Introducing: Alix Collingwood-Swinburn & the Durham University Western Art Collection
Welcome back to DUAS Loop! This month we hear from Alix, the curator for Western Art at Durham University. The University have a diverse and widely distributed collection of art, primarily modern, which is involved in an exciting array of projects, with students and local residents alike. Alix spoke to Amana about the work the collection do, and how we can get involved as students, particularly with the upcoming Student Art Prize and the concurrent Art Prize Art School.
Amana: Alix, tell me a bit about yourself and what you do.
Alix: My role sits within the Library & Collections department and I’m part of the Museums, Galleries & Exhibitions team. I have responsibility for our diverse and widely distributed collection of primarily modern art. I joined the University in 2016 after spending 9 years at the Middlesbrough Institute of Modern Art. I am particularly interested in the contemporary role of the curator, in how we work with collections and how we continue to activate them. I am also very supportive of the notion that creativity should be embedded into education and everyday learning, and that art can be a tool for research, education and social change. I’m passionate about Durham, the North East and its communities. I’m a board member for Alington House Community Association on the Bailey and a non-exec director for Changing Relations, a CIC using the arts to deliver educational programmes, transforming the way people think about gender stereotypes and relationship behaviours.
"...creativity should be embedded into education and everyday learning, and that art can be a tool for research, education and social change "
(Image: Past exhibition of the collection at the Palace Green library, Durham University Website)Durham University has an impressive collection of art. Can you tell me a bit more about the collection?
The western art collection is made up of some 6000, largely 20th and 21st century, artworks. Although the collection currently has no dedicated gallery space, it can be seen on display across the university estate, loaned to external museums and galleries, curated in exhibitions within our university museums and in the city, used in teaching, research and student engagement. The western art collection forms part of the Universities wider collections housed in the Oriental Museum, the Castle, the Museum of Archaeology, and Special Collections and Archives. As with all of the University collections, the art collection has grown and developed over many, many years.
"The collection includes prints by some of the most renowned artists of the 20th century (such as Andy Warhol, Barbara Hepworth, Henry Moore, Elisabeth Frink….), but also mining or industrial art by artists such as Theodore Major and Tom McGuinness"
The collection includes prints by some of the most renowned artists of the 20th century (such as Andy Warhol, Barbara Hepworth, Henry Moore, Elisabeth Frink….), but also mining or industrial art by artists such as Theodore Major and Tom McGuinness, a Lumiere light installation by Dr Finola Finn and a recent incredibly generous gift by Fenwick and Joan Lawson and the Lawson family, of Fenwick’s sculptures, works on paper and archive materials, presenting a huge opportunity for increased research and engagement with Fenwick’s work in the future. Works by contemporary artists include prints by the feminist activist artists The Guerrilla Girls, works by Craig Oldham, a designer whose work crosses the boundaries of fine art and digital practice, Jo Stanness, who uses brutalist and modernist architecture to play with pictorial space and a reimagined neon Aids/HIV charity Ribbon by Stuart Langley and Curious Arts.
What is Durham University's vision for the collection? And why personally do you think the collection and its usage is important?
The western art collection contains artworks that explore, investigate and offer interpretation around a huge range of subjects, and the collection is a key inspiration for many of our current projects. As custodians of the collection, our vision is that the collection is utilised and accessible, not only within the university for teaching, research and student enrichment, but also as an accessible resource for our wider communities, and searchable online by anyone across the globe. I’m a firm believer in collections being active; art and creativity can have huge benefits to wellbeing and mental health, critical thinking and self-expression.
What kind of projects have the university run with regards to the collection and arts?
The collection is currently involved in many projects! Object-based teaching is a key strand of the Library and Collections department, and teaching is delivered using all of the university’s collections. Our MA Visual Culture students usually get the opportunity to curate their own physical exhibition using the art collection – moved online this year of course – and newly developed modules in the BA Visual Arts & film degree look at the process of exhibition curation, featuring sessions by a range of my colleagues from the Museums, Galleries & exhibitions team.
Pre-Covid, and hopefully again in the not too distant future, we work closely with departments across the university who either want to refresh their displays of art, reinterpret their displays of art or who ask for support in creating new displays or even new artworks through working with artists in residence.
To form networks between the various art clubs, committees and societies that have long been established within Durham’s colleges, ICAN or the inter college arts network was established a few years ago. The group is very much led by the students engaged with it and offers a social space for discussions, sharing practice and artistic support. Students have previously curated the works from the art collection alongside regional contemporary artists.
