format]":"limited_html","field_float_left_right[und]":"none","field_file_image_decorative[und]":"0"},"type":"media","field_deltas":{"1":{"height":"5688","width":"3960","class":"media-element file-medium","format":"medium","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":"Constance Markievicz","field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":"","field_caption_heading[und][0][title]":"","field_caption_heading[und][0][url]":"","field_caption[und][0][value]":"%3Cdiv%3E%3Cp%3EDigital%20reproduction%20of%20studio%20portrait%20of%20Countess%20Constance%20Markievicz%2C%20Keogh%20Brothers%20Ltd%2C%20c.1910-1927%20NPA%20POLF206%20%26copy%3B%20National%20Library%20of%20Ireland%3C%2Fp%3E%3C%2Fdiv%3E","field_caption[und][0][format]":"limited_html","field_float_left_right[und]":"none","field_file_image_decorative[und]":"0"}},"attributes":{"height":"5688","width":"3960","class":"media-element file-medium"}}]]“...When I urged that the women’s suffrage movement had gone too far to be stopped he disagreed."—Reformer Isabel Fry reflecting on a conversation with retired Judge Bacon, known for his anti-feminist views, 1911Sciencey the 1990s, the scientific community had started to uncover the missing histories of women scientists. Disciplines such as botany and geology had long traditions of amateur contributors, often women, alongside professionals. The uncertain career paths offered in emerging scientific disciplines were often less attractive to men, and new disciplines often had less defined entry paths, or involved applied research that carried less academic prestige. These circumstances all provided opportunities for women to further develop research and careers.Dame Kathleen Lonsdale (née Yardley) (1903-1971) is pictured below. She was one of the first two women to become a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1945, and the following year she founded a research group in Crystallography at UCL. In 1949, Lonsdale became the university's first female professor and she received both the Royal Society’s Davy Medal and a DBE in under a decade.During her lifetime, Lonsdale worked with influential professors such as William Bragg and Christopher Ingold. Nobel Prize winners Bragg and his son Lawrence pioneered the use of X-rays to determine crystal structures, and Lonsdale applied this technique to the petrochemical benzene, confirming its long-disputed structure. As a scientist she worked at many institutions but UCL was her first, last and longest. UCL marked her legacy by naming a university building in her honour, the only building to be named after a women. The refurbished Kathleen Lonsdale Building is located on UCL’s main Bloomsbury campus.[[{"fid":"8471","view_mode":"large","fields":{"height":"1308","width":"1772","class":"media-element file-small","format":"large","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":"Kathleen Lonsdale with crystal models","field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":"","field_caption_heading[und][0][title]":"","field_caption_heading[und][0][url]":"","field_caption[und][0][value]":"%3Cp%3EKathleen%20Lonsdale%20with%20crystal%20models%2C%20photographer%20unknown%2C%20c.1946.%20Courtesy%20of%20Professor%20Ian%20Wood%2C%20UCL%20Earth%20Sciences%3C%2Fp%3E","field_caption[und][0][format]":"limited_html","field_float_left_right[und]":"none","field_file_image_decorative[und]":"0"},"type":"media","field_deltas":{"1":{"height":"1308","width":"1772","class":"media-element file-small","format":"large","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":"Kathleen Lonsdale with crystal models","field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":"","field_caption_heading[und][0][title]":"","field_caption_heading[und][0][url]":"","field_caption[und][0][value]":"%3Cp%3EKathleen%20Lonsdale%20with%20crystal%20models%2C%20photographer%20unknown%2C%20c.1946.%20Courtesy%20of%20Professor%20Ian%20Wood%2C%20UCL%20Earth%20Sciences%3C%2Fp%3E","field_caption[und][0][format]":"limited_html","field_float_left_right[und]":"none","field_file_image_decorative[und]":"0"}},"attributes":{"height":"1308","width":"1772","class":"media-element file-large"}}]]“...questioning of the established order is the hallmark of the true scientific outlook..."