The Residency Programme at Royal Museums Greenwich provides an exciting, collaborative platform for practitioners of all mediums to explore, interrogate and to bring to life the collections.
Home to more than 2.5 million items, from historical art and navigational instruments to films and uniforms, Royal Museums Greenwich’s collections provide a wealth of creative inspiration for artists to uncover.
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What does the residency involve?
Running from six months to a year, the residency gives creatives an opportunity to develop and push the boundaries of their practice.
Working in a designated area of the site, the practitioners will work closely with curatorial and museum staff to generate new insights and interpretations of the collections.
Public engagement is an integral part of the residency, and creatives are encouraged to run workshops and events or give talks and performances to engage new and existing audiences with their work and Royal Museums Greenwich’s collections.
As part of the residency, creatives will also work closely with our youth programme. This could involve helping with the Saturday Art Club, running coaching and mentoring sessions, contributing to the summer Youth Takeover or offering portfolio development and advice.
Get inspired
We encourage practitioners to take risks and innovate – whether that’s discovering new connections, drawing out and bringing to the fore hidden or underrepresented histories or critiquing the museum’s narrative through creative practice.
From curating displays to recording albums, have a look at some of the projects created by our artists.
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Meet practitioners in residence, Griffi & Rosie
Griffi & Rosie are currently undertaking a six-month residency at Royal Museums Greenwich, in partnership with the National Windrush Museum. Their residency is based on the concept ‘Rush!...Don’t Rush!’ and will see them develop work celebrating the energy and experiences of the Windrush generation.
“We’re so grateful for the opportunity in many ways,” they say. “We’re here to think thematically about the spaces and items within the Museum, and how these can be a gateway to help us tell stories linked to the Windrush generation.
“We want people to connect with our work – and the objects on display in our studio – in a way that’s right for them. This project is about collective memory, using items to spark conversations.”
Previous practitioners in residence
From textile to data artists, discover just some of the creatives involved in our Residency Programme
The Collective Makers
Learn about the arts organisation's work while practitioners in residence at Royal Museums Greenwich – and their endeavours to support emerging visual artists
Niamh Hannaford
Learn more about the visual artist's playful work while practitioner in residence at Royal Museums Greenwich during summer 2023
Nicole Mollett
Learn more about the multimedia artist's work while practitioner in residence at Royal Museums Greenwich during spring 2023
Serge Attukwei Clottey
Learn more about the multidisciplinary artist's work while practitioner in residence at Royal Museums Greenwich in 2022
Katie Paterson
Learn more about the leading artist's work while practitioner in residence at Royal Museums Greenwich between October 2019 and June 2021
Paddy Hartley
Learn more about the textile artist and ceramicist's work while practitioner in residence at Royal Museums Greenwich between 2016-2017
Stefanie Posavec
Learn more about the data artist's work while practitioner in residence at Royal Museums Greenwich between 2018-2019
BLKBRD Collective
Find out more about the Collective's work during its residency at Royal Museums Greenwich during the summer of 2020
Artwork created by our practitioners in residence
Artwork created by our practitioners in residence
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Artist Nicole Mollett at work
Nicole Mollett is a socially engaged artist, whose work celebrates alternative histories and forgotten places. She was practitioner in residence at Royal Museums Greenwich during spring 2023, creating pieces inspired by the work of Dutch marine artists Willem van de Velde the Elder and his son Willem van de Velde the Younger.
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Stefanie Posavec with her artwork 'Passing Ships'
As part of her residency at Royal Museums Greenwich, data artist Stefanie Posavec created this piece, titled Passing Ships: a celebration of the visitor fleet.
Using data gathered from nearly 600 participants, this artwork showcased the unique and diverse identities of the fleet of visitors who passed through the doors of the Museum every day. Stefanie visualised the data in the form of ships' badges.
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Paddy Hartley
Paddy Hartley is an artist working in ceramic, fabric and assemblage who explores themes of memorialisation and remembrance and the origins of World War I reconstruction. He was practitioner in residence at Royal Museums Greenwich between 2016-2017.
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Stefanie Posavec
Data artist Stefanie Posavec was practitioner in residence at Royal Museums Greenwich between 2018-2019.
During her residency, she interrogated visitor generated data to give us a greater understanding of how people interacted with the spaces at the National Maritime Museum and what their interests were.
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Yeo Tetraptych by Paddy Hartley
Close-up image of part of the Yeo Tetraptych, a four-garment artwork describing the life story of Walter Ernest O'Neil Yeo. Yeo was a Battle of Jutland veteran and facial surgery patient of pioneering facial surgeon Sir Harold Gillies.
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Yeo Gown by Paddy Hartley
Close-up image of a vintage hospital gown, featuring the surgical notes of pioneering facial surgeon, Sir Harold Gillies.
This piece forms part of the Yeo Tetraptych, a 4-garment artwork describing the life story of Walter Ernest O'Neil Yeo. Yeo was a Battle of Jutland veteran and patient of Gillies.
To replicate Gillies' notes, Paddy etch created a precise trace of his handwriting and then applied hand drawn details of burn marks.
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Artist Paddy Hartley at work
Close-up details of textile artist and ceramicist Paddy Hartley at work
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'Migration stories' by Sophie Herxheimer
Artist Sophie Herxheimer was practitioner in residence in 2015. As part of her residency, she interviewed school children and illustrated their responses to the question, 'what does home mean to you?'
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Artist Niamh Hannaford at work
During her residency, visual artist Niamh Hannaford created an artwork inspired by the colonnades between the Queen's House and the National Maritime Museum.
"The work with the colonnades, for me, felt like a strong barrier of the outside of the Museum itself," she says.
"The idea was that I was softening the hard edges of the outside or this iconic but yet imposing and maybe intimidating but impressive parts of the outside of the building, softening those edges and opening them. And then with my sculpture that I made, I tried to fill those casts with some of the memories of play that we had within the Museum."
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'Message to a migrant'
While practitioner in residence, artist Sophie Herxheimer asked visitors to make a boat and leave and dedicate it to an unknown sea traveller who needs to find safety.
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RETHINK Gallery
Interior of the RETHINK Gallery, which displayed the work created by practitioners in residence.