In Search of Utopia – Making New Worlds: The Arts and Crafts Movement’s ambitions in the Lake District, Iceland and the Cotswolds

An open and illustrated discussion between the William Morris Gallery’s senior curators Roisin Ingleby and Rowan Bain, and Grizedale Arts director Adam Sutherland.

The talk will discuss William Morris and his essay News From Nowhere, the movements obsession with the Cotswolds and Iceland as well as its incarnation in the Lake District under the care of the movement’s guiding light John Ruskin.

The talk will reference contemporary iterations. The ambitions for The Farmer’s Arms and The Valley and the renewed and continual search for alternative ways of living – the rural fantasy versus real life.

The talk will be 1 hour long and will be broadcast through zoom, contact us for a log in.

ABOUT THE SPEAKERS: 

Rowan Bain is Principal Curator at the William Morris Gallery and was formerly assistant curator at the Victoria and Albert Museum. She is the author of various publications including William Morris’s Flowers (2019) and May Morris: Arts and Crafts Designer (2017). Her most recent exhibition is Althea McNish: Colour is Mine, currently on display at the William Morris Gallery.

Roisin Inglesby is Curator at the William Morris Gallery and has previously worked in curatorial roles at the Tower of London, Teien Museum, Tokyo, and V&A. She specialises in the international Arts and Crafts movement, including projects on William Morris and the Bauhaus, Young Poland, and the Japanese Mingei movement.

Adam Sutherland was appointed Grizedale Arts’ Director in March 1999. He was previously director of art.tm, a visual arts organisation in the Scottish Highlands, prior to which he was a visual artist, producer and maker based in London. Adam has curated projects for commissioners such as Hauser & Wirth Somerset, Irish Museum of Modern Art (Dublin), PS1 / MoMA in New York and Jerwood Visual Arts in London.