—Crystallographer Dame Kathleen Lonsdale, The Melbourne Herald, 1966Behind the exhibitionDisrupters and Innovators is part of Vote 100 at UCL in 2018. Find out more about the background to this exhibition below:The history of women at UCLThis exhibition is part of UCL's year-long Vote 100 programme, which marks the centenary of the Representation of the People Act that granted the vote to some women over the age of 30 in the UK.Beginning in the 1860s, UCL experimented with providing classes for women. From 1878, women could study alongside men and receive University of London degrees: the first time this had happened in the UK. It was not until 1918 that new legislation allowed the first women to vote in the UK. This was part of wider electoral reforms accelerated by World War I. Ten years later, women received equal voting rights with men. This process was a backdrop to the lives of female students and researchers at UCL and beyond in the early 20th century. However, co-education was not adopted in all subjects and female students and staff continued to face many obstacles.The UCL Vote 100 programme reveals the impact of the pioneering women who built the university, and imaginatively explore the battles still to be won. Find out more about UCL Vote 100 here.Working across UCLThis UCL Culture exhibition is curated by Dr Nina Pearlman, Head of UCL Art Collections,who also produced this interpretation text.Exhibition produced in association with:Maria Blyzinsky, Museum Consultant, The Exhibitions TeamVictoria Kingston, Interpretation Consultant, The Exhibitions TeamAngela Scott, Senior Graphic Designer, UCL Digital MediaDave Bellamy, Display Technician, Chiltern ExhibitionsUCL Culture would like to thank the following people for their support with the exhibition:Society: David Blackmore (UCL Slade School of Fine Art), Dr Georgina Brewis (UCL Institute of Education), Dr Claire Robins (UCL Institute of Education)Archaeology: Dr Emma Libonati (UCL Petrie Museum)Art: Helen Downes (UCL Art Museum), Grace Hailstone (UCL Slade School of Fine Art)Science: Deborah Furness (UCL Library Services), Lesley Hall (Wellcome Library), Dr Jenny Wilson (UCL Science & Technology Studies), Professor Ian Wood (UCL Earth Sciences)Thanks are extended also to:UCL Art Museum, Grant Museum of Zoology, Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology, UCL Geology Collection, UCL Pathology Collection, UCL Institute of Education Archives, UCL Library Services, UCL Records, UCL Special Collections UCL Special Collections, and UCL Slade School of Fine Art for their generous loans.[[{"fid":"15847","view_mode":"small","fields":{"height":"186","width":"129","class":"media-element file-small","format":"small","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":"Thumbnail of exhibition guide","field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":"","field_caption_heading[und][0][title]":"","field_caption_heading[und][0][url]":"https://www.ucl.ac.uk/culture/sites/culture/files/disrupters_innovators_book_webversion.pdf","field_caption[und][0][value]":"%3Cp%3EDisrupters%20and%20Innovators%20exhibition%20guide%3C%2Fp%3E","field_caption[und][0][format]":"","field_float_left_right[und]":"left","field_file_image_decorative[und]":"0"},"type":"media","field_deltas":{"1":{"height":"186","width":"129","class":"media-element file-small","format":"small","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":"Thumbnail of exhibition guide","field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":"","field_caption_heading[und][0][title]":"","field_caption_heading[und][0][url]":"https://www.ucl.ac.uk/culture/sites/culture/files/disrupters_innovators_book_webversion.pdf","field_caption[und][0][value]":"%3Cp%3EDisrupters%20and%20Innovators%20exhibition%20guide%3C%2Fp%3E","field_caption[und][0][format]":"","field_float_left_right[und]":"left","field_file_image_decorative[und]":"0"}},"attributes":{"height":"186","width":"129","class":"media-element file-small"}}]]
Close up of the Micrarium, consisting of a small space surrounded by backlit slides containing insect specimens
Architecting Futures from Past Traces
[[{"fid":"16832","view_mode":"large","fields":{"height":"500","width":"800","class":"media-element file-large","format":"large","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":"Close up of the Micrarium, consisting of a small space surrounded by backlit slides containing insect specimens","field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":"Micrarium","field_caption_heading[und][0][title]":"","field_caption_heading[und][0][url]":"","field_caption[und][0][value]":"%3Cp%3EThe%20Micrarium%2C%20Grant%20Museum%20of%20Zoology.