2024 Bursary Recipient: Louise Atkinson
Louise Atkinson, winner of the 2024 Merryl Huxtable Bursary, outlines her practice-based research into the Chinese wallpaper at Harewood House, near Leeds in West Yorkshire
I’m excited to have been awarded the 2024 WHS Merryl Huxtable Bursary to support my practice-based research into the Chinese wallpaper at Harewood House, near Leeds in West Yorkshire. The Chinese wallpaper at Harewood House was originally commissioned for Edwin Lascelles, 1st Baron of Harewood, and hung in the Chintz Bedroom in 1769. During the 19th century, the wallpaper was removed from the walls and stored in an outbuilding. Thankfully, it was later discovered and restored and now hangs in the East Bedroom.
As a researcher with a PhD in Fine Art, I often work with community participants to explore forms of cultural representation through objects and images. I will be working with Chinese-speaking community groups in Leeds to understand what the Chinese wallpaper means to Harewood House and its audiences today, as well as how the participants express their own identities and culture through images.
Example workshops will include collecting photographs and stories of personal artefacts, creating repeat patterns of decorative motifs, and producing images for an augmented reality experience which will be showcased in the East Bedroom at Harewood House next year. In addition to this creative intervention, the project will include a website, AR postcards, and a publication featuring images and text from the workshops.
The project aims to prominently feature the voices and contributions of Chinese-speaking community participants and increase their engagement with Harewood House. The use of augmented reality explores creative applications of digital technologies to bring wallpaper histories to life.
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Louise Atkinson