Research and Innovation Grants funded in 2024
Here are the proposals that were awarded Research and Innovation Grants in 2024, for research, innovation and transformative projects in the archive sector.
The Devonshire Collective
This Research and Innovation Grant will enable the Devonshire Collective CIC to develop critical new scholarship on the work and pedagogy of British artist and activist Tessa Boffin (1960 – 1993) through original archival research, artistic commissions and a UK-wide touring exhibition in 2026. Boffin was a lesbian photographer, writer, editor, and performance artist who died young and her work and legacy remain underexplored, despite potent resonances with contemporary identity politics. The Devonshire Collective’s research will be led by a team of diverse practitioners and will take Tessa Boffin’s own words as a starting point – as a teacher, observer, activist and campaigner. The archival research will culminate in a touring exhibition to Eastbourne, Nottingham and Portsmouth, bringing Boffin’s work to new audiences with a distinct pedagogical focus.
The project’s approach is not only to uncover and preserve Boffin’s work but also to reinterpret dominant narratives of art history. By examining her influence on both the visual arts and education, the team aims to reveal Boffin’s contributions to ongoing discourse around gender, sexuality, and activism. This project, through its touring exhibition and newly commissioned works, will be accessible across the UK, extending beyond the art world to engage local communities, marginalised voices, and those most affected by social inequality. By presenting Boffin’s work alongside contemporary artistic responses, they aim to inspire audiences to reflect critically on their own roles within social justice movements and encourage them to act. Through her legacy, the team seeks to create a platform where art is an active tool for change.
This project represents a transformative shift in our own curatorial practice, allowing our emerging curator to move beyond their usual day-to-day roles to engage in original scholarship with a national-level impact. By touring this material as exhibitions, we will reach new audiences and enhance how people interact with art history and archival materials. Our innovative engagement formats, intersectional scholarship, and expanded outreach will ensure that a broader and more diverse group of people can contribute to and access the field of art history. This project will leave a lasting legacy through stronger partnerships and increased institutional capacity to deliver high-impact, community-focused research.
Edward Ball, Director
Tessa Boffin, Untitled #4, 1989/2023.
Hales Gallery
The London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine
The London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) will use its grant to reframe access to its colonial medical photograph collections. Due to the collection’s sensitive nature, these photographs have remained hidden to researchers. However, LSHTM are looking to now make these records accessible in an appropriate way as part of their wider decolonising work.
The project will fund a consultant to work with the team to research the images, facilitate workshops with LSHTM staff and students to gain their views on the material, and produce a learning output for LSHTM and the wider archive community who hold similar material. The project will give LSHTM the opportunity to fully consider the impact of allowing access to this material and inform current practice on taking medical photographs.
London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine
HOUSE OF DREAD
This Research and Innovation Grant will support HOUSE OF DREAD’s programme ‘Reasoning with the Archive’.
This support empowers us to continue our mission of preserving and celebrating the rich cultural heritage of our community. Through this funding, we aim to digitise and make accessible HOUSE OF DREAD’s oral history collection, inviting members of the community to explore the possibilities of the archive through words and sound. This opportunity strengthens our vision to ensure the voices and stories of underrepresented groups are documented and shared in meaningful ways and provides an important opportunity to connect, past and present through creative projects that inspire and educate future generations
Dr Aleema Gray, Founder
House of Dread