%20%C2%A9UCL%2FMartin%20Vickers%3C%2Fp%3E","field_caption[und][0][format]":"","field_float_left_right[und]":"none","field_file_image_decorative[und]":"0"},"type":"media","field_deltas":{"1":{"height":"500","width":"800","class":"media-element file-large","format":"large","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":"Close up of the Micrarium, consisting of a small space surrounded by backlit slides containing insect specimens","field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":"Micrarium","field_caption_heading[und][0][title]":"","field_caption_heading[und][0][url]":"","field_caption[und][0][value]":"%3Cp%3EThe%20Micrarium%2C%20Grant%20Museum%20of%20Zoology.%20%C2%A9UCL%2FMartin%20Vickers%3C%2Fp%3E","field_caption[und][0][format]":"","field_float_left_right[und]":"none","field_file_image_decorative[und]":"0"}},"attributes":{"height":"500","width":"800","class":"media-element file-large"}}]]Across the 2023–2025 academic years, the Public Programmes team in UCL Museums & Cultural Programmes are creatively exploring building common and equitable futures from past traces.Taking a multi-perspective, cross-disciplinary and subject-led approach to this central question, we are considering what it means, and the tools required to realise equitable futures through collaborative programmes.The collections and physical spaces of UCL Museums are central to this, as are partnerships with UCL teaching and research departments, UCL professional services staff, students, families and groups who we share localities and interests with. Thematic explorationsEach term of the academic year has an overarching theme for exploration, stretching across the three Bloomsbury-based museums: Grant Museum of Zoology, Petrie Museum of Egyptian and Sudanese Archaeology, and UCL Art Museum.Term 1: People and CulturesHow have people’s cultures across different geographies represented in UCL Museum Collections come to be understood through time? What role do curators as custodians have in carrying the stories across time? How do the peoples these cultural belongings come from, and their descendants, take ownership of object histories to tell stories of indigenous knowledges?Museum in Focus: Petrie Museum of Egyptian and Sudanese Archaeology[[{"fid":"16833","view_mode":"large","fields":{"height":"500","width":"800","class":"media-element file-large","format":"large","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":"Close-up of two small gold-coloured cymbals with pale fabric handles attached","field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":"Replica finger cymbals","field_caption_heading[und][0][title]":"","field_caption_heading[und][0][url]":"","field_caption[und][0][value]":"%3Cp%3EReplica%20finger%20cymbals.%20%C2%A9UCL%2FMary%20Hinkley%3C%2Fp%3E","field_caption[und][0][format]":"","field_float_left_right[und]":"none","field_file_image_decorative[und]":"0"},"type":"media","field_deltas":{"1":{"height":"500","width":"800","class":"media-element file-large","format":"large","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":"Close-up of two small gold-coloured cymbals with pale fabric handles attached","field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":"Replica finger cymbals","field_caption_heading[und][0][title]":"","field_caption_heading[und][0][url]":"","field_caption[und][0][value]":"%3Cp%3EReplica%20finger%20cymbals.%20%C2%A9UCL%2FMary%20Hinkley%3C%2Fp%3E","field_caption[und][0][format]":"","field_float_left_right[und]":"none","field_file_image_decorative[und]":"0"}},"attributes":{"height":"500","width":"800","class":"media-element file-large"}}]]Term 2: Habitats and EnvironmentsHow can we better understand the impact of our planet’s rapidly changing environments through climate change? What role do we as humans have to stem further habitat loss for animal species? Why? What actions can we take to increase the biodiversity of our local environments? Do we need to work harder to address this in urban areas? What does hopeful visioning of habitats and environments look like?Museum in Focus: Grant Museum of Zoology[[{"fid":"16834","view_mode":"large","fields":{"height":"500","width":"800","class":"media-element file-large","format":"large","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":"Wooden case displaying rows of pinned moths, mounted against a dark blue background","field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":"Pinned moths","field_caption_heading[und][0][title]":"","field_caption_heading[und][0][url]":"","field_caption[und][0][value]":"%3Cp%3EPinned%20moths.