Widening the Boundaries of the Spectacular: Constructing and Consuming the Female Gymnast and the Salome Dancer in Fin de Siècle Britain by Rachael Smith

Drawing upon understudied collections of circus and theatre ephemera, Rachael’s work explores the ways in which female perfomers utilised objects to cultivate alternative, often overtly erotic, performance selves before proceeding to examine the movement of sexualised images of female perfomers into the home via goods produced specifically for women and children.

rachael.smith@network.rca.ac.uk

Unity in the Arts: Exploring the Relationship between Walter Crane’s Political Philosophy, Ideals in Art and Role as an Educator by Louise Collins

Divided into three main chapters; British Socialism in the late-nineteenth century and the growing Arts and Crafts Movement; Crane’s decorative, commercial and political art and thirdly his role as an educator, Louise’s work aims to explore the relationship between Crane’s political and artistic philosophy and the impact of his role as an educationalist.

louise.collins@network.rca.ac.uk

The Eiffel Tower and Ferris wheel: Transfixed immobility and the performance of the modern in the late-nineteenth century by Kimberley Chandler

‘If […] you go wholly conscienceless,– not like a painstaking draftsman, but like a human Kodak, caring only for as many pleasing impressions as possible, not for the analysing of their worth,– you will be delighted.’ – The Century Magazine, 1893

kimberley.chandler@network.rca.ac.uk