Love Art After Dark 24

In response to the ‘William Blake’s Universe’ Exhibition and commissioned by the Fitzwilliam Museum, poets Mary Jean Chan, Nadia Lines, and Eric Yip have teamed up with composers Spencer Boya, Jo Fraser, and Carla Ng to compose original live performances to re-interpret Blake’s poetry and art, through pieces respectively titled ‘Fractal/Flood’, ‘Good Taste’, and ‘Four Proverbs of Hell’. The performances of these pieces will be accompanied by theremin and clarinet performances by Jo and Shelly Lee, and artworks by Audrey Chan. ‘Good Taste’ and ‘Four Proverbs of Hell’ are performed live on the beautiful staircase in Room 33. Enjoy Mary Jean’s recorded found poem ‘Fractal/Flood’  using the words of William Blake, set to original music by Spencer and accompanied by Audrey’s oil paintings ‘Water Serpent in the Calla Lily’ and  ‘Forbidden City’ with the blue melancholic lighting in Room 17.

Immerse yourselves in the music of Khabat Abas, who is an experimental, improviser cellist, and composer from Kurdistan-Iraq. In this musical performance, she amplifies voiceless story and using diverse materials to protest against oppressions rooted in social and political systems. The colliding sounds explore what is out of bounds and raise the possibilities of sounds that contrast with traditional musical values.

As part of the UK-wide Blake-themed curatorial exhibition, Casper Dillen (Choreographer and Performer), Dann Xiao (Assistant Director and Performer), Yi Wang, Qibai Ting, Yujie Duan (Performers), Haedong Lee (Sound), and Roberts Jansens (Technical Support) from the Royal College of Art explore the destructive power of war in the arts in this curated moving piece.

Walk through the brand new ‘William Blake’s Universe’ Exhibition and gain some academic perspectives on Albion Rose with Dr Sarah Haggarty, Associate Professor in English at the University of Cambridge and Fellow of Queen’s College.

Led by Rebecca Marks, final-year PhD student who researches the influence of Michelangelo on Blake at the Faculty of English, University of Cambridge, you will learn about Blake’s intertwining relationships with Old Master prints as she shares her insights into Joseph of Arimathea.

Extending from our UK-wide Blake-themed student exhibition, Cambridge-based second-year architecture students will share their curatorial insights into how the displayed architectural models reflect on the Fitzwilliam Museum through war, the colonial past of the Museum’s collection and architecture, as well as the representation of female art in the museum and the current inclusion of art in a space that was designed to host male art.

Listen to our student curators, Jane Lee, Luis López, and Pon Chanarat from the Royal College of Art, discuss how they and the artists gain inspiration from Blake's seminal works, The Book of Urizen, All Religions are One, and David V. Erdman’s Blake: Prophet Against Empire to unveil the intricate interplay between tradition and modernity, reflecting the complexities inherent in reconciling values diverged from the war and belief systems within both individual and collective societal frameworks.

Come join Dahee Min, Sunjoo Jung, Soyeon Jung, and Victoria Stepanets, our student curators from the Royal College of Art, talk about how their curation at our student exhibition explores the destructive aspect of war is represented in different forms of arts, including performances, moving images, installations, linocuts, sculptures, paintings and photographs.

Browse around the museum and look at the student artworks curated by Cambridge’s very own architecture students as well as Jane Lee, Luis López, Pon Chanarat, Dahee Min, Sunjoo Jung, Soyeon Jung, and Victoria Stepanets from the Royal College of Art to dig deep into our Blake-inspired sub-themes of imperialism and continental artistic exchange, feminine and masculine romanticism, and the destructive and regenerative power of art in a time of war. Don’t forget to take a leaflet from our volunteers wearing ivy leaves to learn more about the works!

Blake was at the forefront of modern Relief Etching printmaking, though then he used copper plates to construct beautifully detailed engravings. We will be responding to these pieces with etchings on Tetra Pak. This workshop offers a great opportunity to respond to the sculptural works in reference to Blake’s own intrigue with Greek and Roman statues. This brief introduction to print processes is great for all skill levels.

Blake had a long lasting interest in engravings and printmaking. A huge focus was centred around ancient figures and sculptures and how they could be translated into prints and methods he took to subvert them. This workshop encourages you to make your own prints using Lino and paint, implementing different colours and layering techniques to create works on par with Blake himself!