"I’m a firm believer in collections being active; art and creativity can have huge benefits to wellbeing and mental health, critical thinking and self-expression."
As you may expect, exhibitions play a large part of what we do, often taking place our university museums (or online more recently), the art collection recently featured in a co-curated partnership exhibition with the British Museum looking at contemporary drawing. In addition to exhibitions we also utilise the art collection for wider engagement, our Learning & Engagement team have been working to develop partnerships with art students studying at local further education colleges. Last summer as part of an ‘art hunt’ around Durham’s Riverwalk shopping centre, Durham Sixth Form Centre students were selected to display their artworks in the outdoor exhibition.
One of our major Covid response projects was to completely reimagine and repurpose our once physically planned summer in the City arts festival and take it completely online. The festival acted as a test-bed for developing and sharing digital learning for both staff and students, and included live artist workshops, performances, outdoor art hunts, podcasts, resources, films and exhibitions.
And of course the collection inspires the Student Art Prize….
The Student Art Prize was launched in October 2019. Can you tell me a bit more about this project and why it came about?
Following both feedback from students and a discussions between the Director of Library & Collections and our sponsor Richard Roberts, at the VCs garden party, the first Student Art Prize was born in 2019. I don’t need to tell you that although the University doesn’t teach art, we have huge enthusiasm for art among our students, with most colleges having some kind of art society, committee or club, in addition of course to the fantastic work done by DUAS.
" I don’t need to tell you that although the University doesn’t teach art, we have huge enthusiasm for art among our students, with most colleges having some kind of art society, committee or club, in addition of course to the fantastic work done by DUAS."
The student art prize founded to provide a platform for these incredibly talented students to develop their practice, showcase their work and to develop a new permanent student art collection. Funded by alumnus Richard Roberts, the top prize of £1500 is hugely generous. The shortlisted artworks from last year were exhibited online and can be found here.
What are the plans for this year's SAP, and how can people get involved?
The art prize is returning this year thanks to the generosity of our sponsor, alumnus Richard Roberts. In fact he has recently confirmed his support of the prize for the next 12 years, providing a hugely exciting opportunity to grow the prize in future years!
The theme of this year’s Art Prize is heroism. The choice was initially inspired by the heroism we’ve seen around us during the Covid-19 pandemic, but we are looking for Art Prize entries who also consider the theme in its broadest sense. We’re keen to receive entries in all forms of art, including collaborative works, photography, film, performance and sculpture.
Details on how to apply, FAQs, heroism inspiration and a film of the prize launch night can all be found here and any other queries or questions can be emailed to artcollection@durham.ac.uk.
You have recently launched the Art Prize Art School. Tell me a bit more about this - what do you hope to achieve with the project and what can we expect the project to involve for those participating?
Brand new for this year’s art prize is the ‘art prize art school’, running between December and February and featuring a range of free online talks, films, workshops and resources for everyone, not just students. Several artists have been commissioned via an open call to develop new talks, workshops and resources specifically for the programme.
" Brand new for this year’s art prize is the ‘art prize art school’, running between December and February and featuring a range of free online talks, films, workshops and resources for everyone, not just students."
The programme intends to encourage students to explore heroism further, investigate different interpretations of the theme, and consider the type of artwork they may want to submit. Although the University currently does teach any practical art courses, we hope this “Art School” will become a regular part of the student art programme, supporting students to create new work, hone their artistic skills and support their own mental wellbeing.
All events are free to attend, with workshops and talks taking place on Zoom and bookable here.
The programme includes Durham University’s Dr Craig Barclay talking about the creation of civilian heroes in Victorian Britain; artist Sophia Barton sharing her research on minority suffragettes who paved the way for modern rights; a surrealist collage workshop with artist Eleanor Matthews; Ann Diment leading two workshops investigating who our heroes are; a Social Art Surgery with social art specialists Lady Kitt and Dan Russell looking at live, performance or participatory art; artist Betty Barnet Brown explores the process of creating an artwork from scratch; MEDUSA, formed by recent Durham graduates, examine unlikely icons that have inspired them and challenge others to suggest their own icons through their film and downloadable resources; and in a series of short films from Durham University’s curators select objects from the University’s collection interpreted through the lens of heroism.
We have a limited number of basic Art Packs, containing creative materials to get you started, available. Email artcollection@durham.ac.uk to secure your pack before they run out!
Comments
Post a Comment