Whilst in residence at Kettle’s Yard, Jackie time in the house speaking to the visitors, invigilators and other staff. Everybody enjoyed having Jackie at Kettle’s Yard, she brought fresh eyes which were able to speak of our collection with such eloquence, conjuring imagery which was invigorating for to experience. We would often find her sat in a favourite white chair in the dancer room, where the shadows cast by Henri Gaudier-Brzeska’s Dancer, reminded her of a Hitchcock movie. Jackie also spent time with a group of young people running workshops alongside artist Filipa Pereira-Stubbs writing poems and then transforming these words into site-specific art installations. The culminated in a fantastic end of project show with friends and family.

The Thresholds project ended with a finale at the Fitzwilliam Museum where we heard the poems, performed by their respective poet, for the first time. Lucy Wheeler, Assistant Education Officer, said ‘It was fascinating to hear the poets’ tales of their time spent at their designated museum and the Fitzwilliam Museum a perfect backdrop to hear each new poem recited.’

Below you can read Jackie’s poem, Helen’s Room, and watch her perform it at the Thresholds Finale (from about 52 minutes in). Perhaps next time you come to Kettle’s Yard you’ll see Helen’s room in a new light?

Helen’s Room – Jackie Kay

Not too late, then, to catch the blessed light
through the eyes of The Radar in this winter sun;
to see the past and present side by side;
to take your hand once again,
walk into the bitter biting wind.
The key turns on what we don’t understand.
Every joy is twinned
With an opposite:  a hinterland -
I’ve been in Helen’s room,
A phrase to coin: happiness
reframed in the dark afternoon.
Not too late to know that as soon
As something was here once, it’s gone.

Not too late, in the House of Juxtapositions,
where Scotland and England meet, old friends,
to remember that last conversation
Might last to the nether land.
Here, where strangers pair, maps are bilinear;
balance acts, echoes matter;
stones, pebbles, shells, statues;
the great art of fractured crockery;
the democracy of light and dark.
Not too late to see the beauty in broken things:
that cracks can visibly mend;
the painted flowers can grow.
Love in separate rooms,
Single beds, matching spreads.

Not too late to allow Winifred to take you
past the daffodils, the Norman window
through the canvas, out to the churchyard …
the backdoor of Kettle’s Yard,
Where Helen and Jim walked
the path of the waiting graves;
remembering what you knew.
The old stones painted by light;
the last of the sun on the cobbled path.
Not too late to hear the song in your head,
that whistles whatever darkness lies ahead.
Not too late to hear the music of the blessed.

Fossil Necklace is the culmination of Katie Paterson’s residency at the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, just outside Cambridge, a residency where she explored the world of genetics, leading her to the project of Fossil Necklace.

From fossils scientists can fathom certain information – including information such as what species were around at any particular time of history and anatomical information. With the discovery of DNA scientists are now able connect species (whose DNA was sequenced) by looking for the similarities and differences between their genetic make up.

Dr Chris Tyler-Smith, Head of Human Evolution, Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute says, ‘Every individual living now, in the past or the future traces their origins (and DNA) back through an unbroken chain of ancestors to the origin of life. There is really a ‘tree of life’ linking every living and extinct species.’

It is this idea that is encapsulated in Fossil Necklace, the similarities (but also divergent paths) that makes up the history of our world are made tangible and strung together somewhat like our own DNA. Whilst the whole history of the earth is put into a scale we can discern, our own presence within that history becomes very obviously tiny.

Many of the fossils that are represented as a bead in the work are the ancestors of a species whose DNA has been sequenced by the Sanger Institute. One is the pig, the Sanger Institute having sequenced the DNA of the Duroc breed of the modern domestic pig. Dr Tyler-Smith writes,

The final bead in the Oligocene period comes from a Peccary ‘skunk’ pig that lived 30 million years ago in South Dakota, USA, while we concentrate on the Duroc breed of the modern domestic pig. The DNA sequence shoes just how powerful the sense of smell is in pigs, and how complex the origins of the domestic pigs were.

Fossil Necklace is on show until 23 June as part of Katie Paterson exhibition, with other works on show in the Kettle’s Yard gallery. Find out more here.

We rely on the generosity of our supporters to help us maintain and grow our exhibition programme.  If you would like to donate to Kettle’s Yard or for further information on how you can support us, please click here.

