CALL FOR MUSEUMS
Call for Expressions of Interest
Contemporary clay artwork: fully funded collecting opportunity
Future Ecologies of Clay is a 3-year AHRC-funded research project (August 2025-July 2028), exploring how artworks in the ‘expanded field of clay’ can be made accessible and visible to current and future audiences. The project team brings together artists, curators and researchers from the V&A and the Ceramics Research Centre-UK, University of Westminster. We are now calling for expressions of interest from accredited UK museums to work with members of the project team in developing, exhibiting and acquiring new clay artworks. Three museums will be selected to participate, in addition to the V&A. A £15,000 production budget will be allocated to each participating museum.
Artists’ practices in the expanded field of clay can result in raw clay artworks, large-scale site-specific installations, performance-based events and involve audience participation. Due to their ephemeral or mutable nature, such works pose significant challenges for museums. The project aims to encourage and support the sector to gain new understandings of how these forms of clay practice can be represented in collections.
The making and collecting process at each museum will act as a practice-based case study for the research project. These case studies will fall into the following areas of practice:
- Ephemeral: work which degrades
- Live: performance work
- Site: work which is site-sensitive and/or intervenes in collections
- Participate: work involving public engagement
Expressions of interest are encouraged from institutions throughout the UK, including those with limited resources and small teams. We especially welcome interest from museums who are hoping to develop connections with diverse artists and/or audiences. Members of the project team, Clare Twomey, Christie Brown and Tessa Peters will work creatively with the three selected museum applicants to create new artworks that respond to the identified needs of each institution, enabling appropriate collection and archiving solutions. Phoebe Cummings will work with the V&A. Their time is funded by the research project; the £15,000 grant is intended to cover the cost of production, but it can be used flexibly for other agreed project costs, including staff time as necessary.
During 2027-8, the evolving case studies will be discussed in a seminar series and shared through the project’s online forum, encouraging dialogue between participating museums and other stakeholders. This will culminate in a Museum Exchange Day which will provide a platform for artists, curators and other participants to discuss experiences and outcomes arising from the project. The case studies will feed into the development of a Collections and Archives Strategy Document to support future collecting.
To express interest in applying, email [email protected] by 10 July. Please tell us how you heard about the project and explain briefly why you are interested in applying and what you would hope to gain from participating (300 words max).
Museums expressing an interest are strongly encouraged to register for the project conference, Permanence/Impermanence, to be held in London on 24-26 June. The conference will include opportunities for museum delegates to meet the artists, and a breakfast meeting at 9am on Friday 26 June to discuss potential applications with the project team. Financial support is available for museum delegates who would otherwise find it difficult to attend; please contact us at [email protected].
Longlisted museums will be invited to submit a full application in September. The application process aims to be inclusive; please get in touch with any questions.
The Future Ecologies of Clay research is being undertaken by the Ceramics Research Centre-UK in partnership with the V&A. Grant number: UKRI748.
