Earlier this month, UHI Archaeology Institute staff and students were at the University of Plymouth to attend the Contemporary and Historical Archaeology in Theory (CHAT) conference. Here, Dr Antonia Thomas gives us an insight to the event.
Between November 7 and 11, the University of Plymouth hosted a programme of research presentations, creative workshops, walking tours, art installations, and film screenings – all focused on contemporary and historical archaeology.
CHAT has been running since 2003 and has consistently showcased cutting-edge examples archaeological theory and practice. In 2016, UHI Archaeology Institute hosted the conference in Orkney, where the theme was Rurality.
This year, participants were invited to respond to the themes ACTIVATE (verb: to cause something to start) and BUSY (adjective: having a great deal to do; keeping oneself occupied), asking “How do creative archaeological practices inform understandings of ACTIVATE – activisms, actions, beginnings, enlivenings – and BUSY – late capitalist work culture, being occupied, cluttered, neoliberal wellness mantra? What are the contemporary and historical archaeological forms of ACTIVATE and BUSY – as both separate and intersecting themes – and how might this inform the way we (might) live now?”
There was a fantastic turnout from the UHI Archaeology Institute, in particular the staff and students on the MA Contemporary Art and Archaeology, with 16 current or recently graduated students attending. They had travelled from as far away as Shetland, Shapinsay and Skye and many were there to present their own original research and practice.
The conference programme is available here.
On Thursday, November 7, Plymouth Sounds was led by Lara Band, Aileen Ogilvie and Sefryn Penrose and took participants on a listening tour through the streets of the city, to activate their ears.
Lara and Aileen met on the MA Contemporary Art and Archaeology and have continued to collaborate, including on the excavations at Skaill, Rousay, where they undertook a sound-art residency last summer. You can read more about their work there on these earlier blog entries: Sound theory, sound practice – Skaill Farm and The rousing sounds of Skaill farm.
Later on Thursday,there were artists’ talks in the exhibition space at 37 Looe Street, including installations by Karen Abadie, Lara Band (currently in her final year of the MA Contemporary Art and Archaeology), Carolyn Marr, and Gillian Cooper.
Carolyn and Gillian graduated from the MA Contemporary Art and Archaeology in September 2024. They were exhibiting works from their ongoing collaboration Scrap-Swap, which has seen them work together by swapping discarded elements from their respective practices (for Gillian, textiles, and Carolyn, ceramics) and repurposing these into new pieces.
Installation view of collaborative exhibition by Carolyn Marr and Gillian Cooper. (📷 Antonia Thomas)
Friday saw a full day of research talks.
Iain Davidson, who is currently in the final stages of his MA Contemporary Art and Archaeology, presented his artistic research on salt, in a presentation entitled Activating the Journeys of Cheshire Salt Through History.
Harry Payne also presented on his final project for the MA. This is focusing on the Cocking Lime Works Chalk Quarry located in the South Downs, West Sussex, through an exploration of human/non-human interactions, archipelagic thought and site. An exhibition relating to this project is currently running until November 26, at Art Space Portsmouth.
Keeping with the focus on materiality was Becky Little, currently in the first year part-time of the MA Contemporary Art and Archaeology, and who presented on her EARTHBOUND Orkney Project, which saw a series of workshops and exhibitions in Orkney this summer.
Eòghann Mac Colla’s drawing and mapping workshop. (📷 Antonia Thomas)
Janet Tryner, in her final year of the MA, presented her creative research project on calthemites, the sticky residues of pollution found in urban settings. Lucy Carr McClave, who graduated from the MA Contemporary Art and Archaeology programme in 2023, presented a short film that derived from her work as a filmmaker-in-residence at the Ness of Brodgar this summer.
Several of the MA students came together in another presentation, entitled Collaborative Methods from the MA Contemporary Art and Archaeology at the University of the Highlands and Islands. This was a joint endeavour by Susan Pearson, Harry Payne, Helen Keauffling, Anne Corrance Monk, Eòghann Mac Colla, Becky Little, Fiona Byrne-Sutton, Jen Grosz, Julie Khalil and Joy Coppell, and showcased the collaborative projects they had undertaken as a group undertaking the core module on the MA last year.
TRANSECTS creative workshop. (📷 Antonia Thomas)
The Saturday saw a series of creative workshops, including by Dan Lee and Antonia Thomas, who ran a series of hands-on activities based around the TRANSECTS project. These included a word association and collage workshop to explore different interdisciplinary approaches to marine energy transitions, particularly in relation to planned offshore windfarm developments.
Eòghann Mac Colla, artist and Islands Arts Coordinator for Arran and Cumbrae, and final year student on the MA Contemporary Art and Archaeology, ran a participatory drawing and mapping workshop.
It certainly was a jam-packed few days which more than met the theme of BUSY!
For more information about the MA Contemporary Art and Archaeology course, contact studyarchaeology@uhi.ac.uk