On 24 May, 6-8pm, IJAD Dance Company will be hosting one of Kettle’s Yard Practice Sessions. An informal evening of workshops, talks and performance led by IJAD about their latest project, In-Finite. See below for a taster of what you can expect on this exciting evening.

The In-Finite Project started in 2010 as an ongoing conversation about the interaction between the public and the private. Take part in the conversation by sharing a secret here anonymously here and on the night you can see how these are transformed into creative pieces which can be shared over social media for comment, interpretation, collaboration, devising and performance work. You’re more than welcome to watch, but if you want to take part – wear clothes you can move in!

Also on the night you can witness chapter one of the project – a screening of In-Finite,  currently touring and viewed online in 11 countries and counting. It delves into over 150 secrets shared by people just like you. The team behind it will be available to answer all your questions.

Never fear if you don’t know how to use twitter – we’ll take you though it, just make sure your phone’s fully charged!

Don’t miss The Practice Sessions – hosted by IJAD Dance Company – on 24 May 6-8pm. Admission is £8, pay on the door and includes one free drink.

Follow IJAD on twitter and don’t forget to share your secret before the evening commences here. 

Enjoy watching the sunset amongst the artworks and objects in the house and explore our House Guests exhibition where specimens, objects and artworks from eight other University of Cambridge museums and collections take up residence in the house.

Fossil Necklace by Katie Paterson, Photo by Michael Callahan

In the gallery there will be the chance to see Katie Paterson’s exhibition including her new work Fossil Necklace in St Peter’s Church. The necklace comprises over 150 beads carved from fossils that chart the evolution of life on earth. It’s the history of the world in a necklace.

You can enjoy the exhibitions with a drink and take advantage of great discounts in the shop, you can even purchase your own fossil to take home.

Museums at Night is a national festival and several other University of Cambridge Museums, including the Fitzwilliam Museum, the Sedgwick Museum and the Polar Museum, are also taking part from 16-18 May.

Find out more here.

I went along to the Practice Session on 26 April as a volunteer, helping out at the bar and with the general smooth running. The session came just a day after installation of Katie Paterson’s new show. It attracted a good crowd, with a mix of groups, couples and individuals, and with everyone soon sharing their enthusiasms, especially after enjoying a drink. Katie Paterson’s big themes and varied media helped support some great contrasts in what we got up to.  Annette Shelford from the Sedgwick Museum gave two excellent talks. The first talk on Paterson’s Fossil Necklace, in the church, set the work in the (slightly scary) context of deep geological time.

We left suitably awed (and with arm ache – but you really had to be there for that bit).  The second picked up on the anthropology of collecting and got a great response, bringing Paterson’s project into the personal and childhood worlds of collecting on the beach or  allotment. With all that cerebral energy flowing – and maybe a second drink in some cases – lots of people were ready to try out their creative  responses to the ideas in the exhibition, or take the opportunity for  some quiet time with the exhibits – the meteorite, Field of Sky, being a favourite.

In no time a whole range of necklaces, drawings of fossil sea urchins and maybe one or two party hats had been spirited from the  Kettle’s Yard’s inexhaustible supply of materials and odds and ends. Whatever people were going on to, it had already been a full Friday  evening!

~ Michael Clegg

The next Practice Session will be hosted by IJAD Dance Company, with an intriguing night exploring the world of secrets, on 24 May 6-8pm. Find out more here.

I spent my first week at Kettle’s Yard grappling with nanotechnology, meteorites and fossils, working on the interpretation for Katie Paterson’s exhibition, which opened on the 26 April. Katie engages with a number of scientific subjects – including astronomy, astrophysics and palaeontology – creating subtle, thoughtful works that make manifest the unimaginable small and distant workings of the universe.

I was initially a little nervous about creating education resources that could provide insight and understanding into extremely complex scientific topics. We wanted to create something that could provide exciting bite-sized chunks of information to best invite visitors to enjoy Katie’s curious and poignant interventions into metaphysical themes and material wonders.

Starting with Katie’s piece, Campo del Cielo my nervousness quickly dissolved as I delved into the fascinating world of meteorology. I found out that Katie’s meteorite is about the same weight as a baby elephant and it had been around floating around for 4.5 billion years – before the earth even existed.

