Academics collaborate with artists to explore archive and exile

Academics collaborate with artists to explore archive and exile. An exhibition marking the culmination of a two year interdisciplinary project between academics at the University of Sheffield and artists will open to the public on Wednesday July 6 2011 at Bank Street Arts in Sheffield. Archive of Exile will showcase the collaborative work of three academics and artists around the juxtaposition of archive and exile. It explores the contrasting ideas of the institution of the archive, which is usually sedentary and stationary, and the concept of exile, which is associated with dislocation, mobility and placelessness. As those in exile must learn to carry their personal history and identity with them wherever they go, the project is interested to see whether every exile has an archive of their past within them. The exhibition consists of visual and sound works, taking up themes including nomadism, travel, memory, loss, spaces, acts and voices. Funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC), Archive of Exile forms part of a larger project based in the University's Department of Geography and the School of English Literature, Language and Linguistics, which explores the potential of exile to contribute to radical thought and mobile practice.