- Description
Description
The college’s stunning Elizabethan Old Library provides the backdrop for an exhibition of new artwork by Fellow in English Jane Partner.
As part of Trinity Hall’s Arts Festival, the work in this exhibition has been made in response to the Old Library and its extensive collection of rare books, some of which will be on display. As well as reflecting on the library’s special place in the college’s cultural heritage, the aim of this exhibition is also to showcase the mutually enriching intersections between academic research and creative practice.
Exhibition Launch Event
We are excited to welcome you to the opening night of the exhibition. Join us for a drinks reception in the Master’s Lodge on Tuesday 2 May, with the opportunity to make small group visits to the exhibition in the Old Library. Please use the link on this page to book in advance, wherever possible, to secure your place.
Other Viewing Times
Wednesday 3 May, 11:00 – 13:00
Thursday 4 May, 14:00 – 16:00
Wednesday 10 May, 15:00 – 17:00
Visitors will receive a free catalogue of the works on display. If you are unable to attend in person but would like a copy of the catalogue sent to you free of charge, you can request one.
The college’s stunning Elizabethan Old Library provides the backdrop for an exhibition of new artwork by Fellow in English Jane Partner.
As part of Trinity Hall’s Arts Festival, the work in this exhibition has been made in response to the Old Library and its extensive collection of rare books, some of which will be on display. As well as reflecting on the library’s special place in the college’s cultural heritage, the aim of this exhibition is also to showcase the mutually enriching intersections between academic research and creative practice.
Exhibition Launch Event
We are excited to welcome you to the opening night of the exhibition. Join us for a drinks reception in the Master’s Lodge on Tuesday 2 May, with the opportunity to make small group visits to the exhibition in the Old Library. Please use the link on this page to book in advance, wherever possible, to secure your place.
Other Viewing Times
Wednesday 3 May, 11:00 – 13:00
Thursday 4 May, 14:00 – 16:00
Wednesday 10 May, 15:00 – 17:00
Visitors will receive a free catalogue of the works on display. If you are unable to attend in person but would like a copy of the catalogue sent to you free of charge, you can request one.
REQUEST A CATALOGUE: MEMBERS REQUEST A CATALOGUE: NON-MEMBERS
Further Details
The theme of ‘Reformations’ encompasses both the transformation of ideas through time and the repeated recycling and re-reforming of materials. It also makes reference to the originating period of the Elizabethan library itself, which was built in the wake of the Reformation, considering it as a historic site of communal learning, shared memory, and embodied encounters with material texts. The artworks on display are made from silver, glass and paper. They are richly symbolic objects that are designed to be worn on the body, and each one derives part of its meaning from that intimate relationship with the wearer.
All artists working today must find new ways to think about their materials in the face of the environmental crisis, and this work does so by reflecting on the long histories of the actual matter from which it has been made. For example, the neckpiece ‘M E T A M O R P H O S I S’ incorporates decorated capital letters that have been cut (as part of a nineteenth-century archive) from sixteenth- and seventeenth-century books of the kind held in the Old Library. It reflects on the extraordinary life cycle of early modern linen rag paper, which has already been grown as flax and worn as clothing before being pulped and made into paper, and into books. This piece, along with others in the exhibition, is also part of an experimental practice concerned with creating texts to wear, and investigating how words are experienced differently when they are placed on the body.
Biography
Dr Jane Partner is a Fellow in English at Trinity Hall who teaches renaissance literature and material culture, and who researches interactions between literature and art, including the material texts of poetry. Alongside a cross-disciplinary academic training in English Literature (University of Cambridge) and the History of Art (Courtauld Institute of Art, University of London), she also studied painting, printmaking and sculpture (Slade School of Art, Royal Drawing School, Morley College). Her creative practice currently focuses on poetry, drawing, and metalworking, with an especial interest in poems that are published only as texts to wear. These experimental interests are deeply connected with her academic work, forming part of a practice-based research process. She recently completed the chapter ‘Vispo: The History of Visual Poetry’ for The Routledge Companion to Literature and Art (forthcoming, 2023), and is currently working on the book The Body as Text in Early Modern Literature and Culture, which thinks in part about early modern practices of wearing material texts in the form of lettered jewellery, embroidered clothing and script tattoos.
Reservations
Admission is free as part of the Trinity Hall Arts Festival.
The exhibition is open to all members of the Trinity Hall community, plus any other interested members of the university. Attendance numbers are limited in this way to conserve the Old Library. If you are not a member of the university but have a special interest in this event, please contact Jane Partner on jcp21@cam.ac.uk.
Cancellations
Please let us know as soon as possible if you find you are no longer unable to attend, as we have limited capacity for this event. Please email the office or call +44 (0)1223 332555 at the earliest opportunity.
Photography
We like to take photos at our events to use in our digital and print communications. If you do not wish to have your photo taken, please let us know in advance or on the day.
Location
Exhibition Launch Event: The Master’s Lodge, Trinity Hall, Trinity Lane, Cambridge, CB2 1TJ.
Exhibition: The Old Library, Trinity Hall, Trinity Lane, Cambridge, CB2 1TJ.
Please visit the Porters’ Lodge on arrival where they will direct you to the relevant venues.
Contact
If you have any queries, please contact Rebecca Horner on arts@trinhall.cam.ac.uk or call +44 (0)1223 332555.
