Welcome to Barber Home
Barber Home began in April 2020 during the coronavirus pandemic as a way for the Barber to remain ‘open’ as a place for people to engage with creativity and learning – and provided an exciting opportunity to work collaboratively with artists and partners.
It consisted of live Zoom events, online student workshops, family resources, and even recipes and dance workshops.
Online Recordings
Worm: art +ecology
Angela Chan of curatorial project Worm Art +ecology investigated climate and environmental issues throughout art history in the Barber’s own collection though a guided workshop. We explored how we might view and discuss painting, sculpture and prints through the lens of environmental research and global histories.
Myth Personas: Visual Poems with Holly Hunter
Inspired by the ink drawing The Death of the Children of Niobe by Conrad Martin Metz, this workshop aimed to bring voice to lesser known characters in Greek Mythology through playful interpretation.
Artist and writer Holly Hunter guided us through a series of drawing and writing exercises to create poetic visual responses to this incredible artwork.
The Queer Gaze: Emotion and Erasure
Arts Educator Jon Sleigh reveals powerful queer coded messages, alongside sitters’ known histories, in this emotive journey through two 18th-century portraits in the Barber Institute's collection.
Degas and Miss Lala
In response to this preparatory sketch of Olga Kaira Brown, Miss Lala at the Cirque Fernando (1879) by Edgar Degas, Birmingham-based artist Exodus Crooks (formally De'Anne) presents a live desktop performance engaging with themes of spectatorship, strength and Blackness. This online event explores the history of Olga Kaira Brown and the artwork and also featured a Q&A session with Crooks.
Resources
Women In Focus: Zine Making and the Gender Gap with Round Lemon
Have you ever contemplated our collection through a feminist lens? In January 2023, Round Lemon took us on a journey through art history as they broached the subject of the gender gap and addressed how women artists are represented in art galleries.
Explore women artists and Round Lemon's approach to thinking about the Gender Gap in gallery spaces.