Artist in Residence 

In April 2024, students from the School of Art, Architecture and Design (SAAD) were invited to submit a proposal to be an Artist in Residence in Special Collections throughout June 2024. This four-week residency will provide the opportunity for artists to engage with and respond creatively to The Archive of the Irish in Britain, which include correspondence, posters, photographs and oral history about the Irish diaspora in Britain during the 20th century.

Artists will be commissioned to create a response to the archive that will explore its themes of migration, identity, community archive and social memory. The artist will be free to develop outputs in any media or format. However, the final output will be required to be presented in both digital and analogue modes. It will then be made available online for continued access and research, and have a physical representation for exhibit on campus (and be available for loan by our community partners).

Our panel, which included Senior Lecturers from SAAD and Special Collections, shortlisted and interviewed different artists. The successful artist was Freya, who is an Illustration and Animation student at London Metropolitan University (LMU). 

"I am an Illustrator and animator that loves working in a variety of mediums, but I always prefer working with my hands, the messier the better.

Art for me is simply, communication. Good communication takes you some place new, it helps you grow and feel more connected. This is why I was drawn to work with the Special Collections as their archive houses a number of voices and untold stories that not only deserve to be heard but could also offer insights to current events." 

Freya's work will be shared on this page to inspire future artists, and to share part of her creative practice using archive material.
 

Funding

The residency was kindly funded through a bequest made by Kevin McCarthy to LMU, who was keen to encourage further educational engagement with The Archive of the Irish in Britain collections. 

Irish-born, Kevin moved to London from County Louth aged 25 to study social work (later working in Camden and Kensington and Chelsea). Throughout his career, he was involved in Trade Union action through NALGO (National and Local Government Officers' Association). He was also a member of Camden Irish Workers Group and a Travellers Liaison Group within Camden Council, where he advocated for the rights of travellers and for the Irish community more broadly. 
 

Final Submission - Indelible Identities

In July 2024, Freya submitted both a physical and digital output from the residency. 

Digital
A short animation using the individual entries from within The Archive of the Irish in Britain as a new entry on each frame of the character's journey. The combination of individual voices crafts this distinct and honest narrative that the archive reveals.

The animation is made using paper to represent one of the key mediums in which this history is preserved, while also sampling digital elements such as music and photographs. Highlighting over 500 individual entries of handwritten notes and other elements of personal (and precious) contributions to the archive. This animation focuses on the collective experience of migration from those who were directly involved, pinpointing an exclusive experience that larger more institutional contributions cannot. This direct history doesn't exist online only through the archive can you witness the true history of the Irish in Britain. 

 
Physical (Scroll)
A collection of frames from the animation. The archive has a beautiful way of capturing the voices of the everyday person, the true and immediate experiences of those who lived through Migration and the Irish diaspora. Each frame/figure is made from a unique entry in the archive showing the breadth of voices stored within the walls of the Special Collections.

The piece is made using paper to represent one of the key mediums in which this history is preserved showcased on a green aged cotton scroll. Highlighting handwritten notes and other elements of personal contributions to the archive displayed side-by-side to show the sheer quantity of voices recorded.   

Use of Archives

The digital scans printed and cut to create the figures, used material from the following archives in our collections:

London Irish Women's Centre 
The Community Collection
The Gaelic League Choir of London