Creative Commissions is a creative arts commissioning programme supported by Royal Holloway’s Centre for the GeoHumanities in collaboration with partners in and beyond the University sector. Since 2017, there have been four rounds of the programme, led by Sasha Engelmann and Harriet Hawkins, which have supported a total of fifteen collaborative artistic projects undertaken by teams of artists and academics (geographers or other geographically-informed researchers). As well as supporting the creation of new works, the commissions have built capacity in the GeoHumanities and furthered dialogue on what the GeoHumanities might become.
A unique feature and ethic of the Centre’s Creative Commission programme is its emphasis on work ‘in progress’ rather than finished outputs; each collaborative team authors a series of ‘progress posts’ documenting the evolution of dialogue, practice and participation. The programme has also been impactful, reaching diverse public audiences through in-person showcases (for example at Raven Row Gallery, London), online events and an exhibition in central London attended by hundreds of visitors. Importantly, collaborations supported by the programme have grown into longer-term endeavours, from co-authored books to feature length films and new bodies of artistic work.
Creative Commissions: Rounds 1-4
Creating Earth Futures (2018-19)
Developed in the context of Harriet Hawkins’ AHRC Fellowship devoted to exploring GeoHumanities approaches to global environmental change, the first round of Creative Commissions supported five collaborative projects and culminated in a public event at the Raven Row Gallery, London, including performances, films and talks. Highlights of the event included a performative lecture by Caitlin Berrigan emerging from her collaboration with volcanologist Karen Holmberg, a performance by Jol Thoms on plasma and alchemy around his work with Julian Weaver; and the screening of Helena Hunter and Mark Peter Wright’s film Rehearsals for Uncertain Futures about the RHUL Sea Ice Simulator.
Variations on Mobility (2019-21)
Supported by the Centre in collaboration with our partners the Centre for Mobility and the Humanities in the University of Padova, the second round of Creative Commissions supported four artist-researcher projects and culminated in an online showcase and a further online exhibition of printable graphic works, co-curated by Giada Peterle. Giada Peterle worked closely with the web designer of the MoHu Centre's website to create a space to host the digital works. These works ranged from a 'mind map' poster by Layla Curtis and film-maker Stephen Connolly charting their research into the geographies of the Flying Boat in an era of climate crisis, and a graphic novel-like poster presenting the narratives of the Pearls from China project, created by artists Matteo Demonte and Ciaj Rochi.
Creating Diasporic Worlds (2022)
Supported by the Centre in collaboration with Royal Holloway’s Centre for Greek & Diasporic Studies, the Cyprus High Commission and the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, the third round of Creative Commissions supported three artist-researcher projects and culminated in a public exhibition in the gallery space at the Cyprus High Commission, London. The exhibition included a series of framed photographs of 'Aphrodite's Sisters' by Theopisti Stylianou-Lambert, Antigone Heraclidou, Giorgos Papantoniou and Christine Morris, a set of graphic sculptures and prints by the Liquid Narratives project led by Anastasia Mina and Konstantinos Argianas, and a video installation of the Green Line in London's Green Lanes by Olivia Melkonian, Anoushka Berberian and Rebecca Jinks.
Arts of the Subsurface (2025)
In 2025, in collaboration with the ERC-funded project Think Deep and the artist collective tiSamjort, the Centre launched a fourth round of commissions on the Subsurface. Focused in Cambodia, these commissions funded three early-career artists to develop new ideas or existing work on the Cambodian subsurface in collaboration with Think Deep researchers. This round included mentorship with experienced artists and a showcase of work-in-progress in three ‘critical studios events’ in Phnom Penh, organised by tiSamjort and project PI Harriet Hawkins. tiSamjort is an artists collective run out of a community arts space in Phnom Penh, focussed on making work and building the local artistic community in collaboration with communities across Cambodia. The successful artists were Prak Dalin, who developed the sculptural series Assemblage; Mech Sereyrath who created the multi-media installation Underneath; and Kong Siden, who developed the first chapter of a project on ‘Sands Below’.
For more about the three Subsurface projects, see the Centre’s May 2026 Newsletter
