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Global mapping & uncharted territories

By Slade Archive Project, on 19 March 2013

The legacy of noted figures like Henry Tonks has been well documented, but what about students who came from afar and left the UK when their studies ended? Where did Slade students come from and where did they go on to base their practice? What impact have they had on art worlds internationally? What influences and inspiration did they take with them from their time at the Slade? What connections can be drawn between Slade archive materials and the living histories of artists from around the world? How do we draw these materials together and make them accessible to scholars, curators, family historians, and alumni?

Through the Slade Archive Project we hope to chart some of the lesser-known histories of the school, and trace the footpaths of those artists from cultures and countries beyond the UK, where language barriers, large distances and in some instances, contested artistic traditions, have historically limited an exchange of information. We are delighted to announce that Dr Amna Malik, Lecturer in History and Theory of Art at the Slade, has recently been awarded a UCL Grand Challenges Intercultural Interaction grant to work with Dr Melissa Terras (UCL Centre for Digital Humanities) to begin this research by tracing the influence of artists and Slade alumni, Ibrahim El Salahi (b. 1932 Sudan) and Khalid Iqbal (1929-2014 Pakistan). Iqbal studied at the Slade between 1952-1955 and El Salahi between 1956-1959 and both then went on to have pioneering roles in the development of art and art education in their respective countries, an aspect of the international impact of the Slade that has yet to be mapped. Stay tuned!

Introducing the Slade Archive Project

By Alejandro Giacometti, on 10 December 2012

Since 1871 the Slade School of Fine Art has educated and trained generations of world-renowned artists, from Gwen and Augustus John, Stanley Spencer and Ben Nicholson around the turn of the 20th century and early 1900s, to William Coldstream, Richard Hamilton and Eduardo Paolozzi in the 1930s and 40s, through to Derek Jarman, Paula Rego, Euan Uglow and Craigie Aitchison in the 50s and 60s. More recent Turner Prize winning alumni include Martin Creed, Rachel Whiteread, Antony Gormley and Douglas Gordon.

The Slade has an extensive archive on site which includes objects, papers, photographs, class lists, student records and artefacts dating throughout its history at UCL. Together with materials held in UCL Special Collections and UCL Art Museum, the archive collection contains rich evidence of the time artists spent at the Slade. Much of this archive, however, is difficult to access, and the Archive Project is aimed at exploring ways of presenting this information to a wider audience.

UCL’s Centre for Digital Humanities has received a UCL Arts & Humanities Small Research Grant to work with the Slade to undertake a pilot project on the Slade Archive – to start mapping and activating this invaluable resource. Over the months to come we will explore ways in which this underused resource can be made more accessible and generate new knowledge – through new research, online resources, public events and publications. The project will trial various online platforms and tools to help unearth, track and bridge together the varied histories of the School, its former staff and students, and chart their impact in the art world – both nationally and internationally.

For more information contact:
Slade Archive Project slade.enquiries@ucl.ac.uk
Slade School of Fine Art
UCL Centre for Digital Humanities
UCL Special Collections
UCL Art Museum