Material Mourning - Festival of The Mind

I am very fortunate to be working on a research project funded by Sheffield university for the Festival of the Mind which brings together academics and professionals from Sheffield’s cultural, creative and digital industries to bring academic research to life in creative and innovative ways.

I have been working with Funerary Archaeologist Dr Lizzy Craig-Atkins (Senior Lecturer in Human Osteology in the Department of Archaeology, University of Sheffield) in researching themes of funerary practices and how these are evidenced by and held within the landscape. The project will result in both paintings and ceramics inspired by this collaboration which will be exhibited during Festival of the Mind in September 2022. Lizzy and I will also be holding a workshop at the archaeology department to explore what material culture means to us today and to understand how our personal material culture can be understood as temporal artefacts.

As part of this research I have also been able to collaborate with Jane Wildgoose, founder, curator and keeper of the Jane Wildgoose Memorial Museum, London, whose work will also be included in the final exhibition. Lizzy, Jane and I will also taking part in a panel discussion during the festival to share the intersections of our practices within this project in reference to our individual response to Rothwell Bone Charnel.

Above, left to right: Dr Lizzy Craig-Atkins (Courtesy University of Sheffield), Artefacts at the university of Sheffield, Jane Wildgoose at the Memorial Museum (Courtesy Jane Wildgoose). Below: Hurkling Stones, Peak District