‘Emergency!’ is a visually stunning art installation and exhibition that highlights glacial archaeology emerging high in the European alps.

The exhibition of new work by Dr Sarah Casey, of Lancaster University, has been developed in response to glacial archaeology.

Working with objects on display at the Valais Museum in Switzerland, in 2018 Dr Casey began drawing artefacts that had emerged from alpine glaciers as the ice in which they have been preserved for centuries is now melting at unprecedented rates.

“These rare and valuable finds preserve important knowledge about the human past, yet insight comes at the cost of environmental change and threatened futures,” explains Dr Casey, a Senior Lecturer in Drawing and Installation at Lancaster University and Director of the School of Art.

Found objects, dating from the Neolithic period to the contemporary, include personal items such as shoes, clothing, weapons and tools, all emerging as the mountain ice melts.

The exhibition, which runs from November 12 until early 2023 at Drawing Projects UK in Trowbridge, is part of the art of Being Human 2022, the UK’s national festival of the humanities, the study of human society and culture.

It shares new research in the materials of fine art and invites people to think about these challenges through an installation of drawing-sculptures made with waxed paper and graphite dust, evoking objects trapped in ice.

Wafer-thin layered translucent drawings will fill the gallery space with images of archaeological finds that appear/ disappear with air currents and shadows.

Just like the ice they depict, if these drawings get too hot, they will melt away.

The show is aptly named ‘Emergency’ because the word means ‘something that comes out of crisis’.

The exhibition is suitable for families, teenagers and adults of all ages.

Please book for the preview on November 12 here

This research is the outcome of a Henry Moore Research Fellowship and undertaken in dialogue with Valais History Museum, Switzerland. It has been funded with support from Arts Council England.

Dr Casey is a visual artist and researcher working at the cusp of drawing and sculpture. Her drawings exploring the limits of visibility and material existence arise from working alongside researchers from other fields, ranging from archaeology to astrophysics.

Solo exhibitions of her work have been at Kensington Palace, The Bowes Museum and most recently at Ryerson University, Toronto.

She also writes about drawing and is co-author of Drawing Investigations: graphic relationships with science, culture and environment (Bloomsbury 2020).

The exhibition is supported by Lancaster University and Arts Council England, and continues at Drawing Projects UK in Wiltshire until 17 December 2022 - more information here.

The 2022 Being Human festival (from November 10 to 19) is themed around 'Breakthroughs'.

As part of the 10-day national programme of big ideas, big debates and engaging activities for all ages, the event aims to champion the excellence of humanities research, help to demonstrate the vitality and relevance of this today and showcase how the humanities helps us understand ourselves, our relationships with others and the challenges we face in a changing world.