Birth Rites Collection’s Summer School is a unique programme of lectures, workshops, seminars and one-to-one tutorials. Four intensive days will introduce you to the collection and facilitate a dialogue between you, your practice, this year’s themes, and the artworks. The Birth Rites Collection Summer School is is led by artist and BRC Curator Helen Knowles and artist Dr. Leni Dothan. The course will empower you to articulate your own practice and responses to the collection in a supportive environment whilst exploring critical perspectives in the field of birth.
Birth Rites Collection Summer School 2025
4-day course (In-person)
University of Kent, Canterbury, CT2 7NU, UK
7th - 10th July 2025, 10:00 – 17:00 (with some late evenings)
Cost: £650 per person / £500 concession (for artists, students and those with a low-income)
15 places available, bookings are secured with a £100 deposit
On-campus accommodation is available to book at an additional fee
Online course
Wednesday evenings 19.00 - 21.30 (BST), 11th June - 2nd July 2025
& Saturday 28th June, 14.00 - 17.00 (BST)
£550 per person / £400 concession (for artists, students and those with a low-income
Bookings are secured with a £100 deposit
One bursary place is available. Please email Helen Knowles on helen@birthrites.org.uk if you are interested in this opportunity.
Midwives, academics, curators, artists, medics, health professionals, art historians, policy advisors and the general public interested in childbirth through the lens of art, are all welcome. As a participant, you will enter the course with your own skill set and finish, with bespoke visual, textual, auditory, photographic, filmic and/or performative material, to be used thereafter in your own future work.
Summer School workshops will explore the aesthetic, ethical, political and visual discourses of birth via text, film, and performance. In addition, this year we present a unique opportunity to engage with a curated selection of works from the collection that are not ordinarily accessible to the public. In a dedicated space (in person & online), these pieces will enrich participants' engagement of the summer school themes.
Summer School themes include:
Navigating mortality from preterm birth to post-partum
Artistic responses to preterm birth
How the collection informs and unpacks different perspectives in midwifery, medicine and education, and its potential to improve practice and policy
The Collection’s impact on feminist art practices and the rehabilitation of visual discourses of birth into art history
Censorship of artworks on birth, institutional responses, ethics and the law
2025 speakers include: Griselda Pollock (online keynote), Anna Perach, Hannah Conway, Courtney Conrad, Catherine Williamson, Andrea Khora, Helen Knowles and Leni Dothan, with more announced soon.
Any questions? Read our FAQs for more information about the BRC Summer School.
“I found this to be a very carefully organised and beautifully curated course that opened up discourse and unlocked creativity in abundance. Thank you!” - 2024 participant
“A journey of discovery with fantastic subject matter. It was a wonderful experience with great inspiration from amazing speakers and the group.” - 2022 participant
“The course, the cohort, the community were all so stimulating and enriching. I really enjoyed using the language of film-making to interact with the Collection.” - 2021 participant