%20%C2%A9UCL%2FJames%20Tye%3C%2Fp%3E","field_caption[und][0][format]":"","field_float_left_right[und]":"none","field_file_image_decorative[und]":"0"},"type":"media","field_deltas":{"1":{"height":"500","width":"800","class":"media-element file-large","format":"large","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":"Wooden case displaying rows of pinned moths, mounted against a dark blue background","field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":"Pinned moths","field_caption_heading[und][0][title]":"","field_caption_heading[und][0][url]":"","field_caption[und][0][value]":"%3Cp%3EPinned%20moths.%20%C2%A9UCL%2FJames%20Tye%3C%2Fp%3E","field_caption[und][0][format]":"","field_float_left_right[und]":"none","field_file_image_decorative[und]":"0"}},"attributes":{"height":"500","width":"800","class":"media-element file-large"}}]]Term 3: Imaginary Worlds (Dreamings)How do we maintain the capacity to dream, to hope for an alternative future different to the trajectory predicted for us through dominant, powerful voices? Can we embrace speculative imaginings of “what if?” to question current social and cultural norms? Are there art forms that can be utilised as tools for imagining new possibilities for world building? How can UCL Collections be part of inspiring hopeful futurity?Museum in Focus: UCL Art Museum[[{"fid":"16835","view_mode":"large","fields":{"height":"500","width":"800","class":"media-element file-large","format":"large","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":"Visualisation showing a large spherical frame supported by a three-pronged base, set in the middle of a lake and surrounded by fountains","field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":"Unisphere. Mr Jonathan Gardner, Institute of Archaeology, UCL Doctoral School, Research Images as Art Competition entry 2014-2015","field_caption_heading[und][0][title]":"","field_caption_heading[und][0][url]":"","field_caption[und][0][value]":"%3Cp%3EUnisphere.%20Jonathan%20Gardner%2C%20Institute%20of%20Archaeology.%20UCL%20Doctoral%20School%2C%20Research%20Images%20as%20Art%20Competition%20entry%202014-2015.%20%C2%A9UCL%2FJonathan%20Gardner%3C%2Fp%3E","field_caption[und][0][format]":"","field_float_left_right[und]":"none","field_file_image_decorative[und]":"0"},"type":"media","field_deltas":{"1":{"height":"500","width":"800","class":"media-element file-large","format":"large","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":"Visualisation showing a large spherical frame supported by a three-pronged base, set in the middle of a lake and surrounded by fountains","field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":"Unisphere. Mr Jonathan Gardner, Institute of Archaeology, UCL Doctoral School, Research Images as Art Competition entry 2014-2015","field_caption_heading[und][0][title]":"","field_caption_heading[und][0][url]":"","field_caption[und][0][value]":"%3Cp%3EUnisphere.%20Jonathan%20Gardner%2C%20Institute%20of%20Archaeology.%20UCL%20Doctoral%20School%2C%20Research%20Images%20as%20Art%20Competition%20entry%202014-2015.%20%C2%A9UCL%2FJonathan%20Gardner%3C%2Fp%3E","field_caption[und][0][format]":"","field_float_left_right[und]":"none","field_file_image_decorative[und]":"0"}},"attributes":{"height":"500","width":"800","class":"media-element file-large"}}]] Collaborative student projectsAs part of our exploration of Architecting Futures from Past Traces, Public Programmes is collaborating with UCL teaching and research departments to creatively interrogate UCL Museums’ Collections. Topics include how we navigate physical and metaphysical space through the remnants of ancient deities, how we examine historically revered figures and the contentious legacies we’re left to grapple with, and ways of enabling better access to collections through groundbreaking digital technologies.Otherlands (October 2023 - January 2024)‘Otherlands: Museum for a Museum’ is a collaboration between the Bartlett School of Architecture’s Year 1 students and the Petrie Museum of Egyptian and Sudanese Archaeology’s collection displays. The playful exploration of the interplay between ancient deities in their material forms, museum space and empiricism are realised through six otherworldly installations which form a spectacular transformation of space.Exhibition listingStudent Review: OtherlandsReimagining Flinderella (January – May 2024)‘Reimagining Flinderella’ is a three-event series humorously and critically interrogating the legacy of the father of modern archaeology Flinders Petrie and the practice of contemporary public archaeology.Reimagining Flinderella project pageNews story: Call for participants (deadline has now passed)News story: Call for roundtable case studies (deadline 7 April 2024) Family audiencesEvery month we run intergenerational workshops suitable for family audiences in the Grant Museum of Zoology and the Petrie Museum of Egyptian and Sudanese Archaeology. Often these are developed in partnership with artists, educators and cultural producers.Term 1 workshopsSeptember: Collage Club with Steph Hartman at the Petrie MuseumSeptember: Fossil Hunting with Dr Ruth Siddall across UCL Bloomsbury CampusOctober: Customise your Amulet with Francesca Chinnery at the Petrie MuseumOctober: Bring a Fossil Back to Life in the Object Based Learning Lab, UCLNovember: Play Senet with Jaquie Feldman at the Petrie MuseumDecember: Origami Gifts with Dr Lizzie Burns at the Petrie MuseumTerm 2 workshopsFebruary: Paper Basketry and Weaving with Clare Sams at the Petrie MuseumFebruary: Wild – A Biodiversity Story with Joseph Bolt at the Grant MuseumFebruary Half Term: Imaginary Habitats with Steph Hartman at the Grant MuseumFebruary Half Term: Model Boat Making with Rosie Fuller at the Petrie MuseumMarch: Tombs of Tarkhan with Joseph Bolt at the Petrie MuseumMarch: Reimagining Coral Reefs (VR experience) at the Grant MuseumTerm 3 workshopsDetails TBC Partnerships formed by shared localities and interestsGlobal GenerationPublic Programmes are partnering with Global Generation based at Story Garden, Somers Town to respond to matters of water-based life. The Grant Museum of Zoology’s new interpretative displays dealing with biodiversity loss and the importance of invertebrate life will form a content showcase for Global Generation’s Fellows to engage with on their terms.Helen Bamber FoundationPublic Programmes are continuing their relationship with the Camden-based photo collective Fotonomads at the human rights charity Helen Bamber Foundation to photographically explore themes of movement, homelands, language and culture through UCL Museums’ collections and spaces, and the city of London. 
Elephant images
Art by Animals
Art by Animals exhibits works of art from several species of animals, including paintings by elephants and apes, starts this week at UCL’s Grant Museum of Zoology in collaboration with artist Mick Tuck, a graduate from the UCL Slade School of Fine Art.  YouTube Widget Placeholderhttps://youtu.be/V8AdN1pdM-M Since the mid-50s zoos have used art and painting as a leisure activity for the animals, also using the activities to raise funds for conservation or the zoo by selling the works.While many species in captivity have interacted with paint, the exhibition aims to ask visitors the question of whether animals can be creative and make art, and why some animal creations are considered valuable and creative, while others are dismissed as meaningless. Jack Ashby, Museum Manager, asks the big question  "Is this is actually art? While individual elephants are trained to always paint the same thing, art produced by apes is a lot more creative and is undistinguishable from abstract art by humans that use similar techniques"Featuring art by elephants, orang-utans, gorillas and chimps, exhibition co-curators Will and Mike Tuck have gathered paintings from locations as varied as Samutprakarn Zoo, Thailand (elephants); Erie Zoo, Pennsylvania, USA (gorilla, orang-utan); Saint Louis Zoo, Missouri, USA (chimp); and Cheyenne Mountain Zoo, Colorado, USA (orang-utan). The exhibition also includes specifically commissioned works from Erie Zoo.Images of monkeys painting date back at least to the 17th century in European art and possibly earlier but it wasn't until the 1950s that the actual animal paintings became a serious subject. This rise in popularity tied in with the emergence of the Abstract Expressionist movement in art which started to look closely at the act of mark making itself, and what it reveals about the artist’s subconscious. Within this newly emerging context the art of animals, particularly primates took on a radically different meaning.Animal art was first popularised by Granada TV’s Zoo Time, which started in 1956. The programme, which was presented by zoologist and artist Desmond Morris, included chimps painting live. One regular was the individual “Congo”, who went on have his own exhibition at the Institute of Contemporary Arts in London in the late 50s, the catalogue for which is included in the exhibition.  Placing work by animals alongside specimens and historical documentation Art by Animals explore why some animal creations are considered valuable and creative, while others are dismissed as meaningless.
