MiCA is a cross-institutional research group founded in 2017 bringing together artists, writers and others engaged in the relation between the medieval period and contemporary art.

Members

The Co-PI’s are Prof Sharon Morris, Slade School of Fine Art, UCL and Prof. Clare Lees, Director of the Institute of English Studies, and vice-dean, SAS, University of London. 

Members of the research group include: Neil Jeffries, Prof. Jayne Parker, Prof. Liz Rideal and Jo Volley, plus doctoral candidates Egidija Ciricaite, Malgorzata Dawidek Gryglicka and Vaishali Prazmari.

Research Themes

MiCA’s research themes include ‘material and materiality’, associated with Jo Volley’s material and pigment research; ‘language, translation and transhumance’; ‘the medieval beyond Europe’; ‘Medieval studies and contemporary art practice’ (Prof. Clare Lees); ‘medieval stones and spineless publications’.

Activities

The research group has visited collections of medieval manuscripts at UCL, and National Trust property Bodiam Castle.

In 2018 all members of the MiCA research group presented at the MAMO, Middle Ages in the Modern World conference, John Cabot University, Rome (downloadable pdf).

The following year, 2019, Prof. Sharon Morris presented her research and the work of MiCA at IONA, Early Medieval Studies on the Islands of the North Atlantic, Simon Fraser University, Vancouver. The session was organised by Prof. Clare Lees, SAS.

MiCA has also organised 2 sessions for doctoral students from the Slade, UCL History of Art department, SAS, Kings College London, with Prof. Gillian Overing in 2019, and in 2020.

In Spring 2020, the exhibition Temporal Stabilities by Liz Rideal was held at 4m2 Gallery, John Cabot University. The associated Temporal Stabilities pdf publication documents work inspired by research into Roman Medieval Cosmati paving.

Currently members of MiCA are pursuing their research and Sharon and Clare are working towards a collaborative publication.

Resources

Institute of English Studies Blog: Medieval Books in Contemporary Art (School of Advanced Study, University of London)

Clare A. Lees and Gillian R. Overing. The Contemporary Medieval in Practice. UCL Press (available as Open Access pdf download)