I hope that our visitors find these colourful facts enjoyable. After watching a video of how Katie transformed and changed the meteorite, I wanted to explain this fascinating process to our visitors too.

Our Education Officer Rosie and I presented the information on postcards that can be easily held. We hope the cards will provide intriguing yet relatable information to hopefully open new ways into Katie’s compelling work.

If you have any thoughts about our interpretation, please do get in touch – we are always looking to improve your experience of the gallery and your feedback is welcome. If you haven’t already, please come and look, discuss and touch – yes touch – Katie’s meteorite!

~ Lucy Wheeler

Katie Paterson exhibition runs until 23 June. The gallery and St Peter’s Church are open 11.30-5pm Tuesday-Sunday.

See Katie Paterson’s website here.

We carefully checked each art work to make sure it was in a stable condition and safe to travel. This involved making sure that the paintings were secure in their frames and the paint was not flaking. We highlighted any pieces that need treatment before they could be moved or ones that would need to be handled in specific ways.

These checks are really important, the paperwork builds a record of the paintings and sculptures so that we can make sure nothing has happened to them during their journey.

The Kettle’s Yard collection is very special, and it was fantastic to see so many paintings that retain their original unvarnished surface; this allows one to appreciate their subtle matt surfaces. Seeing so many works in the collection by the same artist, such as Alfred Wallis or Ben Nicholson, one can really start to understand how they made the work.

~ Chloe Head

Parts of Kettle’s Yard House will be closed from 24 March to carry out essential maintenance work. We hope to reopen fully by the end of the year.
Please call or email in advance to find out exactly what is open. 

So here you can see the journey of one object as it was safely prepared for removal.

It might be that you’ve never noticed this particular object, a bohemian cut glass casket. Jim carefully positioned such objects alongside artworks, furniture, ceramics and natural objects, with the aim of creating a harmonic whole. His vision was of a place that should not be “an art gallery or museum, nor … simply a collection of works of art reflecting my taste or the taste of a given period. It is, rather, a continuing way of life from these last fifty years, in which stray objects, stones, glass, pictures, sculpture, in light and in space, have been used to make manifest the underlying stability.”

The photograph above was taken by Tom Noblett who found the bohemian cut glass casket bathed in the light one morning.

The original contents (potpourri) was decanted and labeled so it later can be easily reunited with the glass casket when it is reinstated back in the house.

Next the object itself was carefully assessed for its condition, meticulously noted in a condition report.

The team then checked the  glass which has previously been repaired. Underneath is a packing ball, which has a smooth surface, to support it.

The object is packed, the smooth surface of the balls ensuring the object is protected during transport.

Parts of Kettle’s Yard House will be closed from 24 March to carry out essential maintenance work. We hope to reopen fully by the end of the year.
Please call or email in advance to find out exactly what is open – 01223 748100, mail@kettlesyard.cam.ac.uk

(Slightly) more info at www.frontroomcambridge.com

I’m an art student currently studying AS Art at Hills Road Sixth Form College in Cambridge. My latest coursework project was based around the theme voids and spaces which I later developed into a closer study of rusted metal and the shapes that it could form. My final piece was a dress that used the patterns and colours of rust to create a design on the body.

As part of my coursework I had to look to artists to help develop my idea for a final piece. While researching different artists I found Alberto Burri’s work particularly interesting and felt that I could incorporate similar aspects into my own work for the project. A lot of his work was of a similar colour scheme to drawings and photographs I had done and his use of texture was something that I wanted to look at further in my work.

After researching his work online I wanted to look more at Burri’s work to find how I could use it with my own. I then found out that Kettles Yard had recently acquired a piece by him that was going to be displayed in the house. The opportunity to see one of his pieces was really useful for my project allowing me to properly see his use of materials in the work. This visit lead to the idea to cut away parts of the main dress and fill the spaces with textured, burnt looking pieces of fabric, similar to the Burri piece at Kettle’s Yard.

The chance to look at Burri’s work at Kettle’s Yard as part of my project was really great, it helped form my ideas and I found it easier to connect the artist’s work to my own – an important part of the AS course.

~ Joni Mitchell

The Kettle’s Yard House is open from 1.30-4.30pm (summer opening times) Tuesday – Sunday.

We’d love to hear about your experiences of Kettle’s Yard. Send  your stories to elspeth@kettlesyard.cam.ac.uk and you could feature in our blog.