Exhumed

Exhumed at the Museum of Garden History

11 July - 31 August 2003

Mr & Mrs Ivan Morison In 1618 the elder John Tradescant made a journey to Arkhangelsk at the top of Russia and wrote an account of the things he observed. In 2003 Mr & Mrs Ivan Morison also visited Arkhangelsk to make their own observations.

Following the highly acclaimed diversion in 2002 and A Month in the Garden in 2001, both presented by Danielle Arnaud contemporary art and hosted by the Museum of Garden History (housed in the de-consecrated parish church of St-Mary-at-Lambeth), Exhumed explores notions of storytelling, ancestry, memory and interpretation of history.

Taking as its starting point the histories of the 26,000 famous, infamous and anonymous bodies held in the grounds of the museum, Exhumed features 24 artists practising in a range of disciplines and media. Artists focus on well-known figures like Captain William Bligh, the John Tradescants and the Slade family as well as those bodies for whom little or no evidence remains.

Artists participating in the event include: Orla Barry, Suky Best, Cleo Broda, Clare Bryan, Michael Buchanan, Lisa Cheung, David Cotterrell, Phil Coy, Pascal Dubois, Peter Dukes, Oona Grimes, Stephen Healy, Sophie Horton, Tom Humphreys, Sophie Lascelles, Lynne Marsh, Lisa Z. Morgan, Mr & Mrs Ivan Morison, Paulette Phillips, Kate Scrivener, Finlay Taylor, Adam Thompson, Shane Waltener and Sarah Woodfine.

The exhibition is accompanied by a publication featuring two commissioned essays from Tiffany Jenkins, Institute of Ideas, and Jon Newman, Lambeth Archives, which explore attitudes to death and the disposal of human remains from ethical, religious and historical perspectives. The catalogue will also document all commissioned artworks in the exhibition.

A series of workshops with the pupils of Walnut Tree Walk School are planned and a talk outlining the aims of the exhibition, chaired by Tiffany Jenkins, will be held at the museum on Saturday 30 August at 2pm.

Garden Pieces/Exhumed Film Programme : July 17 & 18: doors open 9.15, films begin 9.45 pm. Admission free.

Two evening screenings of artists and archival films will include Garden Pieces (July 17), curated by Peter Todd. A collection of films inspired by gardens and horticulture, the evening features work by American film-makers Stan Brakhage and Kenneth Anger and British work including rarely seen time-lapse film from 1910 and recent video from John Smith & Ian Bourn.

The second evening (July 18) examines themes in Exhumed, focusing on memory and reminiscence. Famous Lambeth resident and visionary, William Blake, is the subject of Clio Barnards short film Lambeth Marsh. Other new films and videos by emerging and established artists will also be shown. The screenings are co-ordinated by William Rallison, freelance curator.

Many of these rare films were supplied by the British Film Institute and additional artists' works from the Lux and BBC Worldwide library services. Supported by the Arts Council, England.

Exhumed is part of the Vauxhall Festival and is presented in association with Danielle Arnaud contemporary art, Parabola and the Museum of Garden History. The exhibition is curated by Danielle Arnaud, Jordan Kaplan and Philip Norman.

Museum of Garden History, Lambeth Palace Road, London SE1 7LB   www.museumgardenhistory.org
Open every day 10:30 am to 5:00 pm



Clare Bryan West Square 2003
cut-out book

David Cotterrell Field 2003
video projection and sound

Peter Dukes An Estranged 2003
digital video