Marsha Pearce

Delighted to be contributing to The Courtauld Research Forum. Join me for my talk on 19th May, 2026 at 6pm. Vernon Square Campus (Lecture Theatre 2), London. Free; booking essential. This event is organised by Daisy Gould with the support of Professor Dorothy Price, Executive Dean and Deputy Director, the Courtauld. Image: Grounding 2026 by @shanalonzo Photo credit: @marlonrouse @daisymgould @arthistorianbyday @courtauldres

So much depth, texture, materials in dialogue, and a defiance of boundaries. See “Donald Locke: Resistant Forms” @camdenartcentre On view until 30 August 2026. @donaldlockestudio

Happening this Thursday 14th May, 2026 at Camden Art Centre, London. “Edge of Spirit” is a symposium that brings together artists, writers, curators and scholars to reflect on the expansive practice of Guyanese-British ceramicist, painter, and sculptor Donald Locke @donaldlockestudio For bookings visit the link in bio @camdenartcentre The event is organised alongside the exhibition Resistant Forms.

Lovely evening spent with brilliant scholars. It was a pleasure to participate in a roundtable discussion at Trinity College, University of Cambridge on the subject of the painting seen in this photo. Painted by Joshua Reynolds c.1774, the image portrays “John Manners, Marquess of Granby and a Groom.” The painting hangs in the Old Combination Room of Trinity College. Our conversation considered portraiture, race and representation, in/visibility, and the painting’s place in the college today. I was joined by Dr Christopher Jeppesen, First Year Director of Studies in History at Trinity College; Dr Pola Durajska, Curator of Collections at Trinity College; Leslie Primo, Art Historian and Broadcaster (@artfirstprimo ); and Dr Maggie Kalenak, Historian at the University of Cambridge. Very grateful for the time to think together and share.

Issue 16 Caribbean review of Gender Studies is out now. It is available as a full combined issue on UWI Space, as well as on Academia and on its original website. https://sta.uwi.edu/crgs/index.asp Look out for all the url links on our linktree, in bio.

The Manton Centre for British Art presents ‘Home on the Waves: Museum Collections and Caribbean Tidalectics’ with Professor Marsha Pearce 📆 19 May 2026 ⏰ 18:00 - 19:30 📍 Vernon Square Campus, Lecture Theatre 2 🔗 Free, booking essential. Click the link in our bio to book. This talk is structured in two waves. First, it centres the 2026 exhibition, By These Shores I Was Born, curated by Professor Pearce and installed in Trinidad and Tobago. Ideas of home and belonging are unpacked though visual analyses of work by seven contemporary artists who have moved in and out of the Caribbean, and by way of reflections on Barbadian poet and scholar Kamau Brathwaite’s notion of tidalectics – a psychology and ontological state that has a marine rhythm and contrasts with Western dialectics. The session’s second wave is propelled by the questions: How might these artists’ aesthetic engagements inform museology? How might museum’s rethink collecting practices in ways that are more inclusive? What does it mean to be at home in a museum’s collection? A thesis of tidal action is advanced as a critical methodology. Marsha Pearce is British Academy Global Professor at the Fitzwilliam Museum, University of Cambridge, and a visual culture scholar at The University of the West Indies, St. Augustine Campus. She is leading the four-year research project (2025-2029) titled Trembling Abode: Reimagining the Museum as Home for Global Majority Artists. This event is organised by Daisy Gould, with the support of Professor Dorothy Price, Executive Dean and Deputy Director, the Courtauld. Image: Professor Marsha Pearce. Photo: Shea Best.

CHECK OUT THIS SPECIAL ISSUE: I am happy to have edited this special issue of the Caribbean Review of Gender Studies which is an online open access (free to read) journal. This special issue focuses on visual modes by which gender is lived, negotiated, organised, and resisted. See link in my bio to read ✨ Thank you to @melalcena and @terngallery for the powerful cover image. Contents include artworks by @kashifdennis @farrahkarapetian @florinedemosthene @mazaregtrim @plainmstudio @rayarcadio @shariphoenix @tessaalexanderart @cydoodles @renlukamaharaj @coralinarodriguezmeyer @sashaknicole Read papers by @nyere18 @amandatmcintyre @gabby_mahabeer @sinclams and other insightful writers Reflect on an essay by @triniwildindian , poems by @pleasureblog and a short story by @rosannavlnc Thank you to the team at The UWI Institute for Gender and Development Studies for the incredible support in producing and publishing this special issue. @igds.st.augustine.unit @grrlscene And tremendous gratitude to the contributors —artists and writers— for your meaningful participation in this issue’s consideration of everyday practices of seeing and unseeing.

MIND THE GAP —Read my second blog post, which charts my research on art, art collections, issues of belonging, and museum practices. I’ve been thinking about gaps, and have been taking photographs of the spaces between train doors and station platforms in the UK. I’ve hand stitched these gaps to highlight them. How might we attend to gaps in the context of museums? This blog post also includes thoughts from my colleague, Habda Rashid, who is Senior Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art @fitzmuseum_uk See link in bio ✨ Pictured in these slides: Mind the Gap: Burden (flesh), 2026 Mind the Gap: Blanket (cover up), 2026 Mind the Gap: Whipped Back, 2026 @habda_ @chelovelace

It was a pleasure presenting my paper today at the Association for Art History’s 2026 conference. The panel’s focus was “Performing Otherness in Contemporary Art.” I looked at Guyanese-British artist Hew Locke’s series How Do You Want Me? as an important question and entry point for ideas of authenticity, exoticism and cultural difference. I argued for new ways of seeing in writing art histories and drew on works by @sabrewst @lavaughnbelle and @rmraffinity as aesthetic ways of rethinking approaches to historiography. I was honored to be in the company of panelists @makschram @emilyabutler Clara Zarza Garcia-Arenel and @yujikawasima Special thanks to session convenors @aselkadyrkhanova_art and @mehmetberkaysulek @forarthistory #AAH2026

Stanton Taylor Perspective Study (D’Abadie) 2025 Laser prints, spray paint, acrylic binder, graphite, pencil, ink and markers on paper 16 1/2 x 11 3/4 inches By these shores I was born Last day to view the exhibition Photos by Marlon Rouse #yartgallery #stantontaylor #trinidad #exhibition #bytheseshoresiwasborn

Felisha Carénage Image 2 & 3 : Der Schut The Shoot 2026 Acrylic on pinewood 15 x 7 x 8 inches Image 4 & 5: Der Schatz im Silbersee The Treasure of the Silver Lake 2026 Acrylic on pinewood 15 x 7 x 8 inches By these shores I was born Saturday 21 March last day to view Photos 1 & 6 by Marlon Rouse #yartgallery #felishacarénage #trinidad #exhibition #bytheseshoresiwasborn

Rodell Warner By these shores I was born On view until this Saturday 21 March Image 1 and video extract from Artificial Archive: Carnival Fictions - H0M3_2126—Monday, 2026 Single-channel video with sound 20 minutes 0 seconds loop Image 3 : still from Artificial Archive: Carnival Fictions - H0M3_2126—Tuesday, 2026 Single-channel video with sound 20 minutes 0 seconds loop #yartgallery #ygallery #trinidad #exhibition #rodellwarner