As I gather photographs and deepen my research into the archive I also begin to think about where it will all lead and more broadly about my practice (what shall I produce this time in response to the research?) and art's role in these unsettled and disturbing times. I ask myself (as I often do) what is the point of making artworks when the world crumbles? (what my students will know as 'why me? why now?') Surely we should just join the marchers (which I do as often as I can) rather than create more and more work to adorn walls and pedestals (which admittedly I don't often make).
And I find it reassuring to discover that over the centuries Homerton has produced alumni of considerable influence and especially prominent dissenting thinkers and politicians (see previous post about Leah Manning). In fact the college historically was part of a network of 'dissenting academies' that offered an alternative to the established Universities from which dissenters were barred by law. I read that 'dissenting academies' promoted a modern curriculum of science, philosophy and modern history, in contrast to the more traditionalist approach to learning and I remember my own education, which modern though it was, I rejected in favour of more creative and progressive schooling as soon as I could.
I am fascinated by the level of artistry teachers were required to achieve and remember my own music and arts teachers at primary level - many of them holocaust survivors who insisted on carrying on with life, surrounded by children and producing things of beauty, even when it was a struggle to get us to fully appreciate an operatic aria or invest the energy required to master embroidery. Looking back I wonder if it wasn't their way of dissenting, refusing to be seen as victims and maintaining their artistic dignity against all odds. All in all I realise how creativity and art making, for me at least, are linked to dissent and the critical and exploratory stance. And so I carry on asking questions and making connections, not necessarily knowing where it will all lead.
A scribbly drawing found hidden inside a beautifully bound book (made as part of teacher training exercise), which I fell in love with, maybe because the contrast between it and where it was is so great.
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