WE ARE HERE: Exhibition Tour

In October 2020, it will have been forty years since the first female undergraduates came to Downing College, some eight years after previously all-male colleges started to accept women. In the seventy-two years since women were first allowed to take degrees at the University of Cambridge, a lot has changed. WE ARE HERE looks at

Lydia Lopokova, Duncan Grant, and the Mystery of the Blue Dress

Duncan Grant’s captivating portrait of Ballets Russes prima ballerina Lydia Lopokova, currently hanging in the WE ARE HERE: Women in Art at Cambridge Colleges exhibition at The Heong Gallery, was painted in 1923, a few months after Lydia had turned 30. It depicts her in three-quarter length, wearing a blue empire-line dress, a gold, patterned shawl draped over her long gloves. The painting was inspired by Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres’ Mademoiselle Caroline Rivière (1806), a photograph of which Duncan kept in his studio at Charleston.

‘The camera is never neutral.’

This week, we spoke to filmmaker and photographer Melanie Manchot about truth, agency, the magic of the dark room, and the ontology of the selfie. Interview by Prerona Prasad. Should we start with the photographic series called The Ladies? How did the project come about? How did you decide where you were going to take

Activity: Scratching the Surface

Things are not always what they seem. Sometimes you need to scratch the surface to see what lies beneath. Make your own scratch art with us from… SCRATCH! (See what we did there?) Step 1. Get your materials together and prepare your work space. You will need a sheet of a thicker paper – a

Juliette Losq: A benign vision of an apocalyptic future

This week, we spoke to award-winning artist Juliette Losq about Cambridge, surviving art school, and the importance of being true to your voice. Interview by Prerona Prasad. I was introduced to your work by Laura Dennis, Curator of the Newnham College Art Collection. We were borrowing a work by Christiana Herringham, a watercolourist and tempera

Activity: Fantasy Forest

This week we look at overgrown forests and the things you can find in them if we look hard. Make your own fantasy forest with some easy-to-find materials! Step 1 You will need several sheets of a thick paper – a cereal box or cardboard would be great – and any drawing material and a

SOPHIE SEITA: MY LITTLE ENLIGHTENMENT PLAYS

Two fantastical garments hang on loose chains off a blank wall. Although tethered for the duration of the exhibition, the brightly-coloured robes only take on their true meaning when donned for a performance of Emilia Galotti’s Colouring Book of Feelings by artist, writer, and scholar, Sophie Seita. With the scheduled date for the performance looking

Activity: Construct a Poem

Words and images can both be the building blocks of an idea. This week, combine works and images to make a unique poem you can see and read. Step 1: Download the icons sheet and cut it into pieces. Step 2: Choose five images (we cheated and chose six!) Step 3: Combine the images into

‘The extraordinary and moving thing is that everybody has been prepared to stand still and wait. It’s not easy for anybody.’

Interview by Prerona Prasad After reminding ourselves what day of the week it was, and sharing our new-found belief in the sanctity of weekends, the artist Cathy de Monchaux and I discussed chance, accounting for creative time, our very personal relationships with books, and sitting still in the lockdown. The work in WE ARE HERE

Make your own Secret Image Bookmark

This week’s artist in focus is Cathy de Monchaux, who made a thirty-five foot tower of books in bronze at Newnham College, Cambridge. If you like reading, you will definitely enjoy making this SECRET IMAGE BOOKMARK. You will need: An A4 sheet of plain paper A ruler Pencils With your ruler and pencil, mark the