Beyond flesh: Corporeal and material ageing reconsidered
11-4pm, Learning Centre, Somerset House, 4th July 2025
This workshop invites creative and cultural practitioners to encounter the Courtauld exhibition Abstract Erotic through the lens of research into age and ageing. We are defining “creative and cultural practitioners” as individuals who work independently or freelance in the arts and culture sector and examples include (but are not limited to) artists, performers, writers, poets, directors, producers, curators, designers, and makers.
The workshop will enable participants to explore the theme of age and ageing in its widest sense, incorporating both corporeal and material realities, as they relate to artistic and creative production. The aim of the workshop is to introduce a new group of creative practitioners to ageing as a research theme in the exhibition in the hope that it will generate new approaches and ideas for their creative practice.
The workshop will take place between 11am-4pm on Friday 4th July 2025. It will include a tour of the exhibition with the curators Jo Applin and Alexandra Gerstein followed by group work and reflection. Lunch will be provided and there are ~10 spaces available. Participants will receive an honorarium of £100 each.
Applications should consist of a short (300 words max) description of your practice and how you think you might benefit from encountering the exhibition through the theme of age and ageing. Please send this to The Courtauld’s Impact and Evaluation Manager Rebecca Senior – rebecca.senior@courtauld.ac.uk by 5pm on Tuesday 27th May 2025 with the subject line “Abstract Erotic Workshop”.
