WANDERLUST: TEFAF MAASTRICHT 2020

"The Emperor Hadrian then himself bid welcome to Memnon and left on stone for generations to come. This inscription recounting all that he had seen and all that he had heard [...]"
‍
In the year 121 AD Hadrian commenced a tour of the Roman world: more than any other Emperor, he wanted to see the lands of the Empire for himself.
‍
To commemorate this tour he issued a group of coinage referred to as his ‘travel series’. He also marvelled at monuments from other cultures including the Colossus of Memnon, in the Theban Necropolis, where a member of his party inscribed this short poem. To navigate the journey, he would have used a topological map such as the Tabula Peutingeriana, the only extant example of a Roman road ‘map’.

We decided to create an exhibition using this map, and take visitors on a journey along the Roman road network, from Britain to Mesopotamia. We divided the exhibition space into niches, with each representing a region, town or place. Quotes about the objects and an itinerary label were placed on the inside of each niche.
‍

TIMELINE: FRIEZE MASTERS 2019:

We designed Timeline, an exhibition at Frieze Masters. Sixty-five objects were placed along a 4.6 billion year timeline to illustrate the continuity of matter, materials and ideas. Important events in the history of the Solar System and thought-provoking quotes were scattered along the timeline to create an intriguing and exciting narrative.

The exhibition was a huge success, being featured in many news articles as a highlight of the fair.
‍

MASTERPIECE 2019:

For Masterpiece 2019 we wanted to focus on the history of coinage and the stories that these precious objects tell. Over thirty coins were placed in a bespoke cabinet, taking the visitor on a curated journey through diverse peoples, cultures and histories of the ancient world.
‍