Intermediality: The Transformation of Art and Literature in the International Avant-garde 1945–75, as Referenced in the Nimai Chatterji Archive

The University of Edinburgh, in partnership with Tate, is seeking to appoint a suitably qualified applicant for a full-time collaborative PhD studentship, focused on the extensive Nimai Chatterji archive at Tate, commencing 1 October 2017.

The newly catalogued Chatterji archive contains documents and objects relating to international avant-garde movements in the period 1945 to 1975. The proposed research is intended to develop a critical and historical approach to the newly catalogued and under-researched archive, engaging with its intermedial dimensions (for example, interractions between drawing and poetry, or between painting and theatre), and will include research into experimental and modernist literature, concrete and visual poetry, and specific groupings or practices including Lettrism, Oulipo, Pataphysics, Situationism and Fluxus. The research may also reflect on Chatterji’s extensive broadcasts on culture for the BBC, as well as his interest in Bengali parallels with Western intermedia art, such as the Prakalpana movement.

The research is intended to provide key insights into the nature and remit of the Chatterji collection in its widest sense. By enriching our understanding of intermedia the research will also support Tate’s ambition to present the wider collection more effectively within the context of its art collection. The researcher will develop writing skills and public communication skills through contributions to Tate’s online research materials.

Edinburgh College of Art is home to the UK’s leading course in intermedia practice, and is recognised as a centre for the critical and theoretical study of contemporary art. The successful applicant will be expected to spend extended periods of time working with the archive in London and contribute to the research culture of both institutions.

Applicants should hold (or expect to achieve) a good Master’s degree and either a 1st Class or Upper 2nd Class Honours degree in art history or a relevant discipline.

Principal Supervisor: Prof Neil Cox (UoE). Second supervisors: Adrian Glew (Tate); Dean Hughes (UoE)