Helena Hunter has been appointed to the 2018 Artquest research residency at the Horniman Museum and Gardens. The London-based artist will be working with the Horniman’s Natural History and Musical Instrument collections, focusing on extinct and endangered birds and ‘the songs they sing to us’.
In her art practice she works across text, performance, film and sculptural assemblage. For the Artquest residency at the Horniman she’ll be experimenting with poetic form and the notion/notation of bird song, to engage with the alarming decline in bird species globally.
The residency runs from October 2018 to December 2019, and Helena will receive:
- An award of £3,000 to engage with the work and collections of the Horniman
- An additional award of £850 towards a public facing event, showcasing the thinking and research undertaken during the residency
- Privileged access to Horniman’s collection’s objects and curators.
The 2017 residency was held by Alex Julyan whose research into the musical instrument collection was featured in her Harmony and Hullaballoo event, part of the Horniman’s Wonderful World Late in July 2018.
The work of 2016 residency recipient Joshua Sofaer can currently be seen in the Natural History Gallery. His Horniman Noses display showcases three of his series of false noses, created in response to his research within the Horniman’s collections.