Projects per year
Organisation profile
Organisation profile
The University of Brighton’s Material History Research Excellence Group brings innovative scholarship and practice from across disciplines in the arts, design and media to consider ways in which engagement with cultures and their artefacts can elucidate, vocalise and respond to a range of contemporary social and environmental challenges.
Drawing on a broad membership to include students, archivists, practice-led researchers and cultural-historical analysts, the Material History REG has formed with the overarching intent to defy easy binaries at every level. Besides reassessing items traditionally prized and assigned cultural importance, such as art works and archives, our work also urges the re-evaluation of ephemeral items, those made with less thought for value or longevity, including magazines, printed adverts, personal documents, embroidery, film slides, and garments.
Our researchers’ distinctive approaches include innovative and creative engagement with historic and contemporary artefacts and the media cultures that drive their acceptance and popularity. This generates fresh research perspectives, underpinning and complementing work with historian and archivist colleagues across the university.
If you are interested in working with us, please contact the lead: Professor Tamar Jeffers Mcdonald [email protected]
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Collaborations and top research areas from the last five years
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Profiles
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Harriet Atkinson
- School of Humanities and Social Science - Senior Lecturer
- Material History Research Excellence Group
- Centre for Design History - Senior Lecturer
- Centre for Applied Philosophy, Politics and Ethics
Person: Academic
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Sue Breakell
- School of Art and Media - Principal Research Fellow
- Centre for Arts and Wellbeing
- Material History Research Excellence Group
- Centre for Design History
Person: Academic
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GDHCD: Graphic design histories for creative dissent: Archiving and ethical challenges
Atkinson, H. (PI), Triggs, T. (PI), Pretorius, D. (CoI) & Farias, P. (CoI)
1/01/25 → 31/12/27
Project: Research Councils / Government Depts.
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National partnership to tackle health inequalities in coastal communities
Selman, L. (PI), Mezes, B. (PI), Sawyer, A. (CoI), Sherriff, N. (CoI), Klein, U. (CoI), Forbes, L. (CoI), Hotham, S. (CoI), Salami-Oru, T. (CoI), Buttery, L. (CoI), Malpass, A. (CoI), Matthews, F. (CoI), Kara, B. (CoI), Pollock, H. (CoI), Wickham, S. (CoI), Flowers, S. (CoI), Albury, L. (CoI), Bancroft, A. (CoI), Gustar, B. (CoI), Moss, D. (CoI), Wheelock, H. (CoI), Fortier, J. P. (CoI), O’Driscoll, N. (CoI), Catt, H. (CoI), Shearn, H. (CoI), Hutchinson, J. (CoI), Billington, J. (CoI), Mills, J. (CoI), Crowther, M. (CoI), Hopkins, T. (CoI) & Kennedy, S. (CoI)
1/02/24 → 31/01/27
Project: Charities
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"The Materialisation of Persuasion": Modernist Exhibitions in Britain for Propaganda and Resistance, 1933 to 1953
Atkinson, H. (PI)
Arts and Humanities Research Council
1/02/19 → 31/01/23
Project: Research Councils / Government Depts.
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An independent report evaluating the design and development of the UK Pavilion at Osaka Expo 2025
Atkinson, H., 2026, (Accepted/In press) Department for Business and Trade.Research output: Book/Report › Commissioned report
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Domestic Dusters: Embroidering cleaning cloths as an act of creative, political, and social resistance
Marr, V., 1 Feb 2026, In: Contention: The Multidisciplinary Journal of Social Protest. 13, 2Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open AccessFile -
Open AccessFile
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Invited Q&A and public screening of Designing from Home at Isokon Gallery
Atkinson, H. (Presenter) & Breakell, S. (Presenter)
24 Sept 2026Activity: External talk or presentation › Invited talk
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Paper 'Material Memories and Matrilineal Legacies: Tracing My Grandmother’s Artistic Life'
Atkinson, H. (Presenter)
19 Jun 2026Activity: External talk or presentation › Oral presentation
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The Materials of Material History
Winckler, J. (Participant)
4 Jun 2026 → 5 Jun 2026Activity: Events › Conference