Photo by Naomi Salaman of life room at the Beaux-Arts in Paris 2004
Art Schools: Invention, Invective and Radical Possibilities (2010)
[[{"fid":"11435","view_mode":"xl","fields":{"format":"xl","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":"Naomi Salaman Life painting studio, Glasgow School of Art, early summer 2001","field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":"Naomi Salaman Life painting studio, Glasgow School of Art, early summer 2001","field_caption_heading[und][0][title]":"","field_caption_heading[und][0][url]":"","field_caption[und][0][value]":"Naomi Salaman, Life painting studio, Glasgow School of Art, early summer, 2001 © Naomi Salaman","field_float_left_right[und]":"none","field_file_image_decorative[und]":"0"},"link_text":null,"type":"media","field_deltas":{"1":{"format":"xl","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":"Naomi Salaman Life painting studio, Glasgow School of Art, early summer 2001","field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":"Naomi Salaman Life painting studio, Glasgow School of Art, early summer 2001","field_caption_heading[und][0][title]":"","field_caption_heading[und][0][url]":"","field_caption[und][0][value]":"Naomi Salaman, Life painting studio, Glasgow School of Art, early summer, 2001 © Naomi Salaman","field_float_left_right[und]":"none","field_file_image_decorative[und]":"0"}},"attributes":{"height":"591","width":"736","class":"media-element file-xl"}}]]Investigating the intellectual and spatial legacy of the life-room.This conference considered the intellectual apparatus and physical spaces that structure art education today by exploring the history and legacy of the life room as both physical and intellectual space, and examining the traditions of looking and approaches to knowledge it established. Speakers included academics, curators and artists. See below for full conference programme.The conference was organised by UCL Art Museum, the Royal Collection and the University of Brighton in conjunction with Naomi Salaman's exhibition Looking Back at the Life Room at UCL Art Museum. It took place on Friday 11 June and Saturday 12 June 2010 Conference Programme Conference Programme9.30 - Registration and coffee10.00 - Introduction10.15 - Caravaggio, Annibale Carracci and life drawing in Baroque Rome - Martin Clayton (Deputy Curator of the Print Room, The Royal Collection)10.45 - A Day in 'the Life': The experience of studying at the Royal Academy of Arts in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries - Annette Wickham (Research Curator, Collections and Library, Royal Academy of Arts)11.15 - Coffee11.45 - Drawing the Figure from the Cast and Life - David Jeremiah (Leverhulme Emeritus Fellow)12.15 - The Redundant Rebus: Reality Checks on the Functioning of the Life Class - Deanna Petherbridge (Professor Emeritus University of the West of England, Bristol and Visiting Professor of Drawing, University of the Arts, London)12.45 - Discussion1.15 - Lunch (not provided)2.45 - Drawing from Objects: A Historical Perspective - Morna Hilton (Head of Learning, Victoria and Albert Museum)3.15 - When is Realistic too Realistic? - Ed Allington (Professor and Head of Graduate Sculpture, Slade School of Fine Art, UCL)3.45 - Discussion4.15 - TeaPanel: History and Practices of the Slade and Norwich Life Rooms:4.45 - The 'F' Studio 1970s to the Present - Jo Volley (Senior Lecturer, Painting, Slade School of Fine Art, UCL)5.00 - John Wonnacott and John Lessore: The Life Room at Norwich School of Art 1978-1985 - Lynda Morris (Curator EASTinternational and AHRC Research Fellow, Norwich University College of the Arts)5.15 - Don't go in there: Painting in the Slade Life Room 2003-07 - Geoff Stein (Artist)5.30 - Dot and Carry; point and scan - Tom Lomax (Lecturer, Sculpture, Slade