Join us for Professor Anne Massey’s paper as part of the IHR-SAHGB-Oxford Architectural History Seminar.
Dorothy Morland was, to date, the only female Director of the Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA) in London. As a woman and an arts administrator, Morland’s work has largely been overlooked. But she tirelessly oversaw this chaotic organisation from 1950 until 1968, ensuring its success as a fulcrum for modernism, including architecture. This talk outlines the network which Morland helped to create and support, usually behind the scenes. This included her close friend, architect Jane Drew who was centrally involved with the organisation. Morland was the protector and advocate of the Independent Group, which met at the ICA from 1952-5 and included Reyner Banham, Alison and Peter Smithson, Colin St John Wilson and James Stirling. She worked on the ICA’s packed programme, including an exhibition devoted to the work of Le Corbusier in 1953 with a lively public discussion held between Banham, Wells Coates, Wilson and Victor Pasmore, chaired by Leslie Martin. She ensured that modern architecture remained a feature of the ICA’s events, with regular discussions chaired by Richards. Archigram was supported by the organisation with its first exhibition and publication in 1963. Morland oversaw the ICA’s move from Dover Street to The Mall in 1968, although her efforts are never credited. Sadly for Morland, she no longer fitted with the new vision for the ICA. Therefore, she devoted the rest of her life to protecting the ICA’s archives, securing their safeguarding at Tate. The talk offers a different architectural history, which brings to light the work of an important but unacknowledged woman.
Anne Massey is Professorial Fellow at Canterbury School of Architecture, University for the Creative Arts. She studied the history of modern art and design at the University of Northumbria where she also completed her PhD on The Independent Group: Towards a Redefinition. She has written eight books and this talk is based on her publications ICA 1946-68 (ICA, 2015) and Dorothy Morland: Making ICA History (LUP 2020). She is currently working on a book, Women in Design for Thames & Hudson.
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