Mourning and Morbidity: Death in British Art

‌Art in Britain has always been concerned with mourning and morbidity, and with death as a social, cultural and ritualistic process. This event will consider the extent to which death and its visual cultures have impacted on the production and reception of art in Britain and beyond.

In light of recent work on the sculptural quality of the funerary monument, this event asks how art in Britain might be seen in relation to longer histories of death and mourning. How has the complex religious landscape of the British Isles and its former colonies differently figured the cultural experience of death? Can the representation of death and the dead body be understood as integral or as an adjunct to personal or national self-definition? Can a nation mourn?

In collaboration with the University of York’s Death Studies Network, the British Art Research School is hosting an informal workshop which aims to facilitate cross-disciplinary collaboration and new thought on the topic of death and British Art.

Speakers:

• Amy Harris (University of York and Tate)
• Rebecca Senior (University of York)
• Dr Christine Welch (University of Winchester)
• Oliver Fearon (University of York and The Burrell Collection)
• Nick Shaddick (University of York)
• Dr Richard Johns (University of York)
• Professor Jason Edwards
• Michelle Foot (University of Aberdeen)

Download the event programme: Mourning and Morbidity (PDF , 150kb)

View the event poster: Mourning and Morbidity (PDF , 588kb)

Read the British Art Research blog