Professor Abigail Brundin took up her role as Director of the BSR in September 2021. She is Professor of Italian and a fellow of St Catharine’s College at the University of Cambridge, where she was previously Chair of the Faculty of Modern and Medieval Languages & Linguistics. Her research interests include Italian literature and literary history from the beginning of the age of print, with particular concern for marginalised voices including those of women and religious minorities. She has also run projects in historic libraries in English country houses on books connected with the Grand Tour, in collaboration with the National Trust and English Heritage.
Abigail Brundin & Bridget Riley @BSR May.2024 photo Antonio Masiello/Getty Images
Art, whatever it takes – RomeArtProgram has made interviews with people involved in art, living in Italy, the USA and the UK, to know their feelings during these hard times.
-> Abigail Brundin Interview:
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RomeArtProgram: When and how was your Institution founded?
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-> Abigail Brundin: The British School at Rome (BSR) was founded in 1901, and moved to its current splendid premises on Via Gramsci in 1916.
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RAP: Are there similar Institutions of yours in other Countries in the world?
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-> Abigail: The UK Government funds 9 British International Research Insitutes, including the BSR, which is the largest by some magnitude and the only one to include full programmes in fine art and architecture.
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RAP: What are the main objectives towards which your activity is oriented?
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-> Abigail: We nurture world-class creative and academic researchers from the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the Commonwealth. We creates link between them and the intellectual and cultural worlds of Rome and Italy. We welcome people from a wide range of backgrounds to a stimulating environment of interdisciplinary research and practice where work of the very highest quality is generated and facilitated in a transformative intellectual context.
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RAP: Is there a project or event of which you are particularly proud?
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-> Abigail: In May 2023 the BSR inaugurated a beautiful ceiling painting by Bridget Riley called Verve. Bridget Riley is one of the UK’s most significant contemporary artists. At the age of 93 she continues to innovate and make new work, Verve is her first ever ceiling painting and was a gift to the BSR from the artist. It’s a beautiful work, lifting the spirits up to the sky as you enter the building, and it also serves to make visible to anyone who comes inside (or indeed who glimpses the brilliant colours from the street when our doors are open) that works of art are made and nurtured in this space.
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RAP: Does the Institution accept fellows? …from which countries?
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-> Abigail: We run competitions annually for all our residential fellowships. These are fully funded opportunities to spend time in Rome conducting research and carrying out practice. Researchers have a study bedroom and artists live in a residential studio. Our wonderful library on site is open 24 hours a day to our residents, and our support staff help them to access all the spaces and collections in Rome and further afield that they need for their work.
Depending on the funder our awards are open to different career stages and nationalities: the majority of our awards are open to UK nationals and residents, and nationals of the wider Commonwealth. Some of our awards are also open to other nationals (eg Abbey Awards are open to Americans, and Derek Hill Awards are open to Irish nationals). The BSR, despite its name, is a very international community!
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RAP: Which is the role of Academies and Art schools today?
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-> Abigail: The residencies at the BSR and other similar institutions provide vital breathing space for creatives and researchers at different career stages to conduct deep-dives into new areas or produce a piece of work. This requires dedicated time and space, with all the distractions of daily life taken care of by us. For the UK today the opportunity for time in a European context is particularly precious. Finally, the UK’s centuries-long love-affair with Rome shows no signs of abating…
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RAP: In your opinion, how have new technologies changed art today?
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-> Abigail: New technologies have undoubtedly revolutionised the artistic world, impacting not just creative practices, but also the way in which art can be shared and distributed as well as the modes of interaction between an artist and the public. These days we have access to a whole range of highly immersive and personalised artistic landscapes, accessible to the public via tools such as augmented reality, 3D printing or artificial intelligence. The relationship between art and technology is in a constant state of evolution.
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