Curator Isabel Young invites submissions for an interdisciplinary exhibition pioneering relationships between art and archaeology in exploration of how people have lived differently over time, or how ancient practices might inform the future. This open-call is part of Fringe Arts Bath 2025.

Curated by Isabel Young

'In Search of Ghosts' is part of Fringe Arts Bath Festival, which will take place 23 May to 7 June 2025. 

Call-out to Artists:

‘In Search of Ghosts’ is an interdisciplinary exhibition pioneering relationships between art and archaeology. Interested in the ways that ideas of the present have come from past contexts, it journeys immense tracts of time in consideration of how people have lived differently through history.

Against the backdrop of Aquae Sulis, A UNESCO World Heritage site and the world of archaeology beyond, this exhibition goes ‘In Search of Ghosts’ to excavate material culture and ancient practices in an encounter with a great lineage of inhabitants who occupy/ied ancient spaces.

The theme of this exhibition is interpreted through the lens of contemporary art ‘with’ archaeology to examine ancient rituals, artefacts, and ways of living, vernacular architecture and dwellings, historic approaches to growing and cooking food, and even the future archaeology of waste.

Simultaneously, it considers how our own Plastic Age might be decoded in 5,000 years and speculates how ancient practices could propose a model for a sustainable future.

Through diverse perspectives and backgrounds a truly interdisciplinary cohort of participants across art, design, archaeology, anthropology, geography, speculative fiction, heritage and history come together in this exhibition to exhume the ancient.

Submission deadline: Friday 11th April 2025 at 23h59 GMT

• Media accepted: All forms of creative practice relating to archaeology, including perspectives and backgrounds across art, design, archaeology, anthropology, sociology, geography, speculative fiction, heritage and history.
• Free submission. All are welcome to apply, of any age, status, and from anywhere in the world.
• If selected, we ask Artists for a £22 contribution (like crowdfunding) and/or to give some of their time, as we are all volunteers. Please read our FAQs here to find out more.