A display of ‘Modern Classicisms’ work by students and staff
Abi Walker, one of the Student Ambassadors on the ‘Modern Classicisms’ project, explains the thinking behind her co-curated display of student and staff work in Bush House Arcade.
About a month ago, Michael Squire asked Belinda Martín Porras and me if we would like to co-curate an exhibition displaying some of the work submitted to our ‘Modern Classicisms’ competition. After weeks of making and handing out flyers last autumn, and after promoting the competition on social media, we jumped at the chance: it was an opportunity to see the project through to the curatorial stage, and to display some of the wonderful works that we had received before the January 2018 deadline.
With such fantastic entries, the process of narrowing down what to display was hard enough, before we even got to practicalities. Despite the challenge of installing an exhibition into a public café and shop space, the display nicely embeds itself into the heart of student- and staff-life at King’s. We have a selection of works on display in the space – including choral hymns, sculpture, paintings and drawings – alongside a screen showing all of the entries (so that every single submission could be featured). The entries can also be viewed on our website. The display is not only a testament to the enduring classical legacy, but also to the fervent creative community at both King’s College London and The Courtauld Institute of Art.
Curating the student and staff display has been a tremendous amount of work. But it also has been a wonderful learning experience. Standing back at the private view on Thursday 1 March, admiring the final product, made every email and proof-read worth it. Belinda and I hope to have a career in curating: this project gave us both a little taste of the world of exhibitions and has left us hungry for more. We are immensely grateful to the people who helped us see the project through: Harald den Breejen, with his assiduous patience and practical creativity; the team at Cultural Programming, for their enduring support; Caroline Mackenzie, who helped us with the process of soliciting entries from September through to January; and Michael Squire for smiling even in the face of adversity! Bring on the next exhibition!
The display of competition entries will be open alongside The Classical Now in Bush House Arcade and Union Shop. The Classical Now runs in Bush House Arcade and Somerset House East Wing until 28 April. The winning entries in the competition were announced on 1st March: details can be seen here.