School of Fine Art, UCL)5.45 - Discussion6.15 - Reception and Private View of the exhibition Looking Back at the Life RoomSaturdayTransitions in art education 1960s - 1970s10.00 - Introduction10.15 - Drawing Parallels between Life and Art: Challenges to the Art School in Fifties and Sixties Britain - Ben Cranfield (Lecturer in Arts Management, Department of Media and Cultural Studies, Birbeck College)10.45 - 'Audience-free' Practices and the Art School Panopticon - Chris Dorsett (Reader in Art School Practices, Department of Arts, School of Arts and Social Sciences, University of Northumbria)11.15 - Coffee11.45 - Excavating the British Art School - Matthew Cornford (Professor of Fine Art, Faculty of Arts, University of Brighton) and John Beck (Senior Lecturer, School of English Literature, Language and Linguistics, Newcastle University)12.15 - Yurts, Bars and Trailer Parks: Anti-Paradigms for the New Art School - Steven Henry Madoff (Senior Critic, Yale University School of Art)12.45 - Discussion1.15 - Lunch (not provided)Production of the art student as subject2.45 - A Body in Part (performance) - Yuen Fong Ling (PhD Student, University of Lincoln)3.45 - Tea4.15 - Between the Studio and the Seminar: What does art-school's double language do? - Mary Anne Francis (Senior Lecturer Critical Fine Art Practice, University of Brighton and Research Fellow in Writing and Art, Chelsea College of Art)4.45 - Micropolitics of Art and Economy in the Art School Today - Susan Kelly (Course Leader BA Fine Art and History of Art (Studio Practice) Department of Art, Goldsmith's College, University of London)5.15 - Under Construction: Alternative Art School SpRoUt - Amy Cunningham (Senior Lecturer, Music and Visual Art, University of Brighton), Hayley Skipper (Arts Development Officer, Forestry Commission, Grizedale Forest) and Hannah Chiswell (MA Fine Art, Slade School of Fine Art)5.45 - Discussion6.15 - Close  
Artefacts of Excavation
Artefacts of Excavation
‘Artefacts of Excavation’ is a 3-year, AHRC-funded collaborative project led by Dr Alice Stevenson at UCL, and Professor John Baines at the University of Oxford.From the 1880s to the 1980s British excavations at sites across Egypt resulted in the discovery of tens of thousands of objects. A large proportion were exported from Egypt and distributed to an estimated 200 museums around the world before they were fully documented or published.  'Artefacts of Excavation' is an ambitious project that will create an online resource for the relocation and re-contextualization of these objects, and will explore the role of these distributions in the development of archaeology and museology. [[{"fid":"3405","view_mode":"xl","fields":{"format":"xl","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":"ohi1.jpg","field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":"","field_caption_heading[und][0][title]":"","field_caption_heading[und][0][url]":"","field_caption[und][0][value]":"","field_caption[und][0][format]":"limited_html","field_float_left_right[und]":"none","field_file_image_decorative[und]":"0"},"type":"media","field_deltas":{"1":{"format":"xl","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":"ohi1.jpg","field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":"","field_caption_heading[und][0][title]":"","field_caption_heading[und][0][url]":"","field_caption[und][0][value]":"","field_caption[und][0][format]":"limited_html","field_float_left_right[und]":"none","field_file_image_decorative[und]":"0"}},"attributes":{"height":"1025","width":"1402","class":"media-element file-xl"},"link_text":null}]]The project aims to address the following questions:What was the scale and scope of the distribution of finds from British excavations in Egypt between 1880 and 1980? Where are these collections now?What do these finds distributions reveal about the changing relationship between museums, field archaeology and the development of research between 1880 and 1980?How were local, regional, national, and international identities (including colonial relations) negotiated through the circulation of antiquities from Egypt? How may these be understood in relation to questions of the ownership of Egyptian heritage today?How were ancient Egyptian artefacts from British excavations accommodated within different museums around the world? How may these local narratives be linked with wider developments in archaeology and museology?Project CollaboratorsThe Griffith Institute, University of OxfordEgypt Exploration SocietyProject conferenceApril 7-8 2016, University College London, Institute of Archaeology, G6The conference outline is available here and the conference programme here.The book of abstracts is also available here.[[{"fid":"3397","view_mode":"xl","fields":{"format":"xl","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":"uc25969.jpg","field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":"","field_caption_heading[und][0][title]":"","field_caption_heading[und][0][url]":"","field_caption[und][0][value]":"","field_caption[und][0][format]":"limited_html","field_float_left_right[und]":"none","field_file_image_decorative[und]":"0"},"type":"media","field_deltas":{"1":{"format":"xl","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":"uc25969.jpg","field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":"","field_caption_heading[und][0][title]":"","field_caption_heading[und][0][url]":"","field_caption[und][0][value]":"","field_caption[und][0][format]":"limited_html","field_float_left_right[und]":"none","field_file_image_decorative[und]":"0"}},"link_text":null,"attributes":{"height":"559","width":"924","class":"media-element file-xl"}}]]Project websiteHosted at the Griffith Institute: http://egyptartefacts.griffith.ox.ac.uk/This website is not only a repository for the project outcomes. It also forms a central tool of our research and a point of engagement with museums worldwide. We will be posting here resources to help people identify and more fully understand excavated objects in collections, as well as sharing some of the stories that lie behind artefacts from British fieldwork in Egypt now dispersed across the globe. Our focus will be on the fieldwork of the Egypt Exploration Fund (EEF)/Society (EES), and the British School of Archaeology in Egypt (BSAE)/Egyptian Research Account (ERA).Project publicationsStevenson, A., Libonati, E. and Williams. A. forthcoming (May 2016) 'A selection of minor antiquities: a multi-sited view on collections from excavations in Egypt. World Archaeology 48(2) Stevenson, A. 2016. Conflict antiquities and conflicted antiquities: challenging the sale of legally excavated artefacts. Antiquity  90: 229-236 http://dx.doi.org/10.15184/aqy.2015.188Stevenson, A. and Libonati, E. 2015. Artefacts of Excavation. Egyptian Archaeology 46: 27-29. Stevenson, A. 2015. Between the field and the museum: the ongoing project of archaeological context. Egyptian and Egyptological Documents Archives Libraries 4: 109-118Stevenson, A. 2014. Artefacts of excavation: the collection and distribution of Egyptian finds to museums, 1880–1915. Journal of the History of Collections 26(1): 89–102. 
  1. previous
  2. 1
    ...
  3. 2
    ...
  4. 3
    ...
  5. 4
    ...
  6. 5
    ...
  7. 6
    ...
  8. 7
    ...
  9. 8
    ...
  10. 9
    ...
  11. 10
    ...
  12. 11
    ...
  13. 12
    ...
  14. 13
    ...
  15. 14
    ...
  16. 15
    ...
  17. 16
    ...
  18. 17
    ...
  19. 18
    ...
  20. 19
    ...
  21. 20
    ...
  22. 21
    ...
  23. 22
    ...
  24. 23
    ...
  25. 24
    ...
  26. 25
    ...
  27. next