What is the definition of an Apron? Aprons, always mobile and detachable, create a unique case study from which to reflect upon their design, use, and critical meaning; their cultural, labour, racial, and class identities – as tools of protection and activism.
Referring to a category of object at the Fashion Museum Bath (FMB), I: 01 APRONS forms the starting conversation for a joint residency at Chelsea Space this Spring, between exhibition maker Professor Judith Clark and design historian-curator Professor Carol Tulloch. The two will archive, care for and explore ways in which research can be physically staged; how personal narratives, space and visitor perspectives are bridged.
The residency will provide time and space for Tulloch and Clark to respond to the FMB aprons archive, to study a new private collection, and to ‘live with’ aprons as a proposal for a hypothetical exhibition is developed, uniting past and new thinking through a process of sustained conversation-investigations.
Clark and Tulloch will invite guests to expand the conversations into adjacent disciplines. There will also be some public outputs during the residency to be announced as conversations develop, resulting in a small, illustrated publication.
I:01 APRONS is free and open to the public on the following days:
Thursday 24 April : 11am – 4pm
General opening hours
Thursday 29 May : 2pm – 5pm
Jessica Ogden in residence
Thursday 12 June: 4pm – 8.30pm
General opening hours
Thursday 26 June: 6pm – 9pm
Publication launch and closing part
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Image Credit: ‘Market Women, Jamaica’ postcard, 19 May 1904. Carol Tulloch private collection.
