King’s College London’s Artists Programme Launches Six New Collaborations
King’s Culture has announced the projects for the 2023 King’s Artists cohort, which this year will see artists and academics work together on topics including climate and sustainability, reproductive justice and mental health.
Six collaborative research and development projects have been awarded six-month research and development (R&D) grants, with the aim of fostering academic and artistic exchange.
The unique programme will see the artists embedded in faculties across King’s, as they work with academics to trial news ideas and test creative, multidisciplinary approaches to research. King’s Artists will support their collaborative enquiry and encourage creative responses to the academic research, as well as providing opportunities for the artists to develop their practice alongside King’s researchers.
We’re excited to welcome seven outstanding artists to work with academics in seven departments across King’s, bringing new perspectives to urgent contemporary challenges. We hope these collaborations will provide critical time and space for imaginative research and the development of creative practice.
– Beatrice Pembroke, Executive Director, Culture
Meet the artists and academics
Alicia Britt & Jon Armstrong in the School of Medical Education
This collaboration supports puppeteer Alicia Britt and magician Jon Armstrong to work with Dr Alex Mermikides, D’Oyly Carte Senior Lecturer in Arts & Health, to design and deliver educational experiences for medical and bioengineering students in the study of Anatomy.
Dr Eric Fong in the Department of Liberal Arts
Working in collaboration with Dr Alana Harris, Reader in Modern British Social, Cultural and Gender History, Eric will be resident in the Department of Liberal Arts to explore the history of mental health treatment in Britain.
Léonie Hampton in the Department of Geography
Working in collaboration with Dr Jane Catford, Reader in Ecology, Léonie will be in the Department of Geography, focusing on perceptions of ‘nativeness’ through the lens of ‘alien’ plants.
Kathryn Maguire in the Department of English
Working with Dr Jemima Matthews, Lecturer in Early Modern English Literature, Kathryn will be resident in the Department of English to explore the rich history and possible futures of riverine and estuarine matter, uncovering the literary and material history of the River Thames.
Cis O’Boyle in the Department of Global Health & Social Medicine
Cis O’Boyle, founder of artist collective Idle Women, will work with Dr Lucy van de Wiel, lecturer in Global Health and Social Medicine, on a creative collaboration focusing on Reproductive Justice, in the wake of the recent overturning of Roe vs Wade.
Jamie Perera in the King’s Business School and Department of History
Using sonification as both provocateur and reframing device to map the London Stock Exchange, Jamie Perera will be resident in both the King’s Business School and in the Department of History, working with Dr Catherine Tilley, Lecturer in Business Ethics & Sustainability, and Dr Chris Manias, Senior Lecturer in the History of Science & Technology.
The programme creates a residency for each of the creative practitioners within faculties across the university. Each partnership will receive up to £5,000 to support their work, alongside support and guidance through the King’s Culture team, to enable residencies to deliver creative research and learning outcomes for each faculty’s staff and students.
9 artists and academics standing together and smiling at King’s Artists induction meeting
Some of the King’s academics and artists of the King’s Artists 2023 cohort at the kick-off meeting in January.
The history of the programme
The 2023 cohort join a prestigious group of previous King’s Artists and build on the university’s long history of hosting and working with artists across its faculties and within its wide range of research areas.
Over the last decade, more than 75 artist residences have connected academic research with art through a range of media including painting, printing, literature, theatre, music, performance, installation, photography, video, textiles, waxwork modelling, ceramics and fashion. Many of the artists and academics have presented the work and research developed at King’s during residencies on national and international platforms.