Artists will make new works in and for the house and garden, in a combination of sculpture, moving image and sound works, publications and printed ephemera from July to December 2014. Kieren Reed will make a wooden sculpture in the extensive garden – drawing on Morris’ concept of the garden as a series of ‘external rooms’ . Reed’s structure will then be available to host work and activities throughout the project (and beyond) as a studio, meeting space, and hub for exchange. The project will begin with a residency by artist Melanie Jackson who will generate a ceramic and video work, and artist Benedict Drew who will make a sound work and radio/web broadcast from Red House.

The Nomadic Reading Room, a peripatetic library of artist’s publications curated by Connie Butler will be located in The Studio inside Red House, along with writings on and by Morris and the legacies explored by the project will be available for visitors, staff and artists throughout the project. Writers and scholars Esther Leslie, Mathew Beaumont and Petra Lange Berndt will publish a series of pamphlets, a form much loved and used by Morris to spread his ideas, which will be available for visitors, staff and students.

A programme of occupations, residencies, exhibitions and events will follow by artists and writers associated with the Slade School of Fine Art between July and December 2014.

• Not one but two keynote speakers: Dr Hayden Lorimer (University of Glasgow) and Professor Gregg Whelan/Lone Twin (Falmouth University)!
• ‘Show & Touch’ by paleoanthropologist Dr Matthew Skinner and Ms Gemma Price: of a fossil cast of a 2-million year old early human runner which can serve to remind us, amidst the ‘Nike-fication’/ commodification of running today, of how it all began.
• 8-minute ‘Talk Fests’ by expert sports medic Dr Courtney Kipps (London Marathon, Team GB 2012 Olympics & Paralympics et al), artist Ms Jo Volley (who likes to pick up oak apples when she runs and then magically transforms them into ink that she uses in her paintings) and Streetscape (an award-winning landscaping social enterprise for young people that has arisen from founder Guy Watts’ passion for long distance running).
• ‘Film Fest’ by Mr Ivo Gormley: Screening of hit film The Runners (Sheffield Doc Fest; Open City Docs Fest et al) and chat about Goodgym (a group of runners who ‘get fit by doing good’).
• ‘Running London Tours’ by Dr Kris Grint/Bentham Project (through the thrilling West End on the ‘pre-prandial circumgyrations’ of philosopher Jeremy Bentham back in the 1820’s) and Mr Richard Wright (community involvement specialist on social transformation in Bloomsbury).
• Hands-on or rather ‘Feet-On Workshops’ run by Collectif Totem, a group of researchers in the fields of Geography, Sociology, Planning and Architecture who have come all the way from Grenoble and Milan, and Dr Andrew Filmer, who hails from Aberystwyth (and Sydney).
• ‘Live’ performance of Run To Draw by Amelia Johnstone and Peter Hathaway, which demonstrates how running can allow us to re-claim fun and be creative.
• A ‘Museum Of Running’ by the Walking or rather Running Encyclopaedia of Running and Curator of Run Run Run itself, Dr Alan Latham, which showcases vintage Nike running shoes and classic Runners’ World magazines from the 1970′s.

This event is supported by University College London (UCL) Joint Faculty Institute of Graduate Studies, UCL Geography and the Slade School of Fine Art, with additional support from Highgate Harriers Athletics and Cross Country Running Club and AHRC/University of Falmouth. Dr Alan Latham (Senior Lecturer, UCL Geography) and Dr Kai Syng Tan (artist-researcher), are its Curators, while Ms Jo Volley (Senior Lecturer, Slade School of Fine Art) is its Artistic Advisor.

Please contact Kai: kai [at] kaisyngtan [dot] com.