The Almshouse Tempera Project publication available to order

Inscriptions, a 68-page publication detailing the work of The Almshouse Tempera Project is now available to order

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Hospitality: of Art and Almshouses

Read Aimie Purser’s text for Inscriptions

Pdf version

Inscriptions: Introduction

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Read Derek Hampson and Peter Suchin’s introduction to The Almshouse Tempera Project’s forthcoming publication: Inscriptions.

Pdf version

Naming the Readymade, a Centenary

January 15th, 1916, Duchamp’s letter to his sister in which he first names the “readymade”

Translation of Duchamp’s letter:
15th January approximately. My dear Suzanne, A huge thank you for having taken care of everything for me. But why didn’t you take my studio and go and live there? I’ve only just thought of it. Though I think, perhaps, it wouldn’t do for you. In any case, the lease is up 15th July and if you were to renew it, make sure you ask the landlord to let it 3 months at a time, the usual way. He’s bound to agree. Perhaps Father wouldn’t mind getting a term’s rent back if there’s a possibility you’ll be leaving La Condamine by 15th April. But I don’t know anything about your plans and I’m only making a suggestion. Now, if you have been up to my place, you will have seen, in the studio, a bicycle wheel and a bottle rack. I bought this as a ready-made sculpture. And I have a plan concerning this so-called bottle rack. Listen to this: here, in N.Y., I have bought various objects in the same taste and I treat them as “readymades.” You know enough English to understand the meaning of “ready-made” that I give these objects. I sign them and I think of an inscription for them in English. I’ll give you a few examples. I have, for example, a large snow shovel on which I have inscribed at the bottom: In advance of the broken arm, French translation: En avance du bras casé. Don’t tear your hair out trying to understand this in the Romantic or Impressionistic or Cubist sense—it has nothing to do with all that. Another “readymade” is called: Emergency in favor of twice, possible French translation: Danger \ Crise \ en faveur de 2 fois. This long preamble just to say: take the bottle rack for yourself. I’m making it a “Readymade,” remotely. You are to inscribe it at the bottom and on the inside of the bottom circle, in small letters painted with a brush in oil, silver white color, with an inscription which I will give you herewith, and then sign it, in the same handwriting as follows: [after] Marcel Duchamp.
[Francis M. Naumann and Hector Obalk, eds.; Jill Taylor, trans. Affectionately | Marcel: The Selected Correspondence of Marcel Duchamp. Ghent, Belgium: Ludion Press, 2000, 43–44.]

Inscriptions – Project Publication

Proof copy of  The Almshouse Tempera Project’s forthcoming publication: “Inscriptions,” images and texts detailing the work of the project – published version available soon.

    

Inscriptions

Currently working on The Almshouse Tempera Project publication; Inscriptions, this is how the contents page looks at the moment;

Inscription

Images of the exhibition

images of the exhibition

More information on the exhibition

Exhibition Press Release

Almshouses & NCHA

As ‘Clerk to the Trustee’, David Simmons has overall responsibility for the management of the almshouses controlled by Nottingham Community Housing Association (NCHA). In this blogpost David outlines the evolution of almshouses from their Anglo-Saxon origins and the process through which a number have been incorporated into NCHA, while retaining their charitable status.

Miss M. E. Hardstaff Homes, Gedling, Nottingham

First, the basics – what are almshouses? Put simply, almshouses are the oldest form of social housing. They have been in existence over 1000 years. The first recorded Almshouse was founded by King Athelstan in York in the 10th century AD. The oldest charity still in existence is thought to be the Hospital of St. Oswald in Worcester, founded circa 990. The earliest English almshouses were closely linked with the Church, although not always founded by it. The word ‘almshouse’ was in early times interchangeable with ‘hospital,’ in the sense of hospitality for the poor, elderly, rather than for the treatment of the sick. The homes were supported by gifts of money, ‘alms,’ collected by the Church to maintain them.

The building of almshouses continued through the Tudor and Stuart periods to Georgian and Victorian times when more homes were provided in urban rather than rural areas. Many almshouses were built with money left in the wills of wealthy, philanthropic merchants and industrialists, and were a more humane alternative to the poorhouse and latterly the workhouse. These almshouses vary enormously in architectural style, from the unremarkable, utilitarian to the flamboyant, ornate and picturesque. Few new almshouses are being built in the present day, due mainly to the creation of the Welfare State after the Second World War, the increase in home ownership and the State’s provision of housing for elderly people.

Almshouses are owned by independent charities, run by voluntary trustees to provide independent living for people in need, mostly elderly. There are around 30,000 almshouses in the UK run by about 1,800 charities. Some of the almshouse charities exist to house very specific groups of people, for example retired miners, fishermen or retired members of the armed forces. Mary Elizabeth Hardstaff used her father’s fortune made from coal mining to build homes in Giltbrook, Nottingham and Mansfield Woodhouse, Nottinghamshire, to house widows and orphaned children of miners. The Pennhome almshouses in Sherwood, Nottingham were built in 1878 to house “poor women with a preference for widows or spinsters whose fathers were merchants, tradesmen or professional men and who are 50 years of age or more.”

