A group of local students have created an art exhibit inspired by newly-discovered letter from the late writer Iris Murdoch. The Iris Murdoch Archive, in the Kingston University Archives and Special Collections, had acquired approximately 250 unseen letters from Iris Murdoch to the influential philosopher Philippa Foot for the the Centre for Iris Murdoch Studies, giving fascinating insight into the lives of two of the most important female figures in the 20th Century.
The university archives have since been welcoming groups of local school students through a project entitled "Iris Murdoch and Philippa Foot: an Arc of Friendship", most recently helping students from the Tiffin Girls’ School to learn more about the prominent writer’s life through looking at the original letters and visiting significant places from her life in London. As the weeks went by, the girls discovered more about the lost art of letter writing through sending each other letters in the post, some of which will be displayed in an exhibition later on in the year.
To finish the four week project, which was funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund, each set of students will be asked to create a piece to add to the exhibition. Tiffin Girls chose to take inspiration from Iris’ and Philippa’s long-distance correspondence across the Atlantic Ocean and made a “message in a bottle” themed art installation, decorating old bottles to represent aspects of the women’s life varying from Philippa’s philosophical ideas to the snowdrops in Iris’ back garden. Some of the letters were then copied out and placed in the bottles for others to read, allowing anyone access to Iris’ personal thoughts and feelings at the time of her writing to one of her closest friends.
The exhibition will be held in the Kingston Museum Art Gallery in May.
