Dr Catherine Hahn

Catherine is a Lecturer in History of Art. She is the Administrator of the Studio 3 Gallery and the current Director of Recruitment and Admissions for Art History.

Before joining Kent in 2020, Catherine taught in the Visual Cultures Department at Goldsmiths. As a researcher, she is primarily interested in art’s role in society and the museum as community resource. Her research is nurtured by broad interests in decolonisation, intersectionality, global art, visual research methods and participatory pedagogy.

Catherine is a practising artist. She has a BA in Fine Art from The Slade (UCL), an MFA, from The Michaelis School of Fine Art (UCT) and was a Resident Artist at Greatmore Art Studios, Cape Town, South Africa. She has a PhD in Sociology from Goldsmiths. Her PhD, The Political House of Art: The South African National Gallery 1930-2009 (2016) and recent article: C. Hahn (2023) Reclaiming History in the British Museum entranceway: imperialism, patronage and female, queer and black legacies, Rethinking History, 27:2, 187-220 examine the institutional conditions of creative practice.

Catherine’s work includes creative co-production in academic, art, homelessness, environmental and crisis settings. As the Administrator of the Studio 3 Gallery she oversees an exciting programme that includes well-known artists, community groups, schools and students.

For the past three years, Catherine has been a researcher with the UKRI funded Global Gender and Cultures of Equality project GlobalGRACE. GlobalGRACE identifies how equalities are contested and made in different parts of the world through creative, art-based practice. As a member of the ‘Space Invading’ team, Catherine has explored collaborative, non-hierarchical methods for assembling transnational exhibitions on global equalities. Her open-access learning resource: ‘British Museum Detour’ in Experiments in Cultures of Equality (2022), responds to conversations with GlobalGRACE colleagues. The Museum with Walls (2022) emerged through her interviews with staff in South African museums.

Catherine's research builds on her long-term interest in museums. In her PhD The Political House of Art: The South African National Gallery 1930-2009 (2016) she looks at the gallery’s public practice during periods of change in the raced context of South Africa. 

Her article Nailing One’s Colours: Tate Britain’s Artist and Empire (2017) and short film British Museum Detour (2020, online in progress) continue to explore the institutional conditions of creative practice.

Catherine is passionate about her subject area. She encourages students to develop their own interests through an experimental and inquisitive classroom. Her classes incorporate practice-based pedagogy: creative workshops, art making and exhibition design. Her collaborative approach to teaching is underpinned by expert subject knowledge. Students develop critical thinking skills, the ability to theorise, and a practical understanding of art in ‘real-world’ conditions. Catherine was awarded a PGCHE in 2020.

In 2021-22 Catherine received nine Above and Beyond Awards.

Catherine Convenes the MA in Curating. Her current modules encompass curating, museums, the art business, women artists, single artist study and world perspectives on art history.