The city of Nottingham has a rich tradition of almhouses. Writing in his book ‘Almshouses’ in 1988, architectural historian Brian Bailey wrote,

“Nottingham…is actually among the leading towns of England in its promotion of charitable foundations, but it is a city which has undergone a great deal of redevelopment since the Industrial Revolution, and few of the older foundations remain in anything like their original form.”

Bailey goes on to provide a league table of the top 20 charitable cities outside London, which Nottingham tops with 29 existing almshouse foundations, beating larger cities like Birmingham and Bristol.

Norris Homes, Nottingham

NCHA has been involved with almshouses for over 25 years. What usually happens is we are approached by a charity’s trustees who may be struggling to manage and maintain their almshouses, which is often made more difficult as many almshouses are listed buildings or situated in conservation areas. The solution is often for the Charity to ask the Association to take over trusteeship in order to put in place the necessary management and maintenance. This process involves discussions, sometimes lengthy, with the Charity Commission, and consultation with the Almshouse Association and the residents of the almshouses. At the end of the process, NCHA as a corporate body replaces the individual trustees. Importantly, the Charity continues to exist in its own right and the original legacy is preserved. The Charity Commission, through the legal principle of “cy près,” (from the Norman French, “close to”) ensures that as far as possible the homes continue to follow the founder’s original intentions. A governing instrument, called a ‘Scheme,’ which mirrors the original Trust Deed, is drawn up by the Commission as a formal statement of the Charity’s purpose and responsibilities

NCHA’s involvement with almshouses started with the Norris Homes, close to the Association’s Head Office in Sherwood Rise, in 1989. The Homes are a fine example of celebrated Nottingham architect Watson Fothergill’s gothic style of architecture. Mary Smith Norris built the eight one bedroom houses in 1893 as a memorial to her brother John Smith. The residents were to be drawn from the higher or middle walks of life, to be “widows of professional gentlemen or ladies of superior education or refinement.” By 1989 the homes had fallen into serious disrepair, and NCHA undertook the refurbishment of the homes with the help of Housing Corporation funding. As a Grade 2 listed building, the renovations had to be carried out to a very exacting standard. Hundreds of hand cut bricks and roof tiles, a weather vane, sundial and even a terracotta dragon were produced to ensure a sympathetic rehabilitation of the almshouses.

David Simmons

Discussion Day – Report

Report on the Almshouse Tempera Project’s Discussion Day held at the University of Nottingham, Wednesday 24th June. The aim of the day was to bring all the project participants together to discuss how their work and thinking was progressing and to focus attention on to the forthcoming exhibition and project publication.

The morning session, Looking Backwards, Looking Forward commenced with a presentation, by Derek Hampson, detailing what had been achieved to date, including the many talks and workshops delivered by the project. He then focused on the forthcoming exhibition, outlining his suggestion for the exhibition’s title, Inscription, and the reasons behind it. Following this each of the project participants gave a short presentation on how their work for the project was progressing.

The afternoon session, Translations, was organised around a talk by photographer Andy Lock, on photographic representations of architecture. Andy’s talk included a number of his own images of architectural structures, particularly council houses. Of particular interest to the project was his work using the Albumen Print, an early photographic process which, as its name suggests, utilises egg white. Following Andy’s presentation there was a wide-ranging discussion.

The day concluded with a discussion around what participants might contribute to the exhibition and project’s publication. A practical end to what had proved to be a day of thought-provoking interactions. Many thanks to all who participated.

Discussion Day

The Almshouse Tempera Project is now half way to completion. You are invited to join us, to help us map out the project’s future direction during a day of informal presentations and discussions.

Wednesday, June 24th, 11am to 4pm
University of Nottingham
Trent Building
Room LG11 (lower ground, room 11)

The day will be split into two sessions.
Session 1, Looking Backwards, Looking Forward (11am – 1pm)
Session 1 will be led by the project co-ordinator Derek Hampson, who will outline what has been achieved to date before focussing on the forthcoming exhibition at Nottingham Trent University’s Atrium Gallery. The proposed title of the exhibition and the thinking behind it will be outlined. Project participants will then make a short presentation on how their contribution to the project is developing. There will then be a general discussion on how the exhibition’s theme might be supported and expanded by this practical and theoretical work.

Session 2, Translations (2 – 4pm)
The second session will focus on exploring the concept of ‘medium’, testing the proposition that working with a medium involves a process of translation, from one medium into another. The session will begin with a presentation by photographer Andy Lock who will discuss his photographic recording of architectural structures in terms of a translation from a built structure into a photographic image. Following this there will be a general discussion.

Tea and coffee will be provided, there is also an on-site café.

Getting there
Bus – take a 34 Orange Line bus from the centre of Nottingham to the University, get off at East Drive then walk to the Trent Building, the large building with the clock tower.
Car – you can park in the main visitor car park, from where it is about a 10 minute walk
Lift – if you need a lift please get in touch via the Contact Us! link.

map of the university      34 bus route map

Also use the Contact Us! link if any questions.

Hope to see you there!