Sculpture research programme
The Henry Moore Institute’s sculpture research programme places sculpture at the centre of current art historical scholarship and actively encourages new research.
At the Henry Moore Institute, we pride ourselves on being a hub of contact and exchange, generating and supporting research networks that extend beyond the confines of academia.
Our sculpture research programme operates across disciplines and art forms, engaging with performance, drawing, photography or architecture, or with wider fields such as politics or anthropology.
Research seasons
Each year our research programme is organised into specific areas of enquiry, explored through themed Research Seasons. Each season includes a range of research events, conferences, lectures, film screenings and discussions, designed to showcase new thinking on different aspects of sculpture.
Beyond the Visual: Blindness and Expanded Sculpture
Autumn 2024 – Spring 2025
This research season explores engagements with contemporary sculpture using senses other than sight.
Through workshops, public events and an exhibition in 2025, we rethink not only the under-representation of blind and partially blind arts practitioners, but also the relationship between artworks and audiences.
Explore our previous research seasons, and watch recordings of talks, conferences and performances.
See all previous research seasons
Upcoming conferences and events
Workshop
Collaborative Audio Description
10:00–15:30
Book Now
Research opportunities
Find out how you can get involved with our research programme.
Visiting research fellowships
Our fellowships enable artists and researchers to develop their work, spending a month in Leeds using our resources.
Applications for 2025/26 fellowship projects are now closed. The next round of fellowships will open in spring 2026.
Calls for participation
We regularly invite submissions for conferences and symposiums on a range of sculpture topic.
Our events take place at the Institute in Leeds, Studios & Gardens in Hertfordshire, and with external partner venues.
Embodied Ideals: The Representation of Women in European Public Sculpture (1836-1937)
Call for participation
Workshop, to take place:
Henry Moore Institute, Leeds
Wednesday 8 October 2025
Deadline to apply:
Monday 2 June 2025, 17:00
Dissertation Prize
Open to BA and MA students of all disciplines, each year we award two prizes for outstanding writing on contemporary, modern or historical sculpture.
We’re delighted to announce the winners of our 2024 Prize are Zelda Cahill-Patten (The Courtauld Institute) and Eleanor Getting (University of York).
Submissions for our 2025 prize will open in autumn.
Our research facilities
We encourage researchers at all levels to seek our advice and make use of our world-class archive, library and sculpture collections in Leeds.
Sculpture Research Library
With more than 30,000 books, exhibition catalogues, journals and audio-visual items, the library is an outstanding resource for studying sculpture.
Archive of Sculptors’ Papers
The working lives of hundreds of sculptors are captured in their photographs, letters, drawings and sketchbooks, alongside film, digital records and even tools and costume.
Leeds sculpture collection
We oversee the development of Leeds Museums and Galleries’ sculpture collections, a partnership that has built one of the strongest collections of British sculpture in the country.
Online research resources
Collaboration is at the heart of our research programme.
We have jointly funded and collaborated in a number of initiatives intended to consolidate primary resources for the study of sculpture.
Essays on Sculpture
Essays on Sculpture is the journal of the Henry Moore Institute, tacking a diverse range of subjects, disciplines and styles to investigate the important role that sculpture plays in the world at large.
Visit us
Henry Moore Institute
74 The Headrow
Leeds
LS1 3AH
United Kingdom
T: 01132 467 467
E: institute@henry-moore.org
