Residencies at Royal Museums Greenwich

Griffi & Rosie undertook a residency at Royal Museums Greenwich, in partnership with the National Windrush Museum. Their residency was based on the concept ‘Rush!... Don’t Rush!’ and saw them develop work celebrating the energy and experiences of the Windrush generation.  

Nicole Mollett is a socially engaged artist, whose work celebrates alternative histories and forgotten places. She was practitioner in residence at Royal Museums Greenwich during spring 2023, creating pieces inspired by the work of Dutch marine artists Willem van de Velde the Elder and his son Willem van de Velde the Younger.

As part of her residency at Royal Museums Greenwich, data artist Stefanie Posavec created this piece, titled Passing Ships: a celebration of the visitor fleet.

Using data gathered from nearly 600 participants, this artwork showcased the unique and diverse identities of the fleet of visitors who passed through the doors of the Museum every day. Stefanie visualised the data in the form of ships' badges.

Paddy Hartley is an artist working in ceramic, fabric and assemblage who explores themes of memorialisation and remembrance and the origins of World War I reconstruction. He was practitioner in residence at Royal Museums Greenwich between 2016-2017.

Data artist Stefanie Posavec was practitioner in residence at Royal Museums Greenwich between 2018-2019.

During her residency, she interrogated visitor generated data to give us a greater understanding of how people interacted with the spaces at the National Maritime Museum and what their interests were.

Close-up image of part of the Yeo Tetraptych, a four-garment artwork describing the life story of Walter Ernest O'Neil Yeo. Yeo was a Battle of Jutland veteran and facial surgery patient of pioneering facial surgeon Sir Harold Gillies.

Close-up image of a vintage hospital gown, featuring the surgical notes of pioneering facial surgeon, Sir Harold Gillies.

This piece forms part of the Yeo Tetraptych, a 4-garment artwork describing the life story of Walter Ernest O'Neil Yeo. Yeo was a Battle of Jutland veteran and patient of Gillies.

To replicate Gillies' notes, Paddy etch created a precise trace of his handwriting and then applied hand drawn details of burn marks.

Close-up details of textile artist and ceramicist Paddy Hartley at work

Artist Sophie Herxheimer was practitioner in residence in 2015. As part of her residency, she interviewed school children and illustrated their responses to the question, 'what does home mean to you?'

During her residency, visual artist Niamh Hannaford created an artwork inspired by the colonnades between the Queen's House and the National Maritime Museum.

"The work with the colonnades, for me, felt like a strong barrier of the outside of the Museum itself," she says.

"The idea was that I was softening the hard edges of the outside or this iconic but yet imposing and maybe intimidating but impressive parts of the outside of the building, softening those edges and opening them. And then with my sculpture that I made, I tried to fill those casts with some of the memories of play that we had within the Museum."

While practitioner in residence, artist Sophie Herxheimer asked visitors to make a boat and leave and dedicate it to an unknown sea traveller who needs to find safety.

Interior of the RETHINK Gallery, which displayed the work created by practitioners in residence.