At the Chelsea College of Arts Library Students and staff are able to submit proposals for exhibitions to take place within the library. They are able to propose installation work within the space or make use of the various display cases that the library has. Near the main entrance are three modern glass display cases of varying size and shape. The library’s group study room, the Old College Library, contains three wooden Victorian style wooden display cases.

Chelsea College of Arts Library has a history of collaborative exhibition making. In 1987 Library staff and artists Zarina Bhimji, Chila Kumari Burman, Jennifer Comrie, Allan de Souza, Keith Piper and Donald Rodney developed a show of Black British art titled ‘The devil’s feast’.^{Footnote 1} In 2022, the Library collaborated with Inscription: The journal of material text – theory, practice, history to select items from the Library Special Collections pertaining to the fold in the artists’ book. This exhibition was developed to coincide with the launch of issue three of the journal on the same theme.^{Footnote 2} In 2023, Professor Paul Coldwell’s exhibition ‘A research journey through pictures, postcards, objects and words’ took place. This exhibition displayed works created through Professor’s Coldwell’s engagement with various museum collections.^{Footnote 3}

There have been many student exhibitions over the years also. Examples include a show in 2023 by MA Curating and Collections Student Manmeet K Walia titled ‘The library project’, showcasing artists’ books by South Asian Artists,^{Footnote 4} an exhibition of zines made by first year graphic design students based on London Street typography in 2021, and over the last three years graduating students have used the display cases and Library space as a site for their final degree show works.

The Library holds a number of Special Collections. The most notable a collection of artists’ books. Founded in the 1970s, it continues to grow each year- there are currently around 5500 artists’ books in the collection. The Artists’ Multiples collection comprises of around 550 artists’ editioned objects, with particularly strong representation of multiples from the 1960s/1970s and 1990s. The Rare Journals Collection includes serial titles that are of historical significance or have ceased publication and features first and limited editions, pilot issues of contemporary magazines, artists’ publications and runs of rare titles. The Ephemera Collection consists of printed ephemera such as clippings, press releases, reviews, private view cards, artists’ statements, CVs, invitations, correspondence and posters relating to artists and galleries. The Library also holds archival collections under the special collections umbrella.^{Footnote 5}

The primary users of the special collections are college students and staff, but external visitors are also able to access the collections by arrangement. The special collections are also heavily used in Library teaching sessions. The Chelsea Librarian team delivers a range of sessions, from introductory overviews of the special collections to sessions that are embedded into taught modules, with specific themes.

In September 2023 I was approached by a member of staff, Rosemary Cronin, Outreach Practitioner at UAL. I had worked with her previously to deliver special collections sessions for widening participation Summer Schools at the college. Rosemary is a member of a Feminist research group at the university, Subjectivities and Feminisms, established 21 years ago. In their words: ‘S&F embraces a legacy of feminist thinking and performance, and questions whether and how subjectivity is a transitive process, and whether and how it is attached to identity’.^{Footnote 6} The group is comprised of University of the Arts London staff.

The group wanted to put together an exhibition for International Women’s Day in March 2024 and had considered if it could take place in the library. Simultaneously, the exhibition Women in revolt was taking place at the Tate Gallery, which is located directly opposite Chelsea College of Arts. The group felt that their exhibition could exist ‘in conversation’ with that exhibition. In total nine members of the group would be part of the exhibition.

We discussed how the show might take shape. Often the work students and staff show in the library display cases have links to library collections. I proposed that the group could make work in reaction to material in our special collections, and this work would be exhibited side by side with the special collections items that each group member had chosen.

Members of the group had varying levels of familiarity with the Special Collections. A visit to the Special Collections room where material is stored was organised for the group. Beforehand guidance on how to search the library catalogue for items in the Special Collections was shared so material could be requested in advance if members of the group wished. Some of the group already had ideas about the special collections items they wished to select.

During the visit, we discussed existing areas of interest that group members had, and I used my existing knowledge of the collection and the library catalogue to bring out items that I thought might be of interest. Being able to easily access the items and compare them helped group members decide on which one to choose. The choices of which special collection item to respond to made by each group member also sparked discussion around curatorial choices for the exhibition. How could the works relate to each other? Could any common themes be drawn out? The idea of group members choosing special collections items created by male artists and making work in response was initially suggested but decided against as some group members wished to select items to respond to that were created by female artists. Around this time, a title was devised for the exhibition: Undoing, redoing, revolting : A feminist response to the special collections at Chelsea College of Arts. Group members then began to develop their works in response.

The process of developing the exhibition had some challenges. The size and shape of the cases created limits for the size of works and precisely where each piece of work and corresponding special collections item could be displayed with the cases. Group members devised rough plans of who would be displaying work where before making it, but during the install there was an element of having to shift works around to best fit.

The nature of the display area as being locked cases within the library space also created some limitation on what formats of work could be made. Audio-visual pieces that would involve Library staff having to switch on and off devices and/or for display cases to be locked and unlocked daily were not compatible with the capacity of the library team. It was also not possible to display work on the wall behind the display cases due to the damage to the wall fixings could potentially cause. This resulted in one member of the group installing their work in the stairwell outside the library. Timing of planning the show corresponded with the first and busiest term of the academic year. Although the group were very easy to work with, co-ordinating visits to the special collections and other requests for access to the material related to the show, alongside other commitments during this period in my job as Academic Support Librarian, was occasionally challenging.

The exhibition was installed on March 5, 2024. The works each group member created in response varied in form. Cecile Emmanuelle Borra selected Sophie Calle’s book, Appointment with Sigmund Freud to tell her own story of an awkward but amusing incident in a nightclub.^{Footnote 7} Dr. Mo Throp chose Lucian Freud’s sketch Encore featured on a private view card from the ephemera collection. In the words of the exhibition text: ‘Her drawing and painting of the lips of Bernini’s statue The Ecstasy of St Theresa undo the masculinist demand for ‘yet more’ from the ‘Woman’, depicting instead Theresa’s autonomous pleasure”.^{Footnote 8}

Rosemary Jane Cronin selected two items from the artists’ multiples collection by Sharon Kivland- L’Imaginaire, a compact mirror engraved with the word ‘moi’ that appears as a reflection when opened at the correct angle, and Mes Tendresses, a magnifying glass, where regular glass has replaced the magnifying glass, turning a functional object into sculpture. The glass is engraved with three inscriptions: ‘Mon Amour’, ‘Mon Coeur’ and ‘Mon Âme.’ Her piece, ‘Sleeping with Sappho, a love letter to Special Collections’ featured an installation shot of her sleeping under a pink silk duvet on top of one of the Old College Library tables alongside an embroidered sleep mask and pillow (Figure 1).^{Footnote 9}

Fig. 1.

Rosemary Jane Cronin’s response to the artists’ multiples collection by Sharon Kivland.

An artists’ multiple by Pipilotti Rist, ‘I’m not the girl who misses much,’ was responded to by Lana Locke. Rist’s multiple contains a brightly coloured plastic bead necklace, yellow VHS tape, a greeting card from the artist in an airmail envelope, and six colour postcards with reproductions of video stills, held in place with a hair tie. Locke created ceramic sculptural pieces which she arranged amongst the multiple within the display case. Professor Maria Walsh also selected an item from the Artists’ Multiples collection: Matthew Crawley’s ‘Dear Mr Goldin’ - a letter to the former head of NASA. In response she created a letter-based piece.

Maurizio Cattelan’s ‘Ringier corporate report,’ taking the form of a roll of toilet paper was chosen by Denise Ackerl. Cattelain’s original piece was displayed as part of her DENISEUM - a self-founded DIY contemporary art institution ’inaugurated’ in 2020, during the pandemic. Ackerl created printed toilet paper invitations.^{Footnote 10} Jo Bruton responded to the artists’ books of Ida Applebroog, using the blue tones and sense of foreboding often found in Applebroog’s works to create ‘A Survival Kit’ of illustrated cards (Figure 2). Fran Cottell chose Ed Ruscha’s ‘Artist business card’ which features a phonetic pronunciation of his name. Drawing on her experiences of her surname often being misspelled, she created her own business card, using the same format as Ruscha.^{Footnote 11}

Fig. 2.

Jo Bruton’s response to the artists’ books of Ida Applebroog.

Finally, two group members chose Lucy Lippard’s 955,000 to respond to. 955,000 comprises of 138 4 x 6 inch index cards containing proposals for work by artists including Robert Smithson, Vito Acconci, Carl Andre and Hanne Darboven. Not all proposals submitted were made into works and shown but the index cards work on multiple levels, as artists’ publication, exhibition catalogue, and works of art in their own right. The numbers in the title pertain to the city in which the exhibition took place, Vancouver, in 1970. Four exhibitions like this took place in different cities and became known as ‘the Numbers shows’.^{Footnote 12}

Outside the Library was a poster piece in response to Daniel Buren’s proposal index card by Secondeditions (Elizabeth Peebles). Gill Addison created her own multiple by asking each of the exhibitors to create an index card about the work they had submitted for the exhibition and wrote a short introductory text card. The index cards were gathered in an envelope and worked in a similar way to Lippard’s original, as both exhibition catalogue and artists’ publication (Figure 3).

Fig. 3.

Gill Addison’s response to Daniel Buren’s proposal index card by Secondeditions.

A launch event was held to celebrate the exhibition opening of the exhibition. The works were on display until April 8, 2024. Developing the exhibition with the group had many positives. Most obviously it was a great way to showcase material from the Special Collections. Due to the nature of the special collections, material is kept in closed access storage. Although the collections are used extensively for teaching and request rates are high from Library users, this can act as a barrier to awareness. Exhibitions like these are an opportunity to highlight material from the collections.

There is sometimes a perception from students that the Library is a place to do ‘academic’ research only, or work that feeds into written work. By showing the work created for the exhibition directly inspired by materials from the special collection, the potential that the special collections as a direct source for creative inspiration becomes very clear. The exhibition also enabled me to build on existing relationships I had with members of the group and develop relationships with those I had not previously worked with. Following the exhibition, one of the group members brought their students to visit the Special Collections.

After the exhibition Gill Addison donated a copy of her Lucy Lippard inspired publication/exhibition catalogue to the library. Being able to add this work, which acts as a form of documentation of the exhibition, to the collection was pleasing and it was good that the exhibition was generative in a way that benefited the special collections.

The exhibition has also inspired similar projects using the special collections. For the past two years my colleague Rosaline Love, Assistant Academic Support Librarian, has worked with a cross-UAL college writing collective, ‘The writer’s collective,’ and as part of their work they have used material in the special collections to inspire their texts. They have then created work in a variety of mediums using the texts and displayed them alongside the Special Collections items in the library. I am currently in the early stages of developing an exhibition with Rosemary Cronin, the group member who initially approached me about the Subjectivities and Feminisms exhibition. We are hoping to take a similar concept but develop an exhibition as part of a widening participation scheme. The exhibition was a fruitful and generative experience in many ways, and I was very happy to be able to facilitate it.