V&A

CCW continues to develop its research partnership with the V&A, through the work of our two V&A research fellows, Professor Carol Tulloch, and Dr Linda Sandino. This work includes research and scholarship on the history and current characteristics of the V&A as an institution.

On 14 and 15 May 2015, Chelsea College of Arts hosted 'Victorian Futures: Culture, Democracy and the State on the Road to Olympicopolis' a major two day conference organised with Professor Bill Sherman, Head of Research at the V&A, and Professor Anne Massey of Middlesex University. Speakers from the V&A included Kieran Long (Senior Curator of Contemporary Architecture, Design and Digital), Christopher Marsden (Senior Archivist), and the V&A Director, Martin Roth. Before the conference, Kieran Long (Senior Curator of Contemporary Architecture, Design and Digital), said: ''Victorian Futures' is vital for us right now, at a time when the whole notion of the public realm is at stake and under pressure, to think again about the lessons our Victorian forebears can teach us about education and civic pride in the context of the complexity of the digitally enabled 21st century.'

In 2014/15, Sigune Hamann, Reader in Art and Media Practice at CCW, understook a residency in the Digital Programmes Department (Learning and Interpretation) at the V&A, funded through an Entrepreneur-in-Residence scheme by Creative Works London. Hamann was working with curators at East Asian and Theatre and Performance Departments. As part of her residency at the V&A, Hamann took photographic film-strips of visitors in the galleries, exposed in one continuous rewinding process using an analogue SLR camera. Hamann said 'I focus on the moment when a common goal directs crowds in a common movement, physical and psychological.'

In 2014/15, Dr Linda Sandino, CCW/V&A Senior Research Fellow, and Zoe Hendon, Head of Museum Collections, Museum of Domestic Design and Architecture (MoDA), took part in 'Inspiration Examined' that studies how 'inspiration' gained through engagement with museum collections is articulated in design practice. The project was supported by Share Academy, a partnership project between University College London, University of the Arts London, and London Museums Group, which aims to develop and foster relationships between specialist London museums and academics.

Professor Carol Tulloch is a member of the V&A Africa Curators Group, and invited Gill Saunders of the V&A to write the chapter, ‘Starring the Sensorial Wall’ , with Professor Sonia Boyce. This will be included in the book section, ‘Taste, the Home and Everyday Life’, edited by Carol, for the book 'The Persistence of Taste: Art, Museums and Everyday Life After Bourdieu'.

As part of her fellowship in 15/16, Carol has focussed on the completion and publication of the books 'the Birth of Cool: Style Narratives of the African Diaspora' and 'Syd Shelton: Rock Against Racism' along with the accompanying exhibition at Autograph ABP, and the consequent tour of this show in June 2016 to The Impressions Gallery, Bradford and Tiketti Gallery, Helsinki; and the display ‘The Flat Cloth Cap’ (one of seven displays that comprise 'Cabinet Stories' devised by Alison Moloney and Jessamine Tierney).

Image caption: Sigune Hamann, film-strip (V&A, Raphael Cartoons Gallery, Friday Late) 2015