Archive Thinkers - Artist's Talk

Recently I was invited by artist Anna Falcini to take part in a seminar about the use of archives in artistic practice. In the talk, I spoke about my residency working with archives at Bethlem Royal Hospital, Bethlem Gallery and the Museum of the Mind. Through my explorations of patient case notes and photographs from the 1890s, I discussed issues of restraint, agency and identity as a patient, both historically and today.

The seminar was part of Anna Falcini’s exhibition In Between the Folds are Particles at Aberystwyth Arts Centre. The exhibition was the culmination of Anna's five years of research into the materials of the late Welsh artist Gwen John from the collections of Llyfrgell Genedlaethol Cymru (National Library of Wales) and other archives. 

The seminar considered 'how archives can inform and shape artistic practice, how archives are critical in developing innovative research, revealing new knowledge, and how archivists and curators facilitate collections and are integral to the production of new work by artists and researchers'.

You can watch the talk here. With thanks to Anna for including me in this event. 






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