The panel is out…
After many weeks of printing, distributing flyers and badgering our social media followers, the deadline for submitting entries to the Modern Classicisms competition has passed: the entries are in, submissions are being carefully deliberated, and the panel has begun selecting a shortlist…
We asked students and staff at King’s and the Courtauld to offer their own personal responses to the theme of Modern Classicisms. We could not be happier with the results: the number, passion and quality of the submissions have demonstrated not only the rich creativity of our academic community, but also a range of artistic attitudes towards the legacy of classical art,
In total we received almost 30 submissions – in (among other media) painting, photography, film, sculpture, musical composition, drawing, poetry, prose, collage, fabric and computer game. The entries have come from both King’s and the Courtauld – and across the spectrum of schools and faculties (not just from the Department of Classics and Faculty of Arts and Humanities, but also from students and staff in e.g. life sciences, medicine and the chaplaincy). The broad spectrum of submissions is a testament to the strong presence that the classical legacy has had, and continues to have, in contemporary culture and creativity.
Competitors have used the classical to explore themes such as fragmentation, feminism, mythology, sexuality, and disability. The very range of submissions testifies to the multifacited legacy of the classical world for contemporary interpreters.
Although the competition is over, the classical legacy continues – we need to stretch, challenge and continue to deliberate its potential, just as submissions in this competition have done.
We hope to display a number of entries as part of our major exhibition – The Classical Now – which will be opening at the Bush House Arcade and the Inigo Rooms in Somerset House at King’s College London on the 2 March 2018.
