Canterbury’s role in the Peasants’ Revolt in 1381 and violent agrarian riots in 1838 have helped bring an internationally acclaimed and much-travelled artwork to the University: the Aftermath Dislocation Principle (ADP).
The installation by Jimmy Cauty – famous for burning £1 million when part of art-pop group the KLF – features a dystopian landscape with 1:87 scale hand-painted figures and models of buildings and vehicles, all housed in a shipping container.
The ADP has been on a nationwide tour of former riot sites across the UK and is part of an exhibition at the Canterbury campus called Beyond the Barricade, which charts revolutionary moments through a diverse range of artworks.
The ADP, which is on its last stop in the UK before it departs to New Zealand and an international tour in 2019, will be the largest of the works that MA Curating students in the School of Arts have selected from over 15 international artists, whose practice addresses the theme of revolution.
Their show and accompanying educational materials, the result of a year’s research and collaboration, feature as part of Kent’s participation in a nationwide project known as the Age of Revolution, led by Dr Ben Marsh in the School of History. Dr Marsh and a number of academics and students from Kent are working with external partners in museums and galleries to bring exposure to new sources and design activities to freshen up the teaching of the history of the period 1775-1848.
Dr Marsh said: ‘The MA Curating students have developed exciting new strands and secured major works that help us to think about the links between art and revolution, and it’s a great privilege for Kent to host the ADP on campus at such a time of world upheaval. It’s also a reminder that Canterbury does have a riotous past.’
The Beyond the Barricade exhibition contains more than 40 artworks, and will be visited by several local schools. It is free to all and is open on weekdays from 11am-5pm from 27 September – 30 November 2018. All the exhibits are housed in the University’s Studio 3 Gallery apart from the ADP, which is located next to the Gulbenkian.