ON SEVEN YEARS OF LANDSCAPE RESEARCH WITH THE BRITISH ART NETWORK’S LANDSCAPE RESEARCH GROUP

In October 2016, myself and Jenny Gaschke, who was then at Bristol Museum & Art Gallery, started an email conversation about putting in an application to the British Art Network to launch a Landscape ‘subgroup’ (as the Research Groups were then known). There was no subgroup covering that topic and it seemed to us that there was a real need to bring people together for discussion. We had both been thinking independently about the relevancy of historic landscape collections in Suffolk and Bristol, how they had been collected, researched and displayed. Could we bring comparisons across the regions or what made them distinctive to their local area? Importantly, we felt there was a need for a group that could foster a connection between regional collections, help to provide support, promote knowledge exchange and offer opportunities to visit behind the scenes in other organisations.

That initial application was successful, and we started our focus on historic landscapes with events about geology in Bristol. Then we moved on to antiquarianism and topographical landscape in Ipswich and ended our first year by examining early landscape photography at the V&A. These events tended to focus on collections and bringing objects out from stores for discussion.

One of our members, Christiana Payne, Professor Emerita of History of Art, Oxford Brookes University, explains what was useful in those early days:

After a year with a growing membership, it became clear that we needed to expand our remit into modern and contemporary landscape as well as environmental art.

The growing interest in debate about the study of landscape art through an environmental lens was brought to the fore by the Paul Mellon Centre’s conference Landscape Now in 2017, which explored the breadth of approaches to landscape in British art. With the foundation of the Extinction Rebellion movement in 2018, there was an even greater emphasis on what role cultural organisations should play in this deepening crisis. This was also well timed for another round of application writing to the British Art Network to continue the group and it was clear that the focus now needed to shift to include these wider debates.

As we stated in our application:

These contexts would become even more pressing considering the looming pandemic, and social and economic developments. One of our last visits to an actual exhibition before the lockdown would be to Eco-visionaries: Confronting a Planet in a State of Emergency, at the Royal Academy in early 2020. This was a very timely reflection on how artists, designers and architects have responded to ecological breakdown. We were fortunate that Helen Record, former Assistant Curator of Collections at the Royal Academy, was also able to join myself and Jenny on the coordinating group. It was wonderful to be able to share the responsibilities of paperwork, events, mailings, coming up with new ideas, chasing speakers, finding venues and providing mutual support. There is a lot that goes on behind the scenes in running a research group.

As we all adapted to life in lockdown during 2020 and 2021 so did the Landscape group. We embraced the online format and hosted talks, informal discussions and hybrid events. It was a very busy time for me, Jenny and Helen as we juggled working from home, homeschooling and all the other life commitments. There were certainly times when I felt the pressure from all the continual juggling and I am very thankful to Jenny and Helen for keeping me motivated via WhatsApp, email or a Zoom call. You can read more about Landscape through lockdown in the British Art News August 2021, where we published a thorough overview of activity.

An unexpected outcome from this time was the opportunity to rethink our funding, which had just been used for events and travel. BAN was very supportive in allowing us to look at funding for commissions and we were able to support artist Siobhan McLaughlin to create an artwork immersed in the landscape and curator Kate Banner’s writing on lockdown. Since then the group has supported five more artist commissions. This potential use of the funds to create landscape art has been a highlight for me and created a tangible legacy for the group. It was certainly not an aspect I had thought about back in 2016 at the beginning of this adventure.

The seven years have been full of unexpected encounters with landscape art in Bristol, Bordeaux and Liverpool. It has increased awareness of the many ways landscape can be studied, made accessible and its central importance to our daily lives. I am hugely grateful to the British Art Network for the opportunities it has presented, and the lifelong friendships and joy that it has brought to the profession.

We will be holding an online discussion in May 2023 about the final group of commissions supported by the Landscape Research Group. They include artworks by Hayley Field, Alice Cunningham and Anna Dougherty. If you are interested in attending, please email emma.roodhouse@colchester.gov.uk

EMMA ROODHOUSE