Katie Atkin Situated next to York Art Gallery, The University of York’s King Manor is displaying an archaeological photography exhibition that aims to relate to modern day audiences yet at the same time bring forth the essence of what it would be like to be an archaeologist of earlier times.
On approaching the ‘ Working in Archaeology’ exhibition I took a few moments to take in the sights of the Manor in which it’s housed; the scenic exterior, the well conserved gardens and luxury spiral, stone staircases. All of these features left me astounded, envious of being born in the wrong era, wrong class and not living in a manor like this. The perfect space for an archaeological display, beginning on January 9th I decided to take a trip down there and see what this exhibition had to offer.
After finally finding the correct room, I came face to face with forty photographs, displaced over four walls, all varying in style and purpose. The mixture of opposing images by Belgian photographer Pierre Buch interested me greatly, as within the exhibition he was able to combine both archaic images with modern day ones. For example one photograph portrays a tourist reflecting on the effect of the destruction of Pompeii; another image shows a piece of equipment used in the modern day, both diverse, both art. Being someone who knows little of Archaeology, (but who has a fondness of art) the descriptions of each photograph underneath helped significantly!
The ‘Working in Archaeology’ exhibition was previously held at the UNESCO headquarters in Paris last November. Funded by the EU Culture Programme A.C.E. (Archaeology in Contemporary Europe) the purpose of the organisation is that it ‘aims to promote contemporary archaeology at a European wide level’. The University of York’s Department of Archaeology (specifically its Archaeology Data Service) has made this photography display available for the public of York.
This ‘Working in Archaeology’ display will run until 6th March at Kings Manor, Exhibition Square. Open weekdays 9.30 am till 5.30pm and free to the public.
Overall I believe it was not a wasted trip, the photographs were diverse and unique, descriptions of each piece were provided and just to see the Manor house itself would have been worth the journey. The only critiques I can admit to are that the lighting within the room was a little disappointing , when taking photographs the amount of light seeping through the windows, lowered the quality of each image. Perhaps if someone was present within the exhibition I could get a greater feel for the Archaeological side, a better insight. I definitely recommend going to check it out, after all it is free!
