Dr Sophie Hatchwell
Associate Professor in History of Art
Biographical and contact information for Dr Sophie Hatchwell, Associate Professor in the Department of Art History, Curating and Visual Studies at the University of Birmingham.
New histories of post-war British art
Exhibition, collaboration, and organisational change
Our research into the social and cultural role of art in post-war Britain challenges narratives and enables new and more diverse stories to be told about British art and culture
Post-war art is a space where the significant social changes that shaped British society in the second half of the twentieth-century – relating to class, migration, race, gender, and sexuality – were articulated and negotiated. Here we draw a line between an era where arts policy and collecting practices informed nation-building and national reconstruction, and present-day imperatives towards cultural placemaking. Our regionally-rooted archival research intersects with network theory, queer studies and post-colonial theory and histories, transforming our understanding of post-war art in public collections in Britain.
We have worked collaboratively with museums, curators, collections, artists and communities across the UK to co-produce new approaches to art historical research. In turn, our projects and publications show how new narratives of post-war British art become relevant to regional and national public collections as they reflect on their history and institutional values. Our goal is to explore how sharing histories of class, gender, sexuality, migration, and race can improve access to post-war art in public collections.
Research team
Dr Gregory Salter
Associate Professor in History of Art, Head of Department
Biographical and contact information for Dr Gregory Salter, Associate Professor in History of Art at the University of Birmingham.
Collection Histories and Organisational Change
This research seeks to understand how cultural collections can act as catalysts for meaningful organisational and social change. Co-designed by researchers at the University of Birmingham, Birmingham Museums Trust, and the Exhibition Research Lab (ERL) at Liverpool John Moores University, this project focuses on regional, civic and charitable collections of fine and applied art, social history, material cultures and world cultures across the UK and Ireland.
Through 22 structured interviews with colleagues working with civic and charitable public collections across the UK and Ireland and 18 site visits, we ask:
- How collection histories have been shared through physical and/or digital initiatives since 2021
- In what ways these correspond with institutional strategies
- How local communities have been involved.
Report
- Read and download the final report (PDF, 1.1 MB)
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