Henry Moore Institute announces visiting research fellows for 2023

• Eight artists and art historians have been selected as this year’s Henry Moore Institute visiting research fellows.
• Travelling from around the world to Leeds, these fellows will spend time at the Institute studying their chosen subject.
• This year’s fellows represent a wide range of subjects that demonstrate the breadth of cutting-edge research taking place in the field of sculpture today.

The Henry Moore Institute is thrilled to unveil the exceptional lineup of eight visiting research fellows for 2023. These distinguished artists and art historians from around the globe have been carefully selected to immerse themselves in intensive research at the Institute in Leeds, in order to develop their work.

The Henry Moore Institute is renowned for fostering critical research in the field of art history, and the visiting research fellowships provide a unique opportunity for artists and scholars to further study their chosen subjects. This year’s cohort of fellows promises to enrich the Institute’s intellectual environment with their expansive areas of expertise and multidisciplinary approaches.

The Henry Moore Institute is a world-recognised centre for the study of sculpture. We host a year-round programme of exhibitions, conferences and lectures, as well as developing research and publications, to expand the understanding and scholarship of sculpture. On the first floor of the Institute you can find our Sculpture Research Library, with beautiful reading rooms housing over 30,000 books, journals and ephemera. The library also houses Leeds Museums & Galleries Archive of Sculptors’ Papers, which holds collections of photographs, letters, drawings and sketchbooks documenting the working lives of hundreds of sculptors.

“We are delighted to welcome such a breadth of scholarship within our next cohort of visiting research fellows. It is vital that we continue to use our resources and collections to foster new research and to provide time and space to discover, think and often reassess.

“The fellowship programme is a testament to our commitment to fostering intellectual exploration and advancing knowledge in the field of sculpture and its histories. We look forward to seeing what comes from these fascinating research projects.”

Dr Clare O’Dowd, Research Curator at the Henry Moore Institute

Visiting Research Fellowships 2023

Throughout their time at the Henry Moore Institute, the visiting research fellows will have access to the Institute’s extensive research library, Archive of Sculptors’ Papers and Leeds Museums & Galleries’ renowned sculpture collection, further enriching their research. Alongside this they will have the opportunity to immerse themselves in the vibrant art scene in Leeds for a whole month.

Tinashe Mushakavanhu was born in Zimbabwe and is currently based in Oxford. He will be researching for his project The Stone Philosophers, which will redefine Zimbabwean art history and celebrate the country’s artists.

Chiara Pazzaglia is an art historian who will be researching for her project Redefining a European Identity, which explores post-war public monuments from a transnational perspective.

Giovanni Rendina is a curator and a researcher who will further his research project Sculpture and the Politics of Subjectivation, which explores art as a form of political resistance.

Artist Research Fellowships 2023

These fellowships have been designed for artists to develop their practice through research, using the Institute’s resources. These fellowships support a range of visual arts practices and outcomes, generated through research into sculpture and its histories.

Panteha Abareshi is an artist currently based in California, USA. They will conduct research into the notion of disabled sculptural corporeality.

Murray Anderson is an artist who lives and works in London. His project Backward Desire explores relief sculpture.

Olivia Bax is an artist who was born in Singapore, Malaysia and lives and works in London. Bax is researching how contemporary sculpture addresses hybridity; considering the mix or clash of materials, disciplines, ideas and classifications.

Zoe Partington is a disabled artist, curator and disability activist and Co/Director of Disordinary Architecture. Her art and research focuses on marginalised disabled artists.

Joseph Strang is an artist and researcher living and working in Glasgow, Scotland. He will be researching for his project Fictioning a Sculptural Historiography which explores sculpture, memory and fiction.

Notes to editors

For more information on our research fellows and their projects, or to find out about fellows from previous years, please see our research fellows pages.

Research fellows 2023

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