Kew Gardens Archive
I spent 6 months as the inaugural artist-in-residence at the Archive of the Royal Botanical Gardens, Kew, researching the Miscellaneous Reports: China collection. These mixed papers document European plant collection across East Asia from the 1850s to the 1920s. During the residency, I developed my artistic practice, curated an exhibition, and designed a public engagement programme.
The Sounds of Botanical Desire: listen to a podcast about the process of composing music and working with colonial archival materials, on Technecast.
Read my blog post about the residency on UAL Post-grad Stories
Curious & Miscellaneous: New Work and Archival Encounters by Anushka Tay
The exhibition explored four key stories drawn from the materials, which were accompanied by four original compositions that visitors could listen to on their device or on a Reading Room computer. My original artworks were displayed alongside items from across four of Kew's historical collections. The exhibition was open to the public at the Library & Archive Reading Room.