Team

CRÍA (which means 'offspring' in Spanish) was established in April 2016 to mark the 50th Anniversary of the establishment of the School of Museum Studies.

Our aim is – in our own research, in our research collaborations, and in the work of our students and associates – to become a centre for multivariate research looking at social, aesthetic, political, economic, intellectual and professional performances in the visual arts. We are particularly interested in developing new collaborative projects with partners around the world, acting as a centre for contemporary debate and as a hub for PhD study.

So as to facilitate this multidimensional aspect, CRÍA possesses no director. It works on the basis of a cooperative.

CRÍA

• Dr Stacy Boldrick looks at the art institution as a site of performance and the expanded field of iconoclasm, from the defacing of medieval religious sculpture to the toppling of confederate monuments. Her monograph 'Iconoclasm and the Museum' examines the long history of iconoclasm and the ways in which historic and contemporary acts of iconoclasm are addressed, obscured or fictionalised in the museum.
• Professor Simon Knell is a specialist in the performances of institutional, disciplinary and object cultures. He recently completed a global study of national galleries and national art and explored situated modernisms. His most recent book is The Museum's Borders: On the Challenge of Knowing and Remembering Well which includes a discussion of borders in art museums and art history.
• Dr Janet Marstine (emeritus) views the art institution through an ethical lens and is particularly interested in the shaping of professional practice, gender issues, censorship, human rights and feminist discourse.
• Dr Isobel Whitelegg focuses on contemporary art in relationship to institutional histories, particularly those of non-collecting institutions. She specialised in Latin American art, and has published widely on its international reception.