So you want to be a Mummer? An Artist talk and visual presentation
Abstract
This artist talk and visual presentation shows work in progress including photographs and video that will become an online and physical exhibition in the future.
Marshall has spent over a year visiting and photographing the Coventry Mummers to find out what a Mummer is, to get to the heart of what they do, and why it is an important part of their identity. "I want to create a legacy project for these Mummers and perhaps even extend it to other Mummers groups across the country. The Coventry Mummers have a natural visual inventiveness. I believe that collaboration with a visual artist is different from that of an anthropologist, academic or theatre researcher. I hope to bring a non-judgemental mirror to what they are doing, to who they are and to how their audience experiences them, not only with my camera, but also in the manner that my research is centred on the personal and open ended whilst honouring the tradition. I want the Mummers to benefit directly from this project, so that it has an ethos of co-authorship all the way through to ownership and copyright of material I produce. I want them to be able to use the material in their events, talks and future publicity."
About the author
Helen Marshall is a British artist with a track record in collaborative practice whose work is rooted in photography and design. Her portfolio includes commissions for BBC Television, Tate Britain, The Photographers' Gallery and a recent Arts Council funded collaboration in Indonesia that was showcased at the Delhi Photo Festival and Kuala Lumpur Photo Awards. Current work is investigating aspects of British vernacular customs and traditions.
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