The School of Music and Fine Art is pleased to announce the opening of The Inflatable Archive, an exhibition at Rochester Art Gallery by two recent graduates of the School of Music and Fine Art. Claire Orme and Drew York are the recipients of the first inaugural Recreate Bursary awarded in celebration of the University of Kent’s 50th Anniversary. As part of the award, Claire and Drew have been given studio space for 4 months during the run-up to the exhibition, together with professional mentorship and practical support.
You are invited to the open reception of The Inflatable Archive on Thursday 22 January 2015, 6.30-8.30pm. No need to book just come along. The exhibition runs from the 23rd January – 21st March 2015
Treasure Maps, tracing paper and light by Claire Orme
“Everything in the world has its own spirit which can be released by setting it into vibration.” Oskar Fischinger
For The Inflatable Archive, Drew York aims to explore the relationship between sound and image in an immediate and visceral way. Centrally concerned with acoustic anthropology, York uses 3D printing technology as medium to the unseen dimension – bringing to light the forgotten sonic histories of our environment by realising sound as object.
Submarine Wreck by Claire Orme
Claire Orme presents works that playfully explore the unexpected associations between the history of Kent, Ancient Egypt and British Music Hall. Weaving together Kentish folklore and ancient rituals, ghost stories and archaeology, music hall and sonic arts, Orme constructs an unorthodox narrative that is somehow suspended between the real and the imagined. This narrative is created through research materials, sculpture, drawings and sound.
Taking over the gallery and transforming it into an archival grotto, the artists will fill the space with curious artefacts that they have excavated from the ether. Dismantling local chronologies and assembling new narratives, Orme & York will entwine past and present in an imagined reality.
Visit the project blog theinflatablearchive.com
Shells by Claire Orme
The exhibition forms part of SMFA’s ongoing partnership with Medway Council Arts development team through the Recreate project. Funded by INTERREG, the project brings together Universities and local authorities from across the south of England and in France. Recreate involves SMFA staff and students, who work closely with the local authority and arts organisations to establish creative hubs and extend student activities and opportunities into the local area.
This exhibition is supported by the School of Music and Fine Art; University of Kent, the European Union Recreate Bursary and Medway Council with objects kindly loaned by the Guildhall Museum.
Workshops
Free Family Workshop – The Secret Museum Saturday, 28 February, 10.30am – 12.30pm or 1.30 – 3.30pm in the art gallery. Join Claire Orme and Drew York for an exploration of objects – discovering the secret stories and sounds within them. Create your own narratives, songs and artefacts and curate a mini museum of objects in the gallery. Places must be booked with the Arts Team. Suitable for all ages, ideal for accompanied children aged 7+.
Narrating the Archive Wednesday, 11 March, 7 – 9pm at The Guildhall Museum, Rochester. An experimentative workshop looking at the role of narrative in the archive. Suitable for students and adults. We regret this event is not accessible to wheelchair users.
Free – just turn up.
Find us on facebook: Rochester Art Gallery & Craft Case
Rochester Art Gallery is situated within the Visitor Information Centre at 95 High St, Rochester Kent ME1 1LX. Open 10am-5pm Monday to Saturday and Sundays 10.30-5pm. Admission is free.
For more information about Rochester Art Gallery contact the arts team on 01634 338319 or email arts@medway.gov.uk or visit www.medway.gov.uk/arts or find us on facebook at Rochester Art Gallery & Craft Case.