In Search of Ghosts
Venue • 44AD artspace • BA1 1NN • click for map
Opening night • Fri 23 May • 6pm until late
Open 11am to 6pm daily • 24 May to 7 June 2025
Curator & Artist Talk • Sat 31 May 2025 • 2-3pm
‘In Search of Ghosts’ is an interdisciplinary exhibition pioneering relationships between art and archaeology. Interested in the ways that ideas of the present have come from past contexts, it journeys immense tracts of time in consideration of how people have lived differently through history.
Against the backdrop of Aquae Sulis, A UNESCO World Heritage Site and the world of archaeology beyond, this exhibition goes ‘In Search of Ghosts’ to excavate material culture and ancient practices in an encounter with a great lineage of inhabitants who occupy/ied ancient spaces.
The theme of this exhibition is interpreted through the lens of contemporary art ‘with’ archaeology to examine ancient rituals, artefacts, and ways of living, and the future archaeology of waste. Simultaneously it considers how our own Plastic Age might be decoded in 5000 years, and speculates how ancient practices could propose a model for a sustainable future.
Through diverse perspectives and backgrounds an interdisciplinary cohort of participants come together in this exhibition to exhume the ancient.
In Search of Ghosts is curated by Isabel Young, an artist and Senior Tutor (Research) at the Royal College of Art. Drawing on archaeological theory and experimental archaeology, she works within an expanded field practice exploring the socio-cultural dynamics and history of the house, its integrated environments and architectures, and the people who lived in them.
The 'In Search of Ghosts' exhibitors are: David Ian Bickley, Helen Blejerman, Diane Eagles, Andrew Ekins, Mark Antony Haden Ford, Caitlin Hazell, Mark Heitner, Sadie Hennessy, Dajana Heremic, Helen Hurford, Jamie Lee, Rhiannon Lewando, Becky Little with Tom Morton & Joshua Davie, Marisa Müsing, Steve Pettengell, Sarah Rhys, Paul Vivian, Seitaro Yamazaki and Isabel Young.
Curator Isabel Young
Curated by Isabel Young
Isabel Young is an artist and Senior Tutor (Research) at the Royal College of Art. Drawing on archaeological theory and experimental archaeology, she works within an expanded field practice exploring the socio-cultural dynamics and history of the house, its integrated environments, and the people who lived in them.
Young holds a Master’s in fine art from the Royal College of Art and a Master’s in landscape architecture from the University of Greenwich. She is an Academic Member of the Landscape Institute and Member of the Vernacular Architecture Group.
Young exhibits across the UK and internationally and presents her research at conferences and symposium. A recent example of Young’s practice ‘The Lararium Project’ (a shrine to the household gods) can be visited in the Roman Villa at Butser Ancient Farm, a museum of experimental archaeology. As a permanent fixture, the lararium is used for education and re-enactments gaining further insight into religious practices and associated rituals.
Instagram: @isabelyoungart
LinkedIn: isabelyoungart
Website: isabelyoung.wixsite.com/isabel-young