Museum and Archive-based Graphic Novels
- Submitting institution
-
Nottingham Trent University
- Unit of assessment
- 32 - Art and Design: History, Practice and Theory
- Output identifier
- 38 - 970227
- Type
- T - Other
- DOI
-
-
- Location
- -
- Brief description of type
- N/A
- Open access status
- Out of scope for open access requirements
- Month
- July
- Year
- 2014
- URL
-
-
- Supplementary information
-
-
- Request cross-referral to
- -
- Output has been delayed by COVID-19
- No
- COVID-19 affected output statement
- -
- Forensic science
- No
- Criminology
- No
- Interdisciplinary
- No
- Number of additional authors
-
0
- Research group(s)
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B - Design Research Centre
- Proposed double-weighted
- Yes
- Double-weighted statement
- Since 2014 Adlam has pursued research through an illustration and writing practice, resulting in 6 graphic novel outputs (405 pages total), 3 solo exhibitions, and 3 group exhibitions in 7 national and international locations¬. This body of work, researched over six years in 6 collections (The National Archives, the National Army Museum, Nottingham Castle Museums & Galleries, Nottingham Museum of Archaeology, University of York Holocaust archives, and University of St Andrews Centre for Russian, Soviet, Central and East European Studies) and disseminated to an audience of 195,000 make possible new ways of thinking in both museum studies and graphic literature.
- Reserve for an output with double weighting
- No
- Additional information
- Since 2014 Adlam has pursued an illustration and writing practice resulting in 6 graphic novel outputs, and 3 solo and 3 group exhibitions in 7 national and international locations¬. Her practice tests how the graphic novel format can be used to tell authentic and engaging original stories about museum, archive, and university collections, using both historical research and reportage illustration approaches to create works underpinned by authenticity and lived experience. Adlam conceives of the graphic novel as a sophisticated, multi-modal narrative medium, and has applied this to the UK’s heritage sector, which has almost no experience of using graphic novels in this way. Adlam’s process enables her to tell stories about holdings that institutions themselves often cannot otherwise tell.
Adlam’s process is based on meticulous collections-based research, gathering both textual and visual material in order to write original scripts, create visual narratives, and to generate teaching and workshop practices to enable other artists to produce creative responses which in turn feed into her work. She has tested her process through 7 iterations with The National Archives, the National Army Museum, Nottingham Castle Museums & Galleries, Nottingham Museum of Archaeology, and the Universities of St Andrews and York; through over 20 invited public-facing workshops (Chilwell Barracks; Hay Festival; Ikon Gallery, Birmingham; Nottingham Castle; Nottingham Public Library; Lakeside Arts Nottingham; The National Army Museum, London; The National Archives, London), and through dissemination to a combined audience figure of over 195,000.
Adlam’s research insights develop new ways of thinking in both museum studies and the field of graphic literature. Evidence of the high quality of the insight is the fact that Thinking Room (2018) won the World Illustration Awards in the Professional Research and Knowledge Communication category in 2018, while two other projects were shortlisted for the same award in 2015 and 2016.
- Author contribution statement
- -
- Non-English
- No
- English abstract
- -