Martha Jennings, a student on the Museums, Galleries and Contemporary Culture MA course, has had her work, titled Memoria Technica, showcased in St Pancras Hospital as part of their annual LGBT+ exhibition, Loudest Whispers.
Loudest Whispers features the works of more than 40 artists from the LGBT+ community and celebrates those working in TV, cinema and photography. The exhibition promotes LGBT+ artists based in Camden and Islington, exploring themes such as identity and life-changing experiences. Hosted by the Camden and Islington NHS Foundation Trust, and supported by the independent charity forum+ and the Arts Project, the sale of the artworks will support the projects, staff and service users of the Trust.
Martha’s Memoria Technica explores the memorialisation of LGBTQI+ people contributing to the film, television, and photography industries. The installation features three torsos that represent male, female and intersex bodies. Each torso is painted differently to celebrate the feelings of an LGBTQI+ person within these industries. On a plinth below the male torso, flowers such as roses and lavender, which are associated with trans and queer people, represent members of the LGBTQI+ community, honouring the memory and the influence of their work.
Memoria Technica is also an interactive art piece that invites visitors to add the names of an LGBTQI+ person they know from the film, television and photography industries onto the wall behind the torsos. Names that already feature on the wall include people such as lesbian film director Cheryl Dune, bisexual actor Kit Connor, and transgender actor Elliot Page.
Talking about the installation, Martha said: “For my art to be featured in an exhibition that is open to the public is simultaneously super nerve-wracking and really exciting. In a short space of time, I have gained so much experience while meeting some incredible artists and curators. It is a real honour for me to be able to contribute my art to an exhibition that celebrates LGBT+ History Month.
“Exhibitions that not only celebrate and represent LGBTQI+ persons, but also exhibit the work of artists from the community, are so important in increasing diversity within galleries, museums, and art councils. Overall, I would like to say a massive thank you to my supervisor, Pippa Catterall, and curator of the exhibition, Peter Herbert, who have supported me throughout the creative process.”
The exhibition was opened on 3 February and will be inviting visitors until 12 May 2023. Over 250 people attended the opening event, during which Pippa Catterall, Professor of History and Policy at the University of Westminster, gave a speech. Professor Catterall discussed the upcoming 20th anniversary of the appeal for Section 28 this November, which limited the expression and promotion of the LGBT+ community until 2003.
“History is now. We need to live that history and respond to it, and fight to make sure that it is moving to the right direction,” said Professor Catterall, recognising the importance of LGBT+ History Month.
This year, Loudest Whispers includes mixed media artworks on the theme ‘Behind the Lens’. In addition to Martha’s Memoria Technica, she is one of a group of Westminster students presenting on Nobody's Perfect: Reflections on LGBTQ+ Representation on Film.
Talking about Martha’s artwork and the Westminster students’ projects, Peter Herbert, Manager and Curator at the Arts Project, and curator of Loudest Whispers, said: “As an exhibition that is a collective voice for our LGBT+ community, Loudest Whispers is unique in its NHS health care setting and may also be the most inclusive of all our UK based LGBT+ creative opportunities. This year The Arts Project continues its outreach into the community and welcomes a special partnership with Professor Pippa Catterall and the University of Westminster, offering opportunities for students to be involved in creating artwork linked to their studies, researching themes for public speaking presentation and work on short film projects.
“We are delighted with the result of Martha Jennings’ profound and beautifully conceived Memoria Technica installation that acknowledges the contributions of often unsung and neglected LGBT+ practitioners of the arts linked to the camera lens, both past and present. This may well be the most rewarding of all our Loudest Whispers so far.”
Learn more about Art, Design, and Visual Culture courses at the University of